Thursday 27 October 2011

The Camping Trail




We go camping every year to the same place, with the same group, plus or minus a few people.


I think it is great for the children and development and experience. It is not so good for me.


All that packing and planning and then on the return home, cleaning, unpacking and storing just does my head in. It is not a holiday for me at all.


The boys (big boys, not little ones) stay up all night drinking and waiting for the sea to be right so that they can fish off the jetty. The sea was fine plenty of times, but they were not. At 2 days in they had demolished 3 bottles of rum. Uuugh I can't stand the smell of it and I was not alone.


This year we had the added pleasure of rain. Lots of it, the day before we were trying to pack the trailer, the day we travelled there and tried to set up.


Ok it was not that bad, we were able to set up and we set up our communal area and everything was dry, albeit rather cold. Nothing however stopped me longing for the ease of a caravan; rock up, roll out the annexe and everything else is already inside, including the fridge! I didn't mind if I had an old retro one (probably more me anyway), certainly didn't stop my friend and I dreaming of a Winnebago with all the bells and whistles.


However, if I look at the picture above of The Simpson's camping I realise we had it pretty good.


We had the privilege of  an easy 2 hour drive from our capital city to the pristine Yorke Peninsula (where the asthma rate is high and dust and pollen proliferate). Whilst last year we whinged about the rudeness of the grumpy caravan park managers and vowed if it was repeated this year we were out of there and would find somewhere better. 


We have looked around and well apart from no kids playground and a primitive camp kitchen (some are better than my kitchen at home), where we stay is pretty good. It is an easy walk through the park down to the jetty and boat ramp, but there is no swimming beach, you need to drive to that and that is worth the 10minute (if that) drive. There is a kiosk and a walk up to the hill to the Tavern. There is a town with a shop 20minutes away and a great little pub and a market each October long weekend.


We can catch squid to our hearts content, garfish, the odd red mullet and whiting. There is the choice of boat or jetty fishing and then a night of cooked seafood that fed 16 of us easily and we didn't think we caught much!  


So we will be back next year and Trish and I plan to have caravans by then (who knows I may be living in one if I start the reno's!) as a Winnebago is off the affordability list - who knew!


We are the queens of the point, reigning over our beautiful families and our piece of paradise.


How much better could life get. I am so grateful to have such friends and such a place on our map. Get out in the world and see what is beyond your backyard!

No comments:

Post a Comment