Do we go camping again?...

Warning! This is a long post with heaps of photos...

Let's start from the beginning. We hadn't really put a lot of planning into the trip. We decided that we would get together with our neighbours and go camping, only about three weeks ago. In reality, we thought, "What could go wrong?" I mean, they go camping every second to third weekend. Our neighbours are really experienced at doing this sort of thing, and they've wanted us to go with them for ages now. So... why not. Surely nothing could go wrong. *insert a grin here - now that it's over!*

So, off we went. All excited about the adventure before us.

We went to a beautiful place up in the Sunshine Coast hinterland. Stunning scenery all the way there and back. Bush camping was going to be great (and it was too, minus one or two little incidents!)

After a two hour trip, that include a slight detour to the Sunshine Coast, we got to our destination, with the kids managing to squeeze in a few, are we there yet's. You now, in that whiny tone of voice. Done deliberately after their father started them off with it!!!

We were fortunate enough that our lovely neighbours had a camper trailer for us to borrow, while they used their fully equipped caravan. No sleeping in tents for us first timers. (I truly think we may have been spoiled, but I'm still glad for the opportunity! LOL!!)

We set up house in fantastic time. Flip a lid here, shake a canvas there and hey presto...that's where you're living for the next three days. Not bad. And nice and roomy inside too.

So now it was time to explore our gorgeous surrounds. We set up quite near to the access point to the National Park's walks and trails. The particular walk we followed, went along the edge of the nearby creek through the valley. Nothing could go wrong by following a path...right? Tell that to Liam. As the kids excitedly skipped through the bush and raced along the path, (there were five kids in all), I cautiously yelled to them to slow down before one of them tripped and fell down the five metre embankment to the river below. I was just being an overly protective Mum...right? These kids were carefully watching their steps. Well, most of them were.

Liam lost his shoe. Don't ask how that happened. I have no idea. So, he decide to follow his shoe down the slope. Except, unlike his shoe, which stopped halfway down the slope, Liam kept going...and going. Just as his legs hit the water, he grabbed hold of a tree branch over-hanging the deeper water and held on tight. Actually, he held on like it was the last thing he was ever going to do. Panic set in!

Okay, so what do I do? After just warning them too about the slippery path! I reluctantly handed the camera over to Mark as I then scramble down to get him. Sorry, no photo of this incident either! (I haven't really got my "taking-photo-for-future-scrapping" head on in these situations!!) But I rescued him and we continued on our way.

We walked the rest of the circuit relatively unharmed. Even Ethan managed to walk around without complaint and we came across some lovely photo opportunities too.

As we got back to camp we noticed a goanna wandering the grounds, looking for scraps of food. I lifted Ethan up to show him the "big lizard" and warn him about trying to catch it. Well, what else would little boys try to do?

We managed only one step forward before it decided we were a threat and charged aggressively toward us. Poor Ethan and Liam both got quite a scare. But did I want to pack up and go home? Nooooo. Nothing else could go wrong. At least I kept telling myself that! LOL!!

That night at dinner, we had just been discussing something about meals and throwing up. Again, I don't know why that conversation came up. I have to learn to stop saying things I don't want to happen. Because surely enough, Ethan starts coughing. And that coughing led to... You guessed it. Throwing up on his plate. Sorry about the visual. I don't have a photo of that either.

The next day we woke to beautiful weather and we'd had a comfortable night's sleep. Couldn't ask for more. We put yesterday's mishaps behind us and had a good laugh! The kids wanted to ride their bikes and there was plenty of room for them to do so. And off they went.

We did some more exploring around the area...

And the kids did some more bike riding until... Tahlia's accident. See post below.

Later that afternoon, after the earlier drama of "the" accident, we had all recovered enough to persevere with our camping holiday. At this point however, I have to admit, it was getting hard for me to understand why people do this on a regular basis. No offense to the camper's out there reading this. This was our first family camping expedition! It wasn't suppose to be like this! To take my mind off the events that had occurred so far, our neighbours took pity on me and took us to this stunning location.

The water here was crystal clear. An amazing colour that couldn't really be captured on film. It was a nice respite from the chaos at the camp site! LOL!!

The only thing was...The water was freezing!! Here are the kids tentatively trying out the depths.

I love the way they are all holding their arms up, like it was going to make a difference!!

So, the day that had started off nice, and had a rough part in the middle, ended on a lovely note.

The next morning after another comfortable night's sleep, although it was also a little bit cooler after the first, (but that could have been due to Mark stealing the blankets in the middle of the night. Don't deny it. You did!!), we woke to... you guess it. Disaster!!


Some (let me put the words down while clenching my teeth) low-life, stole our tow bar off the back of our vehicle. I mean, here we are... a long way from most places that are open on a Sunday, with a camper trailer, that we have to find a way of getting home with. WHO does that sort of thing!!!


Thanks goes to our neighbour's wonderful father, who made the trip up to the hinterland to bring his tow bar and helped us out immensely! Mwah, mwah! Thanks again Peter.


Nothing else could surely go wrong now...right? I mean, we were at the end of our three day, restful break!!
At least we're at the point where we can laugh about it. Will we go camping again? Well, we are talking about it. Maybe we've shaken out all the gremlins from the machine with this one trip and it will be smooth sailing from now on? Surely we're owed that much!! LOL!! Perhaps we will go to the beach next time... Hmmmm. Might have to think this one through just a little bit more!


Thank goodness for the scenic route home!