Camping Trip #1

Well we've finally done it!

Last weekend we packed up the tent, the BBQ, all our brand new ta

bles, gas cooker, air mattresses, kids, etc and headed off for a couple of nights "camping".

I'm told staying at a "Big 4" caravan park in

Ballarat is not "camping" as such, but when you've never really pitched a tent in anger before, that will do.

Everything went pretty well all things considered. 

Not much sleep was had on

night #1, thanks mainly to noise rather than comfort. Being fairly close to a highway, a stones throw from some form of night club / reception centre, or some facility playing music and breaking glass to the wee small hours, and having some fairly talkative tent neighbours, meant we slept very lightly on that first, Saturday night. 

Thankfully, night two was a little quieter, and as we were so tired by then, more sleep was had.

It certainly didn't bother the kids though, thankfully.

The little portable gas BBQ worked over time. I resorted to instant coffee in the mornings and we survived, dare I say it, even enjoyed it at times.

So, our Easter holiday in our tent at Port Fairy (also a Big 4) is still on, and after that, who knows what?

The camp site...

 

The all important food cooking geat...

Ballarat Wildlife Park...

Be the chess player, not the piece...

Ralph Charell

A couple of today's photos

That's it, I've got the bug. One little photography course and I'm off taking photos in my lunch break. I like these two from today, I can't decide which of these two is my favourite.

My Basic Digital Photography Course

About three weeks back, I started a basic, emphasis on the basic, digital photography course, for beginners with "Point and Shoot" digital cameras.

It has really sparked an interest for me, which I think could become...if not a passion, then at least very expensive.

I've learned lots of things - remembering them and what's more applying them will be the real test.

Here's a quick grab of a handful of the 100 or so photo's I've taken while "getting to know" my camera.

Over a year ago, nearly two actually, we decided that if the annual Easter Holiday to Port Fairy was going to continue, and if we were going to be able to manage "other" holidays as well (fancier, beach and resort related ones) we'd probably have to give up the $180+ per night cabins we were staying in at the Big 4, and opt instead for, dare I say it, camping!

We bought ourselves a tent not long after that, and have since had only a couple of practice runs, assembling it in the backyard. On one of those occassions the boys and I spent the night out there.

Since then, we've bought a couple of fold out tables, some blow up mattresses and other odds and ends. We even booked a camp site for next Easter (now fast approaching) when we were down there (Port Fairy) with friends last year. Now these friends are partly to "blame" - they have a caravan and therefore simply book a camping site, so we're off to our double site to pitch our tent alongside their van next year.

Early on it became obvious that with all the extra food and bedding as well as the kids' bikes, toys and all the other nonsense, the Camry wagon, practical as it is, just wasn't going to cut it. A trailer was what would be required for the extra haulage and today, a trailer it is.

I've purchased a little 5 x 3 ft trailer from Sparks, here in Geelong. Not only will it give us the extra storage space for the trips away, but I can cart stuff off the tip and avoid the extra $15 delivery charge when I'm ordering soil, bark, mulch extra for the garden.

Anyway, the little 5x3, pictured here, can take loads up to 750kg which amounts to nothing over about 1/2 metre of anything substantial, but that will do just fine.

We've even booked a couple of nights down at a Big 4 in Ballart for our practice run in a couple of weeks...exciting times!