August 2017
We take the road less travelled
CHAMBERS PILLAR A BEACON FROM THE PAST
LOYALTY BEACH Cape York at it's best
OTEL WILLIAM CREEK H
CAMPING IN THE OUTBACK
BENTS BASINÂ
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MATT'S EDITORIAL A word or two from Matt
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CAMPING SHOWS September 2017
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BENTS BASIN CAMPING Only an hour from Sydney
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Contents
August 2017
15 A WOMAN'S PERSPECTIVE Camp cooking
BEACH CAMPING 10 LOYALTY Cape York at it's best IN THE OUTBACK 12 CAMPING Not so scary
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CREEK HOTEL est. about 1887 15 WILLIAM Another great outback pub 6
PILLAR CAMPING 16 CHAMBERS A beacon from the past
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MATT
A WORD OR TWO FROM Well it’s time again for another jam
packed edition of Live2Camp Australia magazine. Each month the magazine gets bigger and bigger and there are plans to grow it even more over the next 12 months. We are still getting lots of enquiries here at Live2Camp from people asking where they can get their monthly copy of the magazine and if you would like to get it delivered every month for FREE in you email inbox just click on this link live2camp.com.au That way you will never miss out on getting your monthly camping fix. This month we were very excited to run a competition on the Live2Camp Facebook page where followers had the chance to not only win a Live2Camp prize pack but also have their camping set up on the cover of this month magazine. We were inundated with photo’s from loyal followers keen to show us their very special camping set ups. We absolutely loved going through them and there are some fantastic camping setups out there but there could only be one winner! A big congratulations to Derek and Anissa Grumetza who
cover of this magazine. Well done guys! On that note, our resident writer Josh Ford has just returned from an epic journey to the tip of Cape York and has returned with a whole batch of campground stories. I know I can’t wait to read them and if you are like us and planning a camping trip to the Cape, they will be essential in helping you plan where you set up camp for the night. You can read his first storey from his Cape adventures in this month’s edition. Until next month, happy camping.
CAMPING SHOWS
September 2017
TASMANIA OUTDOOR, BOAT & CARAVAN SHOW Dates: 8th - 10th Sept 2017 Venue: Launceston Silverdome, 55 Oakden Rd, Prospect Website: www.tasoutdoorshow.org.au TOWNSVILLE EXPO Dates: 8th - 10th Sept 2017 Venue: Reid Park, Boundary Street, Townsville Website: www.townsvilleexpo.com.au ORANA CARAVAN, CAMPING, 4WD & FISH SHOW Dates: 15th - 17th Sept 2017 Venue: Dubbo Showgrounds, Cnr Fitzroy & Wingewarra St, Dubbo Website: www.ruralscene.com.au CLEVELAND CARAVAN, CAMPING, BOATING AND 4X4 EXPO Dates: 22nd - 24th Sept 2017 Venue: Cleveland Showgrounds, Smith Street, Cleveland Website: www.clevelandexpo.com.au CENTRAL COAST 4WD, CARAVAN, CAMPING & BOAT SHOW Dates: 22nd - 24th Sept 2017 Venue: Mingara Recreation Club, 12/14 Mingara Dr, Tumbi Umbi Website: www.grimmopromotions.com.au
Find the cheapest gas bottle refills and swaps in Australia
To s ave u sing this webs ite C lick H ere
Gordon & Barbara Campbell
BENTS BASIN
Words by Matt Bloomfield
As Australia’s cities and population grows it’s becoming harder and harder to find a bush campground that is not too far to drive for a quick weekend camping getaway. However, on our last trip though NSW we discovered a bush campground that is no more than 70 km’s out of Sydney! That’s right, a bush campground about an hour out of one of Australia’s biggest cities and that’s what makes Bents Basin a fantastic weekend getaway destination for Sydneysiders. As we made our way towards the
Bents Basin Campground I kept thinking to myself, there’s no way there’s a bush campground here. We were driving through new housing estates! Then, without warning, the houses cleared and the trees took over and the entrance sign appeared in front of us. As we entered the campground we were greeted by a wide-open space, perfectly layered with a lush green carpet. To the left of us was a large open walk-in tent site area and off to the right was a huge grassed caravan and camper trailer area. All of which was unmarked so all you need to do is find an area big enough for your set up and make yourself a home for the weekend. When we were here this wasn’t much of a problem either, as there were only two other campers there.
We were drawn to the far end of the campground where there were a few large gumtrees to nestle in under. We quickly found our spot, set up and got our fire going in our own fire pit. We then than grabbed a cold one out of the fridge and headed off to explore the campground. This led us down the hill to one of the best waterholes I have seen at a campground. It was huge and even had some small rapids at one end. If it hadn’t of been the middle of winter, the swimmers would have been on!
The campground is easily accessible by 2wd, has great facilities, a fantastic waterhole, all set in a beautiful grassed bush setting. We slept like babies in the bush that night and it was hard to believe that we were so close to the biggest city in Australia. If you are ever in the area or looking for a family getaway, I highly recommend the Bents Basin Campground.
Click here for Bents Basin camping video
A Woman's Perspective Cooking in a camp oven can be a little tricky and can take some getting used to. But here are some simple starter tips to get you going. I hope you find it useful. Firstly, you need to build a good fire. Using hardwood in a camp fire is what I recommend. Hardwood burns longer and hotter and the heat it produces is more consistent. Bear in mind though, that to cook in a camp oven over a fire, you’ll need to cook over hot embers or coals, not the flames, because you can’t control the heat of the flames and you’ll end up with a burnt dinner. Cooking over coals/embers ensures a more consistent temperature and this is what you want.
Secondly to get the coals/embers ready to cook on, you’ll need to start your fire at least a few hours before you want to start cooking. The smaller the wood you use at the beginning, the quicker you’ll get enough coals/embers to begin cooking. Once your embers/coals are ready, move some to the side of the fire and place the camp oven over the top of the embers with the food in the oven ready to go. Then place a good heap of embers on top of the lid of the camp oven and your food is on its way. A few tricks I have learned over time is that for baking dampers, I place a trivet in the bottom of the camp oven to create a space underneath.
This prevents the bottom of the bread from burning. Just put some aluminium foil underneath the damper dough. Another thing I do is use aluminium trays inside the camp oven when on a road trip. It saves the camp oven getting too dirty which is a real pain when packing up every morning and moving on. Remember it is really important to clean and season your camp oven before you use it. You can clean it with soapy water but if you do this you MUST rinse, clean and really dry it before oiling it again and storing until the next use. It will rust if this is not done properly. I love using the camp oven. And once you're used to cooking with it, there really is nothing better than a stew cooked in the fire right in front of you.
BASIC DAMPER RECIPE INGREDIENTS: 6 cups self raising flour 1 tbs baking powder 1 pinch salt 1 tbs milk
METHOD: Mix the flour, baking powder, salt and warm milk into a dough. Add more milk if needed. Place the the dough in camp oven on the fire. Put lid on camp oven and cover with hot coals. Bake damper for approximately ½ hour
Words by Lize Bloomfield
WILLIAM CREEK HOTEL EST. 1868
Words by James Guerin
There is not much in William Creek. In fact, there are only a couple of buildings and a campground. But there is one building there that is very much worth visiting and that is the William Creek Hotel. The Hotel is located on the Oodnadatta Track in Outback South Australia and is one of Australia’s most remote pubs. Established in 1887 the pub is Heritage Listed and is very much a resting place for weary travellers. The pub not only offers a fantastic front bar full of memorabilia but also offers some fantastic pub meals for breakfast, lunch and dinner. In fact, considering the location of the pub, they serve up some of the
best pub meals I have ever had. The Hotel also offers a range of accommodation ranging from camping, to well appointed cabins. The friendly staff can even organise a flight over the stunning Lake Eyre which I highly recommend. So, the next time you find yourself on the Oodnadatta Track, make sure you drop in for an ale and a bite to eat at the William Creek Hotel. Oodnadatta Track, William Creek SA
Click here for William Creek camping video
LOYALTY BEACH CAPE YORK
S itting at the top of Australia, right
on the sand overlooking the Torres Straight Islands group, is a campsite that most of us have heard about and an absolute must for travellers heading to Cape York. And that campground is Loyalty Beach Campground and Fishing Lodge. The Campground is a cross between a traditional bush campsite right on the beach (no sand dunes here), a whole town, and a caravan park! There is a little shop with souvenirs and snacks. All the amenities including a laundry, a restaurant serving one or two meals for dinner each night and
even a bar where you can sit on the sand and watch the sunset over the sea. There are fire pits and plenty of firewood to use, and you can fish off the beach literally meters away from your campsite, just be very cautious of snapping handbags and sharks if you feel like you need to go near the water. Loyalty Beach Campground and Fishing Lodge is a couple of kilometres each way from Seisia where you can
fish from the wharf and catch Even if it is just for a beer from the bar Queenfish, Mackerel, Barracuda and right on the beach! Trevally. And also Bamaga where there is a supermarket, mechanics, service station and fishing store. Usually I would mention the bush turkeys or birds, but at Loyalty Beach, the Horses are a real issue. The staff do try to keep them out as best they can, but you really need to lock away (in metal boxes or cars) all food and rubbish, as they are very sneaky and crafty at getting into everything. We even caught them stealing the neighbours Doritos! All in all, if you are ever at the top of Australia visiting the tip, it’s well worth stopping in at Loyalty Beach Campground and Fishing Lodge.
Words and images by Josh Ford
K C A B T U O 'S A I L A R T S U A N I G CAMPIN 'The Outback' – It’s not so scary!! I love the Australian Outback. I have travelled through the middle of Australia five times now and if you asked me to do it tomorrow, I would ask you 'what time are we leaving'. There is nothing quite like it anywhere in the world. However, I meet more and more people who have never been out there. It is either because they have never thought to go there because they believe there is nothing there to see or they think it is just too remote and are too scared to travel out there. They might die of thirst in the arid lands or be bitten by some deadly creepy crawlie.! I have many family members and friends who have travelled all over the world but have never been to the red
centre. Last year, Lize and I planned a trip out to Uluru and then back to the coast through the Simpson Desert. When some close friends of ours, both from other countries, heard about the trip we were going on asked if they could tag along. They had been too
nervous to do the trip on their own and wanted to do it experienced travellers. I was surprised by this as I don’t see travelling through the outback as anything difficult, but I agreed to let them tag along so they could experience this great country of ours. It wasn’t long into the trip before they were all saying that the Australian Outback is not as scary as they had thought it would be. And that’s because it’s not! The Outback is an absolutely stunning part of this country, which is largely accessible on bitumen roads in your 2wd vehicle. There are roadhouses spaced regularly along the road selling fuel, food, water and many other things you may need. You do need to have a little common sense though, and by this I mean if your vehicle does
break down in the middle of nowhere, don’t go wandering off. Stay with your vehicle, always make sure you’ve got plenty water with you and before you know it another vehicle will come along and help you. I once travelled the length of the Northern Territory in a 1990 Ford Laser with a mate of mine from England and not once did something try to kill us. So please, put your fears aside and head to the beautiful Australian Outback. You will love the amazing camping, wildlife, culture and sights. It’s a trip you will talk about for many years to come.
Click here for videos of Australian Outback camping areas
Words by Matt Bloomfield
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CHAMBERS PILLAR
Northern Territory
B ack in 2015, Lize and I were planning
of campgrounds to visit. It looked like a a trip out to the Northern Territory beauty! returning via the Simpson Desert and The campground is located about a Birdsville. As part of our planning, I put 160km’s south of Alice Springs and is a post on the Live2Camp Facebook dirt track all the way. It is certainly not a page asking any of our followers if road you want to travel if you don’t like there were any campgrounds they corrugations or don’t have a 4wd but it would like us to visit and film. We is an absolutely stunning drive through received many replies but one that the Outback. We even stumbled across stood out to me was a request to visit a very old camel that was resting under the Chambers Pillar Campground in the shade of a tree next to the track. the NT. Now I’ll admit, I had never After a bit of a long drive, probably heard of it but after a quick look on because we had a few too many drinks Google it went right to the top of our list the night before, we made it to the
campground. Now it’s not the biggest of campgrounds but it is split into two areas. One area for larger caravans and another area for smaller camper trailers and tents. We set up in the smaller camper trailer area and I would recommend you do the same if you can, as the view form this area is nothing short of spectacular. It’s fair to say that the campground itself is a fairly normal outback campground. Marked sites on a dirt base with a drop toilet and fire pits scattered around the sites. It is a comfortable campsite. But it is where it is located that makes it a very special campsite. The view of Chambers Pillar itself is absolutely spectacular and the sunset is not to be missed. Chambers Pillar itself rises 40m above the Simpson Desert plain and was used as a beacon as such by early Australian explorers such as
John McDouall Stuart. Many of these early explorers decided to engrave their names into the soft sandstone of the pillar and there is now an easy walk on a platform around the base where you can view this very early graffiti. It is like a step back in time! If you like a bit of an adventure to get to your campground as well as total isolation in an absolutely beautiful Australian Outback setting then the Chambers Pillar Campground must be on your list. Oh, and don’t forget the sunsets!
Words by Matt Bloomfield
Click here for Chambers Pillar camping video
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THE MAGAZINE TEAM Editorial Matt Bloomfield Lize Bloomfield
Design Jack McCappin Lize Bloomfield
Photography Lize Bloomfield
Editorial & Advertising Enquiries info@live2camp.com.au
Authors Matt Bloomfield Josh Ford James Guerin Lize Bloomfield Ryan Harvey