September 2017
We take the road less travelled
WOMBEYAN CAVES
CAMPING NEXT TO THE CAVES
COEN RIVERÂ CAPE YORK CAMPING
LAKE ARRAGAN YURAYGIR NATIONAL PARK
TEL O H K E E R C T U O B A REVIEWED K WAL
Contents
July 2017
MATT'S EDITORIAL A word or two from Matt
3
UPCOMING CAMPING SHOWS September 2017
4
WOMBEYAN CAVES CAMPING AREA Not just a campground
6
PLANNING YOUR TRIP The essential things to remember
8
WALKABOUT CREEK HOTEL est.1900 This weeks outback pub LAKE ARRAGAN CAMPING AREA Yuraygir National Park
11 12
A WOMAN'S PERSPECTIVE Keep the kids busy!
14
COEN RIVER CAMPING Cape York at it's best
16
A WORD OR TWO FROM
MATT I don’t
mean to rub it in! However, by the time you are reading this month’s edition, we’ll be well on our way to the most northern tip of Australia. Live2Camp is on its way to Cape York and we are very excited. We have never been there before and from what we hear there are some amazing campgrounds up there. We are making our way up through Cape Tribulation, Cooktown, the Lakefield National Park and of course the Old Telegraph Track all the way to the top. Along the way we will be filming roughly 46 campgrounds for the live2camp.com.au website. So that’s even more campgrounds filmed in Full HD for you to watch at home before you head out on the road. Be sure to keep an eye out for these videos over the next couple of months! In the meantime, grab yourself a coffee or a beer, whichever is your choice and enjoy another bumper edition of Live2Camp Magazine! Please share it with all your camping friends as the more people that read our magazine, the more we can put in it each month. We love every minute of putting
together this magazine and want to see it grow into the must have camping magazine. Also, if you ever have any questions, don’t hesitate to email us at info@live2camp.com.au or send us a message through our Facebook page. We love hearing from other campers and love to help out wherever we can. Also remember to make sure you jump on our website and subscribe to our monthly magazine for FREE! Happy Camping!
C A M P I N G E V E N T S
OCTOBER 2017
Melbourne Leisurefest Dates: 5th - 8th October 2017 Venue: Sandown Racecourse, Sandown Website: www.melbourneleisurefest.com.au
Sunshine Coast Home Show and Caravan, Camping & Boating Expo Dates: 13th - 15th October 2017 Venue: Kawana Sports Precinct, Bokarina Website: www.australianevents.com.au Toowoomba Spring Home Show and Caravan & Leisure Expo Dates: 20th - 22nd October 2017 Venue: Toowoomba Showgrounds, Toowoomba Website: www.australianevents.com.au Brisbane pre-christmas caravan & camping sale Dates: 26th - 29th October 2017 Venue: Brisbane Showgrounds, Gregory Tce, Bowen Hills Website: www.lifestylecampertrailers.com.au Sydney 4WD & Adventure Show Dates: 13th - 15th October 2017 Venue: Western Sydney Dragway, Eastern Creek Website: www.sydney4wdshow.com.au SA 4WD & Adventure Show Dates: 20th - 22nd October 2017 Venue: Adelaide Showground, Goodwood Rd, Adelaide Website: www.adelaide4wdshow.com.au
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WOMBEYAN CAVES
I have always
opened up in front of us, the ground found caves covered in fallen brown leaves. It was fascinating! a picture to behold and we could not Ever since I went caving on a school wait to set up camp. We headed camp when I was just a teenager I straight to the Rangers office where we have found them intriguing. There is checked in and were told to set up something mysterious about natural wherever we liked as there are no caves and I always want to know what marked sites. lies inside them. So when the The whole campground is nestled in a opportunity came up to go camping small valley and has a lush grass floor. next to some amazing natural caves, I The campground is huge with plenty of jumped at the opportunity. The room for camping setups of all sizes. Wombeyan Caves Campground is There are lots of fire pits spread located right next to the caves of the throughout, which you will definitely same name in the Wombeyan Karst Conservation Reserve in New South Wales. It was a beautiful Autumn day as we weaved our way down the small bitumen road into the campground. As soon as we hit the bottom of the valley, the campground
The stalactites and stalagmites were amazing! The cave was far better than I had expected. We had a fantastic night around the fire that night, we need if you visit in Winter. The also had the campground to facilities are clean though a ourselves, as we talked about little old, however the hot what we had seen in the showers are a very welcomed caves that day. It was like we comfort. The campground also had been on an enormous has its fair share of wildlife with adventure even though we kangaroos in abundance. had only spent an hour in the As soon as we had set up we caves. If you are looking for headed for the famous caves. a great spot to take the family There are a number of caves camping where they can also all located around the learn about nature and have campground and you can a bit of an adventure, then I choose to do a tour or a selfhighly recommend the guided walking tour. We Wombeyan Caves decided on the self-guided tour Campground. and once we had bought our Words by Matt Bloomfield token from the ranger we made the short walk up the hill to the entrance. We then spent more than an hour wandering through the beautiful cave which we had all to ourselves!
Click here for Wombeyan Camping Area video
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TRIP PLANNING ESSENTIALS
We’ve been receiving a lot of emails
recently at Live2Camp asking us about how we prepare for our camping trips. A lot people want to know how we manage things like food and water on long trips through the outback. So, I thought it was time I put it in an article which will hopefully help campers prepare for their trips, especially those new to camping. Due to the fact that we go on camping trips a lot, preparation is something that I have had to fine tune so that we can go at a moment’s notice. So, I have broken my preparation into to four key areas. They are; food, water, power and equipment. If we get these four things right, then we should want for nothing whilst away camping. Firstly, let's look at food;
omfield lo B tt a M y b s Word
Obviously without food things are going to go bad pretty quickly. When we go on a long trip we always head to the supermarket before we go as food out in remote area is not always the best or the cheapest. We stock up a lot on canned foods such as veggies and potatoes. These last forever and are easy to pack. When it comes time to cook, it’s just a matter of heating them up over the fire as they are already cooked through. Meat’s a little trickier so we cryovac it as soon as we buy it, and then freeze it with the date written on it. Then when we leave, we put it in the bottom of the fridge and it will last for a long time, just keep an eye on your dates.
S econdly, getting your water
camper right is absolutely essential trailer as sometimes clean water fully can be hard to come by. equiped with a Before leaving we ensure great battery system. As well that the 60l water tank under as this we also have a duel the camper is full and we battery system in the car, also carry a further 2 x 20l which runs a fridge as well as jerry cans with us. One of some lights. Before we hit the these jerry cans is for fresh tracks I always make sure drinking water and the other that the batteries are fully is for what I call grey water. charged and that the batteries That is water that I wouldn’t are up to the job and not too drink but is good for old. I have been let down by showering and washing batteries before and it is not a dishes. This one is easier to good feeling to have your fill up at campgrounds as fridge turn off when it is full of there are often bore water food and you are in the taps. As well as this we throw middle of nowhere. Also, don’t a 24 pack of water bottles in forget to clean your solar the car to use as drinking panels. This will help them to water on those long day work more effectively when drives. Thirdly, a good power you need them to. It’s always source has become essential good to throw in some spare when camping. This is due to batteries as well for your the availability of 12v fridges torches. and lights. As you’ve all seen, we travel with a
And F inally, the last thing I check before hitting the road is the equipment we need to take. Every trip we go on requires different equipment so I only take what I need for the specific trip. For example, will I need the Maxtrax if we are only travelling on bitumen?. It is also important to carry some basic tools with you in case you need to do some urgent bush repairs on the track. You don’t want to carry too much as you want to keep the weight down but just enough that you can do some basic repairs. It’s also a good idea before you head off to check that all your camping equipment is in good working condition. I always check all my poles, ropes and tents. There is nothing worse than setting camp only to realise that you have forgotten to replace that broken pole from the last time you went camping!
Trust me, I have been caught out like this and can ruin a trip. A few checks before you leave can help avoid a situation like this. Oh, and don’t forget to throw in a couple of maps of where you are going. In my experience, this has stopped many an argument in the car! Well there you go guys, these are the four things we check before we head off on our camping expeditions. We have found over the years that if you get these things right before you leave, then you should have no issues on your camping holidays. I hope this helps with your preparations but if you have any questions don’t hesitate to contact us.
WALKABOUT CREEK HOTEL
EST. 1868
We’ve all seen the
famous Australian movie; ‘Crocodile Dundee’ but did you know that the Walkabout Creek Hotel featured in the movie is a real pub? It’s not in the Northern Territory as the movie would have you believe but you can visit it in the town of Mckinlay in Queensland. The pub has been known by many names but was first licenced in 1901 as the Federal Hotel. Today the hotel has maintained its rustic charm and still operates as a pub however the interior now resembles the set of the famous movie it stars in. It consists mostly of a front bar that is full of memorabilia from the movie that makes for an interesting read whilst having a
cold beer of the tap and enjoying a good pub lunch. There is even camping available at the rear of the Hotel. So next time you are passing through Mckinlay, drop into the Walkabout Creek Hotel and have a beer on the veranda with Mick Dundee! Well, a full size cut out of him anyway!
Walkabout Creek Hotel 27 Middleton St Mckinley (07) 4746 8424
Words by James Guerin
A Woman's Perspective T ravelling with kids can be
challenging, that’s for sure. Especially on those long trips where it takes 6-8 hours or sometimes even longer to get to your destination. Matt and I have done some really long trips with our 4 kids in tow. Back in 2012 we did a 30-day trip from the Gold Coast, down to Port Augusta, up through Alice Springs and on to Darwin, back down to Three Ways, across to the coast and then South to home. There were some really long days in the car on that trip! Luckily I had planned ahead and when the kids got bored, had some games organised with sweets, chocolates and lollipops to hand out for prizes. The kids really loved it. It broke up the days and gave them something to look forward to each day.
Here are some ideas for your next trip: Bingo – you can do numbers or for the younger ones, print out pages with pictures and they can cross them off as they go. You can play counting all the different animals you see and get them to write them down. Out in the outback that can get interesting! You can also play ‘I’m going to shop and I’m going to buy…’ each person repeats what was said and then adds an item. And what I really thought worked well was to fill a bag for each child according to their age with colouring pages, word searches, dotto-dots and so on. It can be a lot of fun taking kids on your trips, the trick is to keep them busy! They'll remember it forever.
Words by Lize Bloomfield
LAKE ARRAGAN & RED CLIFF
Yuraygir National Park There is something special about camping on the beach and this campground does it as well as than any other beach campground in the country. The campground is easily A s the owner of Live2Camp.com.au, accessible by either 4wd or 2wd along I travel to a lot of campgrounds all of a graded dirt track that weaves itself Australia. So it is not very often that I through the bush before opening up return to the same campground twice. onto the campground. The Well, I’m going to let you in on a little campground itself is spread across the secret. There is a campground I have top of cliffs next to the beach, which returned to many times and in fact, if a means the ground surface is hard mate asked me to go camping this instead of soft and sandy. In fact, the weekend, I would suggest we head to large majority of the campground is this campground. It’s a campground I covered in grass making it perfect for have headed to many times with my tents or soft floor campers. family over the years and consider it a great weekend getaway. Especially from where I live. Well, where is it, I hear you ask? It’s the Lake Arragan Campground located in the Yuraygir National Park in Northern NSW.
The campground stretches out along the cliffs above the beach for what seems like an eternity and is split into two different areas. The main camping area along the top of the cliffs by the beach and the second area is nestled in amongst a thick area of trees next to Lake Arragan itself. Every time we have camped there, we have managed to camp in the same spot nestled in under a palm tree on a small grassed area. The sites are not marked, which makes it really easy to spread yourself out and there are plenty of fire pits for everyone. That’s right you can even have a fire which is not always the case these days at beach campgrounds. Of course let’s not forget the beach. The campground sits right next to a small beach which is only a short walk from anywhere in the campground and is accessible by a number of small staircases.
The beach is great for surfing, swimming, fishing and is the perfect length for a leisurely afternoon walk. We have spent many an afternoon sitting on top of the cliffs, surrounded by the many kangaroos who call the campground home, looking out over the breaking waves while having a cold drink or two. So if you love beach camping as much as we do, I highly recommend paying a visit to the Lake Arragan Campground in the Yuraygir National Park. You will not be disappointed! Words by Matt Bloomfield
Click here for the Lake Arragan & Red Cliff Camping Area video
COEN RIVER CAMPING
On the right hand side as you head north, you start to pass by some dirt tracks to the side of the highway. There are three separate entrances to different sites along the banks of the I f you have ever headed north past river and if you follow these tracks for not even 100m, they will bring you out Cairns on your way to the tip, you would know that the roads get worse to what I think is the best series of and the sun gets hotter, but the worst camp spots I have ever had the thing of all is the dust that gets dustier! privilege to stay at. The Coen River campsites are all river stone and sand About 230km north of Laura (where based ground, right alongside crystal the dirt roads start), the Government hub town of Coen pops up and passes clear swimming holes, shady trees by in a blink. While there are a couple and the best part of all is that it’s free. There is a single drop toilet at one of great caravan parks and pubs to stay in and a mechanic that seems to entrance, but other than that it is plain be able to fix anything, the best camp old self-sufficient camping in a magically picturesque location. There around is about 3km north of the is no better place I know of on the township on the banks of the Coen way up to or back from Cape York River.
where you can have a dip to wash off the dust, relax on the river bank and have a cold beer around the campfire. The local kids all seemed to enjoy fishing in the deeper water holes, but I’m not really sure what’s on offer and you must keep in mind that freshwater crocs do exist in the area. One thing we must all do as campers is always leave the site cleaner than when you arrived. It’s not hard to pick up a small bag of rubbish and take it to the next dumpster.
If we all do our part we can keep these places open, and it would be a damn pity if this one was closed down, because it’s an absolute pearler of a spot.
Words & Images by Josh Ford
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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