CAMPING COUNTRY AUSTRALIA - Jared's Blog

I am off to Inskip Point this week for the end of the Sunshine Coast Sport Fishing Club competition. I will post some pics & info soon

Mum & Dad are off travelling around OZ.  They are having a ball...so they keep telling me.

The new in store Building being built. It will look & feel like an old saloon. The saloon will house any discontinued or discounted product.  Come on in & see the progress.

I just wanted to say sorry for being slack in updating my Blog's. I hope to turn this around in the future!

We've had had a slight name change from Camping Country to Camping Country Australia. The reason.....we're freshing up our branding, with an updated logo, new tag line 'Best Gear, Best Fun', new uniforms and some new signage. 

Well, only one more sleep...... then we're off to Neurum Creek Bush Retreat to have our very first Camping Clinic!  We've got Coleman Australia and EvaKool  joining us. It should be a great weekend (let's hope the rain clouds stay away)!!

If you haven’t been to Neurum Creek bush Retreat yet, then you need to get there. On Friday the 24th to Sunday the 26th, Camping Country Australia had a site at the “Neurum Creek Bush Retreat Country Rock” weekend. Mum, dad, my wife Kerri & our daughter Maisie & I went along. We were there to give advice & to show case to the public who we are & what we do. I personally gave a tarp setting up demonstration & had an absolute ball talking to all the campers. What a great bunch of pleasant people. The music was fantastic for the 2 nights, the food was great & the atmosphere had loads of energy about it. For more info & to check out their website go to www.ncbr.com.au .Thanks for a fun weekend crew!

Welcome to Farm Fantastic………… Well what a show! You hear the word farm & you instantly think it’s all machinery & farming equipment. But this show has something for everyone.
I saw wine tasting, rock climbing walls, animals for the kids, camper trailers, caravans, hot food, cars……….. you name it, it was there.  Camping Country Australia took a large amount of gear down to get our name out there. It was my first show that I have done & I really enjoyed it. We weren’t there to sell anything, we just wanted to tell people who we were & what we do. All people that came on to our site received a show bag with information on us, our suppliers & what we sell. With a large view to drive them to our web site to check our.  Coleman & EvaKool, our 2 major partners donated some gear to giveaway. All the customers had to do was to tell us why they liked camping. “Time away with the family & peace & quiet,” seeming to be a large contributor!

Obviously a lot of the camping gear you would use Beach camping you can use with any style of camping, anywhere. How ever there a few bits & pieces that Beach camping & driving suits specifically.

1. Recovery gear is essential when four wheel driving. A Snatch ‘em strap especially is a necessity in soft sand. It looks & feels like a tow rope, but it has a huge amount of elasticity. It won’t jar your car like a tow rope will & they can sling shot you vehicle out of some fairly deep boggy positions. How ever there are a lot of do’s & don’t with snatch ‘em straps, so do you study first & get some expert knowledge from professionals before you use & buy one.
2. Shovel: A small shovel in case you get bogged & you need to dig your way out.
3. Air compressor: Low tyre pressure is the correct way to drive on the beach & your vehicle doesn’t sink as easy. Letting your tyres down by about 50% is the norm. Some people say less??  Having a portable air compressor to pump them back will ensure you don’t do damage to your tyres when back on a hard road surface.
4. Wash outs: This is where natural spring feed out & run down In to the beach. These streams of water & dig deep holes that are not visible from inside you vehicle while driving & hav caused serious injury & even death when hit at fast speed. Slow down when you see one coming & creep through slowly. Be aware that there are different speed limits on different beaches Australia wide & all road rules exist.
5. Fire & wood: Always check your fire restrictions. Protect your local flora & don’t cut it down. Bringing in your own wood where possible & never ever put a fire out with sand, it could smolder & reignite days after you’ve covered it & burns are an issue for the next lot of campers.. Always put it out with water before you leave your camp site. A little hint given to me once: so often when on the beach the breeze will blow from the ocean no matter what part of Australia you are in. So position you fire where it wont blow smoke back in to your camp.
6. Tent Poles: Rust & oxidization is a major issue with camping near the salt. When you get home or as you are packing up from camping, I quite often wife my tent poles down with an oil based lubricant.
7. Tent Pegs: Standard steel tent pegs don’t work real successfully in soft sand. You will require specific sand peg. They are most commonly made of polycarbonate or polypropylene, therefore they can not rust & will last longer. Rubber mallets are used to hit them in & wont destroy your peg.
8. Trees: I see people continuously tieing their tents & tarps off to trees.  Trees are designed to be flexible, when the wind gets up & the trees start to move & sway, something has to give. Things always break or tear at their weakest point. It wont be the tree, it’s going to be the material thread of your tent or tarp.This also damages the tree.Look after our trees. Without trees we wont have a beautiful environment to camp in. Always peg you gear to the ground with guyropes that are coupled with a spring. Springs have give give & absorb a lot of the movement, which in turn helps stop your tent tearing, guy rope breaking, eyelet being pulled out or you peg pulling out of the ground.
9. Tides: Tides play a big part with driving on the beach. Low tide is the only time to drive. When the tide is out the ground is hard & you car doesn’t labour as much, you will use less fuel & the chance of getting bogged & drowning your car is limited. Don’t drive in the water as the sand can be softer. Water is powerful stuff & can rip the steering wheel out of your hand & cause a serious accident & injury to your family. If it is high tide you will often have to drive on the dunes. This strains your motor because of the higher revs required, leads to getting bogged, often causes head on accidents (Because you wheels get caught in previously left wheel tracks) & it destroys our dunes & our flora & fauna. Low tide driving makes life easy.