Beach
When someone says the words “Beach camping,” a plethora of fond childhood emotions flood my mind. Everything from the sound of waking up in the morning to the sound of the waves, the smell of sunscreen, the feel of warm sand under foot, a pair of sunnies, a wide brimmed hat, fishing beside dad & trying to catch a bigger fish that him. Beach camping is close to my heart & is a type of camping that we have done as a family since we arrived in Queensland in 1982. Kerri my wife says that the minute she drives on to the beach she feels like she is camping. Even though we have another 20klms to get to the camp site. It just feels good!
- I always pack the car when possible, in an order of “What you pack last should be what you need to use first” when beach camping. I do this because quite often you are dictated by the tides to when you can drive on the beach. If it’s late in the afternoon & there is little light left in the day you really want your gear packed so that it will take as little time as possible to set up. No matter what, I always try to have access to the fridge or the ice box while I am traveling..…you never know when you or the kids will need a drink. And as a last rule of thumb, give your self plenty of daylight to set up camp. Setting up in the dark is not fun with hungry kids & the stress of getting your camp set up with little light, is not fun for anyone. If you have to set up at night, your camp lights will be the first thing you require when you arrive. So if you can, get there early & give yourself a set up as stress free as possible.
Hint # 1. The sand is usually quite warm and sand on your feet gets in to everything. So the first thing I unpack (Therefore the last thing I pack in the car) is Costa annex matting or Gear Matting. The mats are porus & act like a non-return valve. The sand on your feet falls through & rubs off your feet, but it wont come back up & sit on top. The benefit of all this: You can walk on it all day & sand wont be walked in & out of your tent by the kids. My wife Kerri says: “No more sand in the bed, I hate it!” - Shelter is probably the saviour of a good weekend. Afterall it’s often the weather that determines a good camping trip. I always put my tarp up first & it’s the last thing I pull down. If it’s hot, I am under cover & no more sunburn. If it’s raining I wont have to put my tent up in the rain & everything else I get out of the car/trailer will be dry for the entire holiday. Don’t forget, by pulling your tarp down last, all your camping gear is put away dry…… it’s been under cover!
Hint # 2. Setting up a tarp is like cooking a meal. It’s all in the preparation. Have absolutely everything pegged down, ropes pre set & your poles pre adjusted to their correct height before you even contemplate standing up your tarp. If this is done in the right order, one person should be able to stand it up in under 5 minutes…..believe it or not!!. - Furniture: The third thing I have packed ready to get access to is the chairs & tables. Once I have the floor matting down & the tarp up. I need somewhere for the kids & mum to sit so we can keep them occupied.
Hint # 3. Hoop leg furniture is a brilliant idea for chairs & tables. If you have a straight up & down pole on a table or a chair in soft sand it digs in. The legs just keep digging in & they spread & break easy. A hoop leg on the other hand offers a much large surface area & has a lot more chance of not digging in.
Beach camping offers so many variables with how & where to set up a camp site. From my own experience on Fraser Island & Double Island Point (Teewha Beach), you have quite a few options & different views from the people I have asked on where is the best site & they all have different advantages & disadvantages.
- Grassed Areas:
“Negative:” Because they are usually right next to a natural spring & these areas harness mozzies and sandflies. The ground is almost always full of moisture & these areas have nearly no protection from the elements & bad weather.
“Positive:” Grassed areas is the lack of sand you will get in your tent & you have access to fresh running water, A great area to keep mum happy with the thought of no sand. - Behind The Dunes:
“Negative:”Because there is no grass, just sand. It is usally in a hollow & this is where water all pools to if you have substantial rain. “Positive:” Behind the dunes is you often have shelter from the sun under a few trees & the dunes can protect you from bad weather & windy conditions. 3.On top of the dunes: “Negative:” from the point that you have no protection from the bad weather if it kicks in & you wont have any shade from trees. “Positive:” You are up out of the hollows from the rain, there is fair mix of sand & grassed areas & the view is to die for! A few things to remember: The dunes are an important part of the environment, don’t destroy them. Be conscious of the local wild life. This entales Dingos, goanna’s & in some parts of Australia Crocodiles! Check out all your rules & regulations on line in your own shire, council or E.P.A website.
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.
- 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.
- Shovel: A small shovel in case you get bogged & you need to dig your way out.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- Summary: Tide book, snatchem strap, shovel, wash outs, rules & regs with areas, no driving on dunes,
