Category Archives: Camping

Straddie Holiday Parks review & photos — Adder Rock, Cylinder Beach and Amity Point

We recently camped at Adder Rock Holiday Park on Stradbroke Island — or Straddie as the locals call it. While we were on Straddie, we took the opportunity to visit two other Straddie Holiday Parks, Cylinder Beach Holiday Park and Amity Point Holiday Park. We were camping in winter, so mosquitoes were not a problem. But being a sand island, mossies can be a problem on Straddie. My eight year old daughter also picked up … more »

How to make a simple camping shade shelter

Sometimes less is more when camping. This simple shade shelter is easy to erect, took up little room when packed in the car, and is stable in moderate wind. The best part is, the shade shelter cost me nothing as I made it from gear already in my camping kit. Like many other campers, I have a gazebo and other shade structures in my camping kit. I only have a limited space in … more »

Tent peg graveyard — get yourself decent tent pegs!

The number of bent tent pegs left on the ground surprised me when we recently camped at Adder Rock Holiday Park on Stradbroke Island — or Straddie as the locals call it. When we were at the Adder Rock Holiday Park the ground was relatively soft, but it still it seemed like a tent peg graveyard! As you can see from the four tent pegs on the right in the photo, many tent manufacturers skimp on tent pegs — … more »

Surviving a wild and windy night in my BlackWolf Turbo Plus 300 tent

We recently stayed at Adder Rock Holiday Park on Stradbroke Island — or Straddie as the locals like to call it. We pitched our BlackWolf Turbo Plus 300 tent on the foreshore facing the Pacific Ocean, and survived a wild and windy night. The first night we spent at Adder Rock Holiday Park was fairly windy. We contemplated moving camp site, but my wife was adamant that she wanted to be right on the beach … more »

How to stop kids tripping over tent guy ropes at night

No matter how many times you tell children to walk around the guy ropes on a tent, sooner or later they will trip over them — usually at night. An inexpensive and easy solution is to place children’s bracelet glow sticks around the end of each guy rope at dusk. During the day, most children will see guy ropes and walk around them. Unfortunately, at night, the guy ropes disappear into the darkness and … more »

How to fit your family’s camping gear in your car — storage drawers, plastic crates or bags?

You are taking your family camping, but you just can not fit all your gear in the car. How can you maximise the gear that you can take? First off be realistic with what you need to take — after all, camping is about living outdoors for a while, not living it up in a 5-star hotel. See my my camping gear checklist for my view on the essentials for car-based camping. Next, when … more »

What is the right camping tent size for you?

Biggest is not always best when camping. As a rule of thumb, buy the best quality, smallest tent that you can comfortably sleep in. While the huge 12-person dome tent may seem great value for money in store, it may turn out to be a nightmare the first time that you go to set it up. Before we get to discussing the right size tent for you, we first need to consider how … more »