Casey and I always have held close to our childhood hearts, memories of family holidays involving camping adventures in the great outdoors. Its' something we continued to achieve together as a couple (mostly coastal escapes) and while there had been talk of it over the years, we had never actually put a plan into action of camping with our trio of children.
We decided that we would enjoy a few days away during Casey's time off over the Christmas/New Year period, but as with any young family struggling to make ends meet in these economic times, we decided to go simple and trial our very first camping experience with Caleb, Jaida and Jaxon.
A roam through the Perricoota State Forest, NSW the previous week in search of the "perfect spot" for our first adventure revealed such an influx of visitors camping along our precious river. We had intentionally gone further afield from inner river limits due to the high number of river users seeking out our waters for their speed boats, jet skis and house boats. We wanted a place where this would not pose a problem or safety issue for our youngsters so decided that downstream of the Torrumbarry Weir may be quieter with less avid water thrill seekers.
Of course with any riverside adventure, a nice, big beachy sandbar is a must! These are starting to wane in number now (we actually only came across four potential sandy shores) and of course all were already manned with campers. The foreboding thoughts of pristine isolation came back to reality with thoughts, that well we will just have to share with someone, sounds quite simple but let me tell you, not all campers are ever so friendly and willing to share as we came across one such man who in so many words told us where we could take our holidaying thoughts and it wasn't to be shared with his sandbar!! Rude I tell you, and we're local, come on we belong here! *hahaha* ...
Long story, short, we went back to Bell's Landing, the children were hot and bothered and ready to start their river adventure, much to our luck (thankyou guardian angel) about 5 minutes prior to our 2nd arrival at this spot, the campers had moved on leaving a large, sandy stretch of river frontage all for our own pleasure! Camp was set up, Caleb, Jaida and Jaxon sharing the one tent (camp stretchers and porta cot) Casey and I opting for the dome tent with double swag, living area / kitchen / dining in between (lol))...
It was a wonderful experience, I'm so proud of my children's responsible river ethics, we had taken some orange safety fencing with intentions to close in an area if need be, but Caleb and Jaida splashed, dived and swam to their little river creatures hearts content. Jaxon, ala' naturalist enjoyed the exhileration of naked roamings across sand and water, and delighted in disappearing below the murky depth.
We were joined in our spot later in the day by some local Echucian's with their plush caravans, camping in luxury, but we were more than happy to share this stretch of river, and their children were so delightful and friendly, taking ours under their wings to create fun memories of camping adventures.
The only mere downside was the extremity of weather with our first full hit of heat for the summer and those few afternoon hours trying to find a shady escape ... But a minor detail when you have wonderful water to become refreshed in!
Facebook Friends, no doubt you've already enjoyed our precious memories from here
A few simple snap shots to remember sun soaked, river filled, camping days ...
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