I have been meaning to write this blog all month! In fact I often have thoughts about a blog I want to write but by the time I get home, blah blah, and collapse into bed it doesn't happen....
But this one is a definite - a memory I don't want to lose or forget.
So, family holidays over the next few years are NOT going to be overseas or terribly glamorous due to us wanting to save money (we worked out a trip to Disneyland would set us back, oh, about $40,000) and wait until the kids were older/easier and everyone would enjoy it more. Thanks to friends in Brisbane we were pretty kitted out for camping but had never really taking the family en masse. Damien had taken a boy or two in the past.
So during our 'staycation' this Christmas, we decided to trial camping - bush camping.
Now to explain. I have been 'bush camping' before. In my early twenties I did a few bush camping trips away, and I loved it. Some adjusting but I loved it. I remember one; we went with a group of families to someone's land that had a stream running through it, and we 'washed' in the stream (no soap to not ruin the natural water) and pooed in the ground. Whole days spent in a comfy folding chair, reading books, drinking beer and lots of space in between. I also went walking at the Alpine National Park, which is how I knew about.
I have also been 'camping' in a campsite/caravan park. With communal toilets. Powered sites to support televisions and laptops. The local pub within walking distance.
For me, there is a very, very big difference between the two types of camping. Both have their time and place, however my preference is the former.
What I thought I loved about bush camping, turned out to be the truth tenfold.
The pack up was big as expected but manageable. Damien did a good job at getting all the gear in (though he did forget Tom's bed! Eddie had to sleep in our bed as a result). I bought a lot of food and D believed I had massively over done it. But we packed our water bottles (50kg worth) as well. I remembered the toilet paper, the trowel, the garbage bags, the dustpan and brush.
We set out from Melbourne later than we had hoped, with lots of screaming and shouting and crying from everyone. Getting out the door to go anywhere involves this, whether it be to the park or a holiday. It is extremely exhausting and frustrating .... the topic of another blog.
The weather was predicted as 38 degrees in Melbourne, so about 28 degrees up at Falls Creek. Perfect. The drive was long (6 hours or so) but stunning as we made our way through Bright and Mt Beauty.
Both D and my biggest concern was not being able to find a good spot to camp, that was accessible by car with no walk in required (too much stuff to carry), that had sufficiently flat ground, had a view of sorts and was not close to any other campers.
We drove through the downhill skiing runs over to the Bogong High Plains where they do the nordic skiing. We passed a number of campers, we saw some nice spots but too close to the lake (risk with Sammy), we stopped the car and checked out a few spots about 100 m from the road but decided they were too difficult.
But we found a spot, just at the turnaround point of the road. It had the most amazing view imaginable - more than 180 degrees of horizon, looking down into the valley with the streams running through, facing west as the sun went down.
The kids were starving (and remained that way for more than two days?!) so we quickly setup the kitchen and stove and made sausage hot dogs with entree cherry tomatoes, baby cucumbers (love these!). Tom took to the concept of camping immediately. He grabbed his chair (a bucket chair - so comfy) and curled up in his sleeping bag to watch the sun go down, and read his books. When all the kids are older they will all love it more I think.
Meanwhile there was a degree of hurry to get the tent up, the bunk beds made, air mattresses blown up etc before the sun went down. So D and I went into action mode. We had had a dry run in the backyard earlier in the week so we knew the process. Still fiddly and annoying at times, and too much so to consider camping for only one night. A decision was made then that we would stay for two nights as the thought of unpacking it all the next day was too much.
Anyway, we changed the kids into their pjs and watched the most amazing sunset (precursor to the warm day the next day). We put the two little boys into bed (S in his portacot). Our tent has three huge rooms (so bunks in one section, portcot in the next, and our luxurious queen in the other). They took a while to go off. W and T played charades as we clutched a well deserved glass of red each and just breathed in the cool, less oxygenated air and breathed some more.
The temperature started to drop pretty quickly once the sun went down, so I rugged the kids up and we all got into bed. It got colder. My nose was cold, my feet were cold. I thought I would never sleep and I stressed that the kids would wake up and we would all end up in the car with the heater on. I actually got up to see that Sammy was still breathing as I worried he would die from hypothermia in his sleep. But it would appear I was the only one who was cold! Everyone slept through, except William who came into bed with us and climbed into D's sleeping bag and apparently did a 1.5 litre wee in the sleeping bag and all over D. Shall we say that D was not happy and created a massive scene. Goodness it is just wee. Anyway.
The next morning was sunny and cool but warming up quickly. We had breakfast and I happily did washing up with that amazing view in front of me. Honestly, it was perfect - really easy to be in the present in places like that. Life becomes less complex. Feed my family, wash up, breathe, smell, smile. If only it could be like that all the time.
The kids were discovering the area - climbing rocks, cycling up and down the road. T and W had vowed not to poo for two days. They didn't make it. So there was a bit of training about how to dig holes, how to position your feet (perpendicular to the slope), how to bury etc. No problems though. There wasn't a soul around so pretty private! D still had to go about 500 m away to do it! But no half hour toilet stops for anyone in this environment! Hee hee!
We took the bikes through the gate and down into the valley. E was uncomfortable riding on the rocky path so D had to help him all the time. I managed to blow a tyre within about 1 km. So E and I and S on the back turned around to go back to the tent, while D, T and W continued on. It was lovely walking back slowly - kids just picking up stones and wandering. Once again, a slowness that I never see or feel or experience in everyday life. Where there are no clocks or deadlines or ringing iphones.
In the afternoon it got warmer so we headed down to the stream for a 'bath'. You can imagine the clearest of waters in the alpine stream and to T and D's delight - there was gold! Yes. Lines of it in the quartz. Really quite impressive - I am sure worth very little unless you had a truckload of it (and I refused to carry pockets full back as requested of me by both D and T). They loved looking for gold so much they actually went back to the stream in the early evening to do more 'prospecting'. Too funny. Well I managed to splash the kids and myself down with a 'pommy shower' and it was really refreshing.
I thought we were going to run out of water, so I made D carry 15 kg of water back up the hill from the stream! We didn't end up needing it but I am sure D appreciated the workout. Not!
That evening we had lamb chops and the last of the red wine (note for future expeditions - need more than one bottle of wine). The kids were challenging to get off to sleep, and we were all tired so there was not a lot of adult time unfortunately and it got cold quickly again.
That night was not nearly so cold and I slept soundly! The next morning we had breakfast and packed up. I couldn't believe how much food we had all eaten. There was not much left at all to bring home.
Next time, we will a) take Tom's bed, b) bring more wine and beer, c) bring more trucks and digging toys for kids to play in ground with, d) get bucket chairs for all of us, e) buy new table and chairs (our old one packed it in on the uneven slope).
We are struggling to find our next spot. Bush camping isn't popular or overly advertised and even illegal in some national parks. We may need to do some reconnaissance drives to suss out appropriate spots.
But I can't wait, and this picture is now my homescreen on my work computer.
To remember to be present. To breathe. To go slow.
