Has Camping Changed !!

[McGirr]

With all the new technology we have and the things we now see as a must for camping, it is interesting that we tow close to a mobile home when we go away.

I see alot of members now up grading to vans and more accessorised campers with the lot, Please don't get we wrong as its great to see people getting out and about, but have we now defined camping as more glamorous with the lot.

I understand some people only enjoy camping at caravan parks but the concept of camping has changed dramatically over the years.

Gee I remember camping in the bush near Walget NSW when I was younger with only a tent, no refridgeration etc for a week with my parents.

Now I am embarrassed to say I have 2 fridges , generator , led lights, camper trailer etc.

Could we spend a week camping the old fashion way !!

Mark   


   

[bunyip]

Sounds like a good idea.

We have been tenting it for the past 10 years, and really have had very little in the way of mod cons, a tropical icebox, gas stove etc.

Our main concession has been camping in areas that have amenities blocks, but this is to accommodate those with younger families and some of us who wouldn't camp without proper toilets.

Bunyip

[alnjan]

Used to go camping to get away from everything, now you take everything with you cause you can't be without it. 

[TOPNDR]

For me, the joy of camping is being out in the bush, preferably not in a caravan park, and enjoying the convivial exchanges one has with fellow campers, and cooking & eating out doors, and being able to see the stars & smell the breeze. 

Fortunately Mrs T & I are in the position where we can do this in comfort with our Quantum, which I consider to be an ensuite bedroom on wheels. Comfy bed, fridge, gadgets, no chance of toads plopping on one's face in the night, and it allows us to enjoy the bits we want to enjoy.

[aquadux]

It's not only our camper/caravans that have become more like home.

When we were kids the only facilities at the c/p were the toilets/showers, now we have jumping pillows, tennis courts, playgrounds for the kids, swimming pools not to mention the en suites (even for those in a tent)

It does make the kids and the wife really happy to go away.

but it is still better to camp like this than to spend the weekend at home working around the house.

Richard

[oldsalt]

We have come back to "basics" with the purchase of our 4WD - we previously had a VW camper which we converted ourselves to suit our needs - pretty basic layout but very comfortable - with us the destination not the drive is the thing. we love to get away from the crowds and just sit back and listen to nature - and to be sitting around a campfire at night out in  the bush is as good as it gets as far as we are concerned 
Now we have a tent - a Black Wolf turbo - and are "roughing it" compared to the VW days.... however we can now get to more remote locations so it's a trade off that we are happy to make.
Having said all this we are looking at CTs and really like the look of the Aussie Swag  - it seems to tick all the boxes for what we want in a CT, sure it's exxy $$$ but it'll pay for itself in wonderful holidays in this amazing country of ours so I think that's the way we'll go.
Both my wife and I had parents who took us camping as kids and I'm glad they did... we both love to get away from the big smoke - no phones, TV, computers - just the peace of the aussie bush to lull you to sleep at night.....doesn't get much better in my opinion.
cheers

[bussoboy]

as long as i have canvas over my head it' still camping for me.

when i first started camping it was done in the back of my '70 HG Belmont wagon, no sleeping bag, just an old blanket and my pillow was a rolled up jacket. food was snags, drink was jim beam my loo was beyond the tree line.

music was provided by a ferris radio cassette that went until the car battery went flat

[elle.mac]

We have tried camping both with 2 kids and now 3 kids and we decided we HAD to get a camper trailer - trying to fit everything into/on the prado just wasn't easy and led to everything being sat near the car so i could play tetris to fit it all in. But we are having a few nice luxuries fitted to the Camper like the Drifta DPOR with fridgebox for the fridge, the prado has a fridge in it as well constantly being used - my reasoning is if i have a few luxuries which keep the lil squidlets happy (and us sane) then they will be happy to go again next time.


  That said around here out of the main bush camping areas there are only 4 out of the 11 that have toilets - no showers available so we have no choice but opt for the bush so long as the dingos, buffalos, snakes and other nasty critters stay away.  But another 3 loong weeks til we pick up the Camper and i'm already planning our next camping trip when we get back.

[Hosko]

Same here, we were borrowing a mates trailer when we were going away over the last 18 months with the tent. We needed a trailer but after the last outing in winter (tents really don't have any insulation in them do they!!) we decided that we would start looking for the camper trailer. At least the Canvas should provide a little more warmth. Little is better than nothing at all!

So with that we should have enough room for everything in the CT, toolbox and will also only need one car when we go away.

We pick ours up in about 2 weeks and our next trip away is over new years...however I suspect someone's going to want to get away for at least a night somewhere to test it out before then

[Nomad]

My CT us currently for sale.

We have gotten used to taking so much crap with us the Mrs and I decided that we are going to trim back to basic stuff.

We will be getting another ct. But much smaller and lighter than the current one, not to mention better quality.

I have just sold two crappy old box trailers and bought one good gal offroad one and the roof top tent idea is really appealing to us at the moment......but we are still working out what we do with the tin lids as they are a bit young to be in their own tent.

Cheers Nomad.

[GeoffA]

With all the new technology we have and the things we now see as a must for camping, it is interesting that we tow close to a mobile home when we go away.

I see alot of members now up grading to vans and more accessorised campers with the lot, Please don't get we wrong as its great to see people getting out and about, but have we now defined camping as more glamorous with the lot.

I understand some people only enjoy camping at caravan parks but the concept of camping has changed dramatically over the years.

Gee I remember camping in the bush near Walget NSW when I was younger with only a tent, no refridgeration etc for a week with my parents.

Now I am embarrassed to say I have 2 fridges , generator , led lights, camper trailer etc.

Could we spend a week camping the old fashion way !!

Mark   


 

I've even seen one with a gas oven, rice cooker and electric toaster and fry pan...........

[Kit_e_kat9]

Yes for some, and No for others.  I think it depends on how you camped when younger. 

I was bought up camping from day dot.  My parents couldn't afford fancy stuff so we never really had it.  A bucket contained all our kitchen gear and was the sink & shower.  They upgraded to a tent when we kids came along, then decked out the rear of the ute to contain all the important stuff.  Eventually we girls got older and our camping style changed.  The car got bigger (think "Milo" but ours was SWB and blue) with a roof rack.  Everything we needed was in that car.  We tented it.  We had camp ovens.  We had a gas stove & esky.  We travelled around Australia like that.  Fancy lighting was the old "break down" light that came with the shortie otherwise it was a good torch and firelight.

Now that I'm (much) older, I've been able to purchase a camper trailer, fridges, toilets, ensuites, etc.  I still have my tent and all my primitive camping gear and I'm happy to keep it to use if we ever sell the camper.  In fact, we used my esky in place of a fridge for the first year or more, simply because we that's all we had.  Although the BF got a fridge for the ice in his rum!  Bit la de da to be honest, but I can see the value in such an item.  I purchased a HWS, but we still mostly heat water with a kettle on the fire and use a cup and bucket to shower except in winter where the shower itself is more comfortable (not necessarily the water heating system).

I have to say the bed in the camper is alot more comfortable than a blow up mattress or foam on the ground.  The kitchen is way more fancy than I was used to.  But to us ... it's really just a bed & kitchen on wheels.  It's given us the freedom to more self sufficient in a modern way ... not that the old way didn't of course ... but we are getting older now.

In the early days, we did caravan parks with the olds (when we were under 10), then bush camping (my preference), and now with the camper, we do nothing but bush camping (still my preference) where possible. 

I can honestly say I haven't been to a "caravan park" since I was about 10.  Even in some fancy modern camp grounds, we get away from everyone else and stay self suficient.  We've only plugged in the camper once at a scout camp to run a heater and haven't done it since. 

Kit_e

[Mallory Black]

Like a lot of the posters, the earliest memory I have of camping was at good old Scarness Caravan Park in Hervey Bay sometime round 1966/7.
We had a heavy canvas lean to tent with no floor, army surplus stretchers, dad cooked on some kind of BBQ thing that he put sand into then doused with metho or something like it to get a flame, I remember we had a lot of sausages that week!
That was the only Caravan Park we did from those days, the rest of the time we hit the NP's or bush camped on a farm or state forest with us all piled into the '64 Kombi.

Good days.....

There was a break while another lil sis was born and when she was 3 mum & dad got all flash in 1974 when they bought a continental tent, Canadian brand, (Woods? very modern for the time, had a floor and insect screens!)and companion stove, stand, gas light etc airbeds. Still used the army surplus kitchen stuff.
I inherited that gear and we used it right up till we lashed out and made our own CT last year.
That old companion stove is still perfect and now in my little sis's outfit and the tent is having a new life with a workmate and his young family. We modded the tent so it could be erected by 2 people in 30 seconds so how bout that!!.

Our own current camper is deliberately basic and lightweight, no hot water system, no s/s sinks or elec pumps, if I can get it in alloy or plastic that's how it is...the only concession to technology is LED & Fluro lighting and soon some kind of "i-pod/i-pad  friendly system for music from time to time

GOD we soo love sleeping up off the ground though!  and camping with other swaggers too!

[Swannie]

I do both.. I spend time at CP when the whole family want to go away and I alternate it by at least going bush witha swag or tent eevery 6-8 weeks with just my sons.
I love the basic of camping, but when it with all the family the whole Camper/Caravnn park thing is easier
Greg

[Lori]

My nanna used to tell me wonderful stories of camping when she still lived in England.

Nanna, Pop and 2 kids all packed up onto the motorbike and sidecar!

They would manage to pack their tent, bedding, clothes and kitchen stuff into the very limited area and go enjoy themselves for the weekend.

[Pipeliner]

My first camping was with the Boy Scouts - travel to camp sitting on top of all the gear in the back of a lorry (truck), sleep in old ex-army bell tents in sleeping bags on groundsheets on the earth, cook over an open fire, dig a sh!t pit with a stout branch supported over it for a loo seat.  Five of us also spent a week walking coast-to-coast across Devon (which includes Dartmoor) carrying everything we needed on our backs.  That was camping in my teens.

Didn't do any more camping until about 8 years ago when I bought our first camper trailer.  Pretty soon realised that I wasn't a teenager any more and swapped it in for an Odyssey complete with inner spring mattress, hot water, and an en-suite loo and shower.

Would I go back to the way it was 50 years ago?  Not unless there was no option!!!  Has camping changed?  Yes, just like everything else in daily life.  Can anyone point to ANYTHING they did 50 years ago and honestly say they still do it exactly the same way today? (Breathing doesn't count!).  Would anyone happily go back to 50 years ago?  I doubt it - don't forget that MySwag wasn't available then!

[Rumpig]

as long as the people getting out there are happy how they do it, then what's it really matter? for me it's about quick set up and pack up time frames, you don't need to spend hours setting stuff up and pulling it down again when you go somewhere.
i have a camper trailer that makes life easy for both me, the wife and the kids when we go away, quick to set up and pack up and has all the wife wants to make things easy for her and comfortable for the kids (like a diesel heater and hot water system for a start).  this weekend however i'll be heading away with just a swag to sleep in and a few other basics, it'll be just as good because at the end of the day i won't be at work and instead out in the bush 

[Frostd]

I agree, camping has changed, but it is up to the individual how much it will change for them. 

I recall camping on the beach at Harrington, NSW, in an old Army tent, with my dad, uncles and cousins. We used eskies, with an ice run every day to keep things cold. Lighting was kero lights. Toilets were a hole in the ground. We then moved up to newer style tents, camped in places like the Barrington Tops, Moree and Western NSW.  It was only two years ago, we bought our CT and our first fridge. Prior to this we had borrowed a 3 way fridge for a few camps.  These days, I am more aware of taking to much and try to stop putting lots of things in. I think we have moved this way, more for comfort rather then carrying a separate house when we go camping.  Still love to get away.

[D4D]

as long as the people getting out there are happy how they do it

x2

When it is just me - swag
When it is the family - ensuite site

Haven't done much of either lately

[Pipeliner]

as long as the people getting out there are happy how they do it, then what's it really matter? for me it's about quick set up and pack up time frames, you don't need to spend hours setting stuff up and pulling it down again when you go somewhere.
i have a camper trailer that makes life easy for both me, the wife and the kids when we go away, quick to set up and pack up and has all the wife wants to make things easy for her and comfortable for the kids (like a diesel heater and hot water system for a start).  this weekend however i'll be heading away with just a swag to sleep in and a few other basics, it'll be just as good because at the end of the day i won't be at work and instead out in the bush 

But I bet the swag is very different to the ones around 50 years ago!

[briann532]

We try to go at least very 2 or 3 weeks.
Not happening lately while I build a pool, but usually we do.

We did get away for the fathers day weekend, and it brought tears to my eyes...........
We took the glamper (Jayco hawk) with its led lights, plasma, ipad, oven, shower, car had the gps, fridge, plasmas in the headrests, nintendos, sat phone etc etc............

BUT---------------What did we do?

Built a fire, built a tree swing, went birdwatching (god knows why, but miss 5 likes it) played with sticks, spent hours climbing over a tree that had fallen down, went spotting fish in the river, walked, played, laughed and cook roast lamb.

yes we could have done it in a tent, or swag, but yes we were comfortable and warm in our glamper and that makes us want to do it again..........
See you out there next weekend!!!
 

Brian

[Swannie]

I'm missing not getting out there... with the weather so bad in Vic at the moment. So I said stuff it, I've booked a couple of days in a cabin on a farm  at bright with the family and I know we will have a ball ( it still has an open fire) 

Next weekend swagging it up at Undeera.

As long as I'm not at home!!!!!
Greg

[timneva]

Nice one Mark. I love nothing more than stinking of smoke, looking like a grot and wearing the same pair of jocks for a week 

As long as we're sitting around a fire, amongst the wildlife, can cook good food, see the stars, have a warm bed (be it in the camper, swags or tent) and the kids can go nuts bushwalking or climbing trees and rocks etc, then we're having a ball.

Personally, I prefer bush camping away from the masses and have been fortunate enough to have been out the last 2 weekends in the camper, but either way, as long as people are enjoying it, then that's the best part.

We've been lucky enough to have camped all our lives and took some friends away last year on a 4 week trip, 90% of which was bush camping. They'd only camped one night as a family previously, camping in a tent - wet - and hated it !
We got them to hire a camper for the trip and since then, they can't get enough and are now looking for their own CT.

Yep - CT's and the like certainly add a little more ease and comfort to the whole experience, but if that's what it takes to get people out and about who would otherwise not consider it, then all the better.

 

[Hairs]

G'day Mark,
Camping is a different experience for different reasons to different people, as Rumpig mentioned, as long as people are out there, don't ask me to defined 'Out there', because that has a different meaning for different people as well 
I guess it means sitting around a table in the afternoon at a caravan park enjoying the company of strangers, friends or sitting under the stars somewhere around a fire in the middle of nowhere, what does it really matter?
We are trying to cut out all crap from our set up, KISS, It's getting easier as the kids are getting older,  I think 
 

[6knights]

Still fairley basic for us, a couple of tents with swags and a basic kitchen setup even down to the plastic tub on the table for washing up in. We do now have a 47L fridge and some led lights which is the most mod con bit of gear we own, the toilet is a thunder box type setup which is placed in a senic location and most times doesn't even have a shelter around it.

  We have a property with hilly country on it so camping is literaly a 10-15 min drive to get to.

Trevor

some photos added.