Location photographer. Getting behind the scenes. Showing off the secret, and not so secret, treasures of the world.

Heidi Lewis 5/11/15 Heidi Lewis 5/11/15

What's happening with camping?

The changing face of Caravan Parks. Caravans, camper trailers and tents.

Caravan, camper trailer or tent?

We stayed at the caravan park in Port Elliot for the October long weekend. It got me thinking. Camping, and they way we do it, has changed in my lifetime. When I was young, I remember tents being the norm. Nowadays, caravans and camper trailers are the norms. Tents are few and far between.

Why is that?

Are we getting snobby? Can we not afford hotels and holiday houses but still want comfort? Do we hate camping out in tents now? Are we trying to keep up with the Jones'? Or is it that prices are rising, and people that would normally get a holiday house or stay in a hotel are being pushed out of that market. At $75 plus a night for a grass site over a holiday period, consider the cost of a holiday home - maybe that is the case. All prices are rising.

I love to rough it - or more correctly, I used to. My idea of real camping is packing the basics and heading to nature. No gourmet meals, sometimes not even chairs to sit on. A sleeping mat - ha, only when required. I would pack a salad, chickpeas, baked beans, sandwich stuff (gluten free at the moment - grr). No sauces or herbs and flavourings, keep it plain. But I haven't done this in years. Hubby likes to eat yummy stuff. I don't blame him, most people do.

We have had a camper trailer for about five years but are now nearing the (nearly inevitable) debate of upgrading to a caravan or selling it. It doesn't get that much use, and we figure for the $ we could sell it for, we could pay for cabins when we want to go to a caravan park. And I do love a caravan park holiday with kids.

It's common to find in caravan parks...
Patchy prickly lawned sites (if they have grass sites)
Boozy holidaymakers are drinking first thing in the morning or getting rowdy after dark
Toilets that need a key or code.
Kids waking before the crack of dawn (normally mine)

But you also find...
kids having fun with new friends
lots of relaxing
not needing to lock up your tent
and an overwhelming strange sense of 'everything is good' and letting your children out of your sight

You don't often get one without the other - in peak season at least. Perhaps this is a discussion for around the campfire?

Just out of interest, who remembers paying $20-25 a night for sites? I do.

Heidi Lewis 15/10/15 Heidi Lewis 15/10/15

Me, five kids and my dad - over 500km away. A trip to the Grampians.

In my research with Google Maps, I work out it’s going to be just over five hours drive. 469.5km. Add the breaks in, and we have a whole day. I’m still not sure whether I’m crazy or not. For one, I don’t particularly like driving long distances. Second, I’m taking three kids with me - alone. Hmm.

Where am I going? Wartook, at the Grampians. It's about 40 minutes the other side of Horsham (coming from Adelaide). My dad has property over there, and he is always asking us to go. Hubby can't come due to work, so I hold my tongue the right way and hope for the best. Three kids in my car and me. It will be interesting.

View from cabins at Happy Wanderer Holiday Resort

The Happy Wanderer Holiday Resort could have had potential some years ago. Now it is run down. The views from the log cabins are beautiful. One afternoon I wander over and am stopped in my tracks by the view in front of me. Grassy plains lead my eye to the soaring mountain range hiding the horizon. I can imagine sitting on the deck, watching kangaroos graze, as the sun goes down. But alas, not tonight. I hear ‘mum, excavate with me. Nobody wants to play with me.’

Halls Gap is just 30km away. The slow drive through the tree-canopied mountains is easy. The inconvenience of having to keep an eye (or two) on the road (as I am the driver) instead of the forest of trees that keep enticing me with their beauty is slightly annoying. I also smile at the quirky tree growth (after the monster bush fires about a year ago) that covers the trunk of each tree like a hairy bear. Little sprouts of leaves cover each trunk from close to the ground up to the highest limbs.

The town of Halls Gap itself is like a setting out of a movie. On one side of the main road is the caravan parks and playground, hemmed in by the towering rock face behind. The other has, among other small buildings and stores, a cute collection of shops bordering a shaded lawn area. Umbrellas and picnic tables are full with latte-sipping hikers. We walk the porch that runs the length of the shops, browsing the souvenirs, crystals and fortunately, missing the lolly shop then head over to the playground. I resist the urge to get coffee - just.

After a recommendation by the Visitor Centre as to where we could go with five kids aged 4-13-years-old, we walk to Venus Baths. An easy 2km return walks to half a dozen rock pools of varying sizes and depths where the children jump and slide and get wet. Me too. It was worth listening to the whine from some of the kids on the walk up - the kids didn't want to leave. It also means I don't lie, saying 'it will be worth it' to keep the kids going on the way up - seeing as I'd never visited before.

I carefully mention to my dad that next time we come over to the Grampians I'd like to stay in Halls Gap - even though it's not near his property. The caravan parks look nice, there is a big playground at the public park in front for the kids, and multiple hikes begin at the foot of the mountain rock face. I can hike without having to drive anywhere. And now the kids know about these very fun rock pools to slip, splish and splash about in.

So, you ask, how did the trip go? Really well. The kids entertained each other, we didn't lose anyone, and I kept my sanity with the drive there and back. Even though we had a 1.5-hour wait in Bordertown for my dad who was running late (a normal occurrence).

Did I enjoy it? Hmm. I loved the exploring but was happy to escape kids (yes, even mine) when I got home.

Would I do it again? Yes. But not to Wartook. Halls Gap is my Grampians spot.