The SE Qld camp was held at Cambroon Camping and Caravan Park near Kenilworth in the sunshine coast hinterland from 12-14th July 2013.

Fifty two people, 7 dogs and 23 trailer/vans attended including our interstate group co-owners Rob and Carol. Not only did they the Novocastrians attend from interstate but we also had Stan Bryant and Robyn Curtis attend all the way from Kandos NSW making this a very special event indeed. Some happy campers arrived on the preceding Thursday and some even stayed till the Tuesday, camping five nights all up.

The weather was partially sunny for the first couple of days then increasing cloud started to amass over the weekend till it eventually gave way to steady rain from Monday night onwards. Most of the canvas tents/vans had completed their pack up before the rain set in but the brave few who remained had the unfortunate job of drying their units in the following days.

In Qld we usually have a morning tea but delayed this till the afternoon to make our interstate folk feel more at home. This also gave us the chance to sit round a couple of 44 gallon fire buckets and get some beautiful heat for comfort during the later afternoon – it gets very cold in the hinterland, sometimes down as low as 15 degrees.

Some of the finer points of the weekend were;

* Kenilworth is in a long valley with lush green pastures therefore suitable for dairy cattle. The town has a great dairy which processes the milk to cheeses and yoghurts. So on Saturday morning most of the group set off for a visit and tasting of the ‘Kenilworth Country Foods’ and came back stocked up with an assortment of the finest products including said cheeses, yoghurts, condiments, spreads and crackers. They were consumed at the arvo tea and enjoyed by one and all. Personally the one called ‘Top Dog’ was delightful to eat as long as the peg on the nose didn’t stop the tasting – perhaps ‘Stinky Dog’ was a more apt name!

* Cambroon Caravan and Camping Park is 7 klm from Kenilworth and is a working deer farm as well as the caravan and cabin business. We occupied two areas which were separated by a causeway which formed a dam for the Deer water supply. The main area was very tree laden and difficult for those using solar to get a good amount of sunlight to power up. Some folk decided on the 240v supply available but not the diehards who won’t infect their batteries with dirty electrons.

* During the morning some of the kids were able to feed the young Deer called ‘Pete’. He kept coming up to the fence for a handful of grass and a gentle pat. He was so tame, even our dog ‘Cedar’ went for a quick sniff. They greeted each other as strangers and left as dinner companions (Cedar’s words, not mine).

* We learnt the importance of GPS units during the camp. Some of the group (no, I’m not naming them) decided to download the latest maps to their units, seemed a perfectly acceptable thing to do. Apparently you enter the settings area and choose between Australia and New Zealand – again, a relatively simple choice. Well the fat finger syndrome got the better of them and they selected NZ and took the long way to Cambroon – I think they came ‘across the ditch’. Again I’m not one to tell, but if you jumble the letters BRO around, you may have an idea of who that was.

* It did get a little cool at night and we had pre-ordered a couple of loads of timber from a local merchant. It was great to have a heap on hand and again we had about 4 large fire pits for all to sit around. The owners of Cambroon even supplied a box trailer so we could empty the timber straight into thus keeping it off the ground, and a wheelbarrow to cart it to the different sites.

* We did have some new members attend the group, it was great to see the wonderful setup of Cass & Rob and their kids and their beaut trailer. They happened to setup next to a tree that was full of scratch marks from either a Koala or Monitor but never saw the culprit over the weekend. I for one marvelled at the four kids sitting round the fire, all with their iPads in hand so studiously working on homework and other diligent studies. Wonderful.

* Another new member was Peter Collins who lives not too far from Cambroon but was using his rear-fold hard floor for the second time. He was warmly welcomed by Stan and Robyn and they had long wonderful chats and meals together under the camp kitchen shelter.

* A relatively new comer to the group, but with a spanking brand new shiny trailer, was Sandra and Jose with their Pacific Aluminium. I can see many fun times ahead for them developing, adding, changing and camping in such a great unit. Thank goodness they had their two watch hounds on guard to fend of those vicious Deer as they set up on the fence line.

* We had a couple of day visitors who were unable to camp due to other pending events. Chris and Kate spent the better part of the day with us and gratefully showed of their magnificent vehicle which they had just done up prior to their Cape York trip the following weekend. Don also came and shared a cuppa, cake and quiet chat around the fire for the afternoon.

* One of the regulars had awful trouble with his engine bay and winch system. The bonnet of his black Pajero remained open to assist in the cooling of the engine for what seemed like hours. I’m not sure of what the issue was but I suspect he had to wind out the winch rope several times and somehow use it to ‘floss’ the engine gears or something. Unconfirmed – but he was also heading Nth to the Cape and I’m not sure he’s been heard of since. Possibly the camping in PNG is great this time of year.

* On the Mon day, a seven of the group went to the Kenilworth Pub for a lunch and town discovery tour. They met another group member who was at the local showground camping for the past week or so. The group then went for a quick tour of the local Kenilworth State Forest to check out a possible site for future camps. A recommended spot if ever for the summer days with a great creek nearby and tall shady trees.

* It did start to rain on the evening prior to pack up which made for a very greasy surface to drive on. Mr 4x4 Andy did his best to plough a couple of furrows for the owners to sew some wheat for their Deer. Well at least that was the impression we got at the two deep channels left behind as the CT was towed up the ridge.

* The park had a wild lemon tree and many folk wandered over to pick a bucket of the fruit. They must have been very precious as the bucket was put outside the van and a Pink Flamingo was promptly put on watch to ensure that people only took the allowed two items.

* Some of the unkind folk nicknamed the bottom area as ‘Pensioners Paradise’ which I thought was very unfair, We were camping in that area and are still employed and have no chance at leading such a splendidly vagrant lifestyle. You know the saying about sticks and stones….

Matt and Wendy Stone