Stewarts Crossing Camp - Charleyong

With Christmas fast approaching, and having made the decision that we would be staying put over the silly season, we realised that time was running out to squeeze on more camp in before the Christmas Holidays would be upon us.

So we picked a weekend, and for a bit of variety put out an open invitation to the school community to come and join us for a weekend away.

The beaut thing about the camp was it is under an hour and a half from home, on a bend in the Shoalhaven River with a sandy beach and good swimming hole.  It is also accessed via a dirt road, keeping the majority of punters away - and access after a lot of rain can be 'interesting' as we found in March this year.

The bad (for the majority of punters) is that there are no facilities - not even a pit toilet.  So we got around that by packing the ensuite tent, a shovel and a treat for us - a loo seat from Ray's Outdoors.

The forecast was for 36 degrees on the day of our departure - which reduced our numbers a bit due to a few people balking at the heat.  It was a bit of a shame really, as we had a ball.

The Camp... But wait til you see the river...

After setting up on Friday afternoon, we headed down for a cool off in the river... and what a magnificent feeling it was easing into the cool water.  The kids were beside themselves with excitement as they realised the swimming hole was sandy, clear and relatively safe.


On Saturday our numbers swelled even more, until we had a total of 21 kids and 18 adults in all.  We were fortunate to have such a great group of kids with us.  They ranged in ages from under one to twelve or so, and it must be said they played beautifully together.  The older ones were a real credit to themselves, taking care of the little tykes, and having so many meant that the kids could always find someone to play with.

The gaggle set up on the beach

We brought cricket and totem tennis sets, however the real entertainer was the river.  The kids spent most of Saturday in the river.  It was the perfect temperature - cool but not cold - allowing the kids to frolic and play all day with a short pause for lunch.  An inflatable kayak, couch and the odd boogie board provided plenty of variety and everyone was able to get a turn at the toys.

The Little Helpers take their turn on the inflatable kayak

Pool duty consisted of constant head counts, and we buddied the kids up with a partner, which didn't last too long, but was a good idea. Thankfully they could nearly all swim, but constant vigilance was necessary - as it is with any kids around water.

After lunch, and before returning for a swim, we had 'open home' inspections of the various caravans and camping equipment that turned up.  One of our friends runs a camping hire business - Capital Camping Hire and he was trying out one of the new Turbo Wolf Tents - very impressive bit of kit.  If you're new to camping and thinking of trying before buying, I would have to recommend you talk to Steve.

Not a bad set up at all...

And so we thoroughly enjoyed ourselves over the weekend - Although I think there was a bit of camp chair envy with many eyes looking at our reclining chairs with malicious intent...  We managed to get them in the car before they disappeared, but in the interests of preserving community spirit, you can get them at Rays Outdoors, or via their online shop at this link http://www.raysoutdoors.com.au/online-store/products/Wild-Country-Hunter-Resort-Lounge-Green.aspx?pid=267773 .  They are the best chairs we have found - and arguably could only be improved by the addition of a side table, a bottle opener and a massage function.  No we didn't get a photo of them... we were too busy sitting in them relaxing when we weren't in the river!