Australia Day is one of my favourite holidays of the year. It is a day to celebrate everything that is great about being an Aussie, how amazing Australia is and just how lucky we truly are to live in such a safe, beautiful and clean country that affords its residents every opportunity. Over the years I have generally celebrated Australia Day with friends from University and this year was the same and whilst everyone couldn’t come we still had an amazing weekend in the sunshine with the other three couples who came! This year Australia Day fell on a Friday and so we decided to make the most of the long weekend and go camping up to Trial Bay in beautiful South West Rocks. We were blessed with stunning weather, beautiful calm water and great company!
There was four couples and we’d booked two pitches so we set up our tents and swags as soon as we arrived. Dan and I had bought a gazebo the week before when the weather forecast had predicted a bit of rain and it was honestly the best purchase we’ve made in a long time! It only rained a little on the last night but it was crazy hot all weekend and without the gazebo we would have had no shade so it was a total lifesaver!
When we do camp, Dan and I usually take a tent and I take lots of bedding and pillows to make it as comfy as possible. All my friends laugh at us and call it glamping, but having glamped multiple times I know it’s not quite glamping! Dan bought a swag for his buck’s weekend and it was our first time camping in it together and I unfortunately am not a fan. Whilst I’d always pick a nice hotel over camping, I have grown to enjoy camping in a tent but I don’t think I’m quite ready to transition to a swag – it’s too claustrophobic for me! If anyone has any tips for surviving a few nights in a swag I would love to know!
The beach was less than a minute walk from our campsite and we spent most of our time there swimming, snorkelling and paddleboarding. It was the perfect conditions for our stand up paddleboards and I was so glad we took them as we haven’t had them out for ages and everyone got to have a go!
Poor Luke had too big a night the night before and was having a snooze on the sand so we covered him up so he didn’t get sunburnt!
The poor girls were in a world of pain with their sunburns too. I’m usually the sunburnt one but on this occasion I’d been super sun safe with a big hat and a rashie and I was happy not to be fried! I’ve convinced the girls that they need to buy rashies before their next visits to the coast.
When we weren’t at the beach we spent the rest of our time chilling at the campsite, relaxing in the shade, having a few drinks, listening to the Triple J Hottest 100 on Sunday and the boys cooked up some serious BBQ feasts on our Baby Weber Q! We bought our Weber not long after we moved back to Australia and use it multiple times a week to cook dinners, weekend BBQ’s and of course we always take it camping.
There were a lot of kangaroos at Trial Bay and of a night they would go through the campsites so we had to be sure not to leave any food or rubbish out! Dan still hasn’t gotten over his obsession with Kangaroo’s and still always tries to pat them whenever we see them. I am sure one day he’ll get hurt but for now they don’t seem to mind too much…
We packed up and headed home on the Sunday and it was such a beautiful day that we headed down to our favourite local beach, Lighthouse Beach that evening. Dan went fishing whilst I went for a walk and it was such a magical evening, the perfect way to end a wonderful long weekend.
