Camping bliss on the Murray River, WA (Image Credit: Paul Jarvis)
Ever since I first picked up a paddle, I’ve wanted to take off with mates for a few nights under the stars at some hidden camp-spot only accessible by kayak. It doesn’t take too long before my paddling mates admit they too have this secret desire, to get away and rough it away from the pressures of work (and occasionally, family!).
Then the sensational picture above arrived from Paul (from my birth state of Western Australia) showing a trip he’d just returned from last weekend, adding fuel to my camping desires. All week this image has been coming back to me, taunting me with its simple beauty, to the point where I’m becoming obsessed with my need to paddle off into the sunset for a few nights with nature.
But that brings me to an interesting point – I don’t have any camping gear. Somewhere between being a bachelor moving between different cities and a married man with small kids, I have over time lost, lent or given away what camping gear I had. So with this festering desire to camp building, I need to quickly start acquiring the basics to get me out there.
So what better way to find out than to seek the advice of my fellow global paddlers? I’d love to get your advice on a basic gear list (and lets keep it basic, I want to stay as light and simple as possible), lightweight gear considered necessities etc.
I’d also like to advice on places in NSW (ideally fairly close to Sydney) where I can camp remotely (ie not in a caravan park with lots of other campers). Both coastal and inland places would be great!
Ok, over to my readers now, get those comments coming in please! Cheers – FP
In order of priority, you should take:
1. Good friends, good company.
2. Esky full of Coopers. (goes without saying)
3. Lots of water if there’s a danger of becoming dehydrated.
4. A tarp tent (use paddle or splits as poles, they’re very light and spacesaving)
5. Matches, lighter etc, separated, in two separate dry bags for making a fire (if you’re allowed to light open fires in NSW..)
6. Decent sleeping bag, although I doubt you’ll need a thick one in Australia! Synthetic is fine for your climate and packs down smaller than a down bag.
7. Might be worth considering a hammock if it’d get you out of the way of the creepy crawlies…
Depending on where you’ll be camping, check http://www.hennessyhammock.com , lightweight alternative to a tent, that i find much more comfortable and still protects from elements and bugs. other than that, a kife and whiskey! cheers, tf
Oh have you come to the right place. The Internet is full of gear-heads with many suggestions. You can check out my list here. It’s a little old.
If I was buying everything today, I’d buy:
Shelter: Zpack Hexamid
Sleeping Bag: Mountain Hardware Ultralamina 32
A Jetboil personal cook system.
The lightest sleeping pad that felt comfy to me.
And a bunch of Sea-to-Summit dry bags.
I just wish I could go camping in Kuringai Chase NP.
Favourite spots are the back river behind Bobbin Head (beautiful) and off from Cottage Point.
The nice thing about Cottage Point is you can hire kayaks there if you want to head out with non-yak owning friends…
http://snipurl.com/kcnp
You might find Bryan Hansel’s blog http://www.nessmuking.com useful. He’s done a fair number of reviews on different pieces of camping gear, and also has lots of good advice on what works and what doesn’t, at least for him 🙂
Hahaha… I just realized Bryan already posted a comment. Mental note – read comments before posting!
*chuckle* thanks Chris! I love Bryan’s stuff, but not all of it is available here in Oz. I’ll keep looking though! 🙂
hey fp, go to kayakfishing website. they have a forum message board about kayak camping and it is australian based.
i too have this dream and have a few things already collected. which easilly fits into a storage hatch of my mirage 580.
a 2 man tent , quality sleeping bag, self inflating sleeping mat, 1 burner butane cooker, small saucer, small frypan, bowl, plate, cup, can opener, quality knife,fork,spoon, dry bags,
lets get together and go for a camp and our families may enjoy it also
Mate, check out the Hunter Kayak Klan as well. there have been a few posts about champing stuff, including a good commentary from Simon McGuire and his words of wisdom from his last year paddle from Byron bay to Newcastle.
I’m still keen to paddle/camp the Shoalhaven Gorge when you’re ready. Check the escapology summary of the paddle above the dam – only way to get into this part of the national park is with a paddle!
the set up in the pic at the top of the page is a black wolf hornet tent; packs small and comes in a roll top stuff sack, each kayak has a pacific outdoor gear medium dry/flotation bag in the bow with a thermarest dreamtime XL mattress, sheets and a Black Wolf inflatable pillow inside.
seattle sports hydro lock dry bags are used to contain a Snow Peak Giga power WG stove(brilliant and silent), a few changes of clothes, microfibre towels, books, matches/lighters.
Water is carried in a collapsible container in one day hatch (10 litres) along with one 3 litre source bag on each deck and a collapsibe army canteen (4 litres) in the other day hatch.
Dry foods are stored in canisters in dry bags with one soft sided cooler containing some fresh veg, cryovac meat and four Little Creatures Pale Ales or White Rabbit dark ales(depends on the time of year). This also doubles as a cool storage for medications etc.
Spare paddles are carried on the deck along with a small deck bag with some snacks and communications gear(mobile phone and vhf radio.
We use a tent but a mozzie dome and tarp would be just as good.
We also carried a collapsible four slice toaster and some bread on this trip which served as a base for some gourmet treats.
This is essentially the weekender set-up which we used when we tricked the in-laws into looking after the progeny and making good the getaway. For a longer trip you would need more water and more dry/less fresh food.
Obviously on your side of the country it is more populated with a lot more fresh water around so probably don’t need to be as water conscious.
Oh and we are shocking guerrilla campers, paddle in on sunset find a likely looking place and up with the tent, heading off tonight with my son (7) to go guerrilla camping on the Swan somewhere. Use the stealth attributes of the kayak wisely and the world is your oyster.
@Chris – Funny!
Sean- if its warm weather, a couple of small watermelons are hard to beat for refreshment & breakfast.
Sean,
I have also had a repressed urge to go on overnight kayaking trips. This was fuelled even more by reading Freya’s blog (which incidently was how I stumbled on to your site). So I’m keen to read the replies as well because I also have no camping equipment.
As far as locations go, one trip I think I may cut my teeth on is on the Tallawah Dam in Kangaroo Valley. I’ve paddled there before but only on a day trip but the scenary is fantastic, and camp sites plentiful. You can probably only do an overnight, maybe two nights (assuming like me you want to paddle each day) but that is more than enough for a first trip.
In addition, Kayaks\canoes can be hired as well as tents, stoves and other camping equipment.
On an ealier one of your pages you mused on taking your family on trips. I thoroughly recommend this location for that. I took my wife and two of my girls there (age 6 and 10 at the time). We hired a swagman canoe so four could fit in a single boat. It was a great day with plenty of spots to stop for swimming, wombat watching etc. Not a single “I’m bored” was heard all day.
Here’s a link if interested. http://www.kangaroovalleycanoes.com.au/services/sgt.html
I love reading your blog too mate. Great stuff.
Cheers
Rhys
Gday Rhys, that Kangaroo Valley stuff looks great! Will definitely include on my “places I want to paddle” list. Thanks for sharing and glad you enjoy my ramblings! Cheers mate – FP
Here’s a few of the things we don’t leave home without when canoe or kayak-camping:
A Trangia (Swedish alcohol stove) is basic but perfect for one pot meals and baking bannock. Amazingly old now but the scratches and dents remind us of all the places we made them.
A Terra Nova tent – a bit heavier than the lightweight stuff but bombproof. Ours are still going strong after over 15 years of rough use.
A thermarest sleeping mat and thermarest (Crazy Creek) chair kit.
Seal Line drybags or MEC (Mountain Equipment Coop) equivalent.
A really nice paddle – you choose.
Bloody good book or two.
Cameras – note the plural.
And one more thing … buy dental floss in a square plastic case, open it and tape a few needles inside the casing. You can even get a needle-threader in there. You will not be sorry. Most of the stuff we have is over 10 years old, beaten up, sewn and patched with dental floss, and irreplaceable.
The dental floss doubles as … well, dental floss. Rambo-types can patch up gaping wounds too! ;O)
That’s it.
Chris and Jane
Paddle in cool weather – less mosquitoes and less tourists!
Watched my dad sew himself up with floss after a shearing accident as a youngster, works well but absolutely no way could I do it
Chris! Good to hear from you mate, is the winter starting to break in Greenland yet??
I like the idea of a Trangia – anyone else out there use one, any feedback (positive or negative)?
And Paul? Stitches with floss is BAD ASS! I’ll have to try it someday!! 😉
trangias are great, no two ways about it, the last word in reliability. We carry a Trangia in case the white gas stove buggers up and we use the pots and pans all the time.
gaffa(100 mile an hour) tape and floss and there is nothing you can’t fix. I can see it now Sean emerge from a ruck after some cuzzy bro has been doing the Maori two step on your noggin, stitch yourself up and back into the fray. Good as gold and a telling psychological blow.
Ha! I never bothered with stitches, I always thought the scars added to my toughness. Of course what they really added to was my ugliness – doh!!
What sized Trangia do you use, the standard (27 series) or the bigger 25 series?
We use the Tatonka version which is stainless steel rather than ally and it is the same as the 25 because we drag the kids along on a lot of the wanders we do these days so the extra capacity helps.
Trangia also do a gas version which uses those disposable canisters and a multi fuel version. I have a bit of a problem with anything disposable hence our combination of a white gas stove and a metho burning trangia.
Few tips with the Trangia don’t overfill the reservoir 3/4 is about perfect and add a thimbleful of water to the reservoir with your metho and it burns perfectly clean, no soot