Darche camp shelter

I recently purchased a Darche Outdoor Gear camp shelter from Swags & Camping Direct. Price was $129 delivered. On receiving the camp shelter, I was surprised at how small the package was. I measured it at approximately 82 cm x 8 cm x 11 cm and the packaging says that it weighs 3.5 kg. I was a little concerned that the camp shelter poles would not be high enough to clear my tent.more »

Canvas tourer tent comparison

I am in the market for a canvas tourer tent. These tents are fast to set up and can be considered the original quick pitch tent. They are also heavy and bulky, but this is not a problem if you are touring in a car. Having made the decision to buy a canvas tourer tent, I decided to conduct a comparison of the main features of the various extended tents on the marketmore »

Improving your running form with a metronome

Let me get one thing clear straight up: I am a lazy runner. I began running again about 25 kg more than my weight when I last ran as a teenager. Minimising the effort required to lug around the extra flab was essential to get me running. This is my experience. I began my journey by trying to find hints that would minimise the effort required to run. In the process, I discoveredmore »

Camping gear — do you really need it?

I see many new campers going to their nearest camping store and spending up big. They buy the biggest tents, luxury beds and enough cooking gear for a dinner party for eight. Then they need a trailer to cart all the gear around. They then progress to a caravan — but make it a tandem wheel caravan. I call this gear camping porn: It’s camping gear you lust after; but if you had themore »

Borumba Deer Park camping review and photos

I took the family camping at Borumba Deer Park on the weekend. Following are a few comments on our experience, and some photos of the park and local attractions. Borumba Deer Park staff Once we had checked in, we had little to do with the staff. The few times we did encounter them, they were generally pleasant and easy to deal with, except our situation on arrival – see below. Arrival at Borumba Deer Parkmore »

Camping checklist

Following is my camping gear checklist. My gear is based around camping at unpowered sites in campgrounds. For some minimalist campers (such as hikers), this list is way too much. I am camping with young kids and my wife, so need to have a reasonable level of comfort. On the other hand, many people camp with a lot more than this and may consider my list to be just the basic essentials. Formore »

South East Queensland camping resources

Here are a few links to useful resources for camping in South East Queensland. I have started building this list for myself, so I thought I may as well share them with others on this blog. I will add to this list as time goes on. While the list is South East Queensland centric, many national directories include information on the region’s camping areas, so I have included the national lists as well.more »