Summer camping

I am suffering from major camping withdrawal! Camping in the Australian summer can be a hot exercise, which is why we generally avoid going camping through the worst of the summer. This year the bush fire risk has added to the reasons not to camp, but my camping addiction is in major withdrawal at the moment and I don’t think I can hold out much longer, a weekend trip is calling.

So I have been investigating ways to make summer camping more tolerable, afraid I am a cold climate person, summer heat is not my thing and I am so fair skinned, I swear I turn pink with sunburn just walking from the back door to the car on a summer day, (so maybe I am prone to a bit of exaggeration but I feel like anytime outside and I start to burn. Yes, I know, slap on the sun screen).

Back to the heat and camping issue. Shade and water seem to be crucial for summer camping so that is what will dictate selection of location. The other issue is the need for dog friendly camping. Our close coastal locations have only limited options in regards to dogs but there are a few options on the Sunshine coast. Our very last camping trip was to Golden beach caravan park on the Sunshine coast and that was okay, just across the road from the beach and happy to allow well behaved dogs kept on lead. The nearest beach was not a dog beach though. So this coming weekend we might just head back to the beach or there is a hinterland option on a creek that I am interested in trying.

The pod is pretty well insulated and on those occasions we have camped in warm weather the interior temperature of the pod has been pretty good but being a small confined space it can still get warm. The 12 volt fan is a blessing and makes a huge difference. I know some people use evaporative coolers, you can get small usb connected versions of the coolers as well, but I am reluctant to go down that path due to the humidity and moisture issue in such a confined space. You can also make one using a 12 volt fan, a bucket, some pvc tubing and ice. The other issue is use of power, we rely on solar panels for our power most of the time, so being energy conscious is something we have to consider, although the solar panels have been more than adequate to power the lights, fan and our camping fridge, (we are certainly not roughing it).

Shade is crucial in managing temperature in the pod but we still need to be able to move the panels into sunlight, so that is a consideration. We are thinking about maybe setting up a shade canopy over the entire pod and associated tent to create a bit more climate control. If anyone has any good ideas, please share them. I don’t think I can survive another week without bush or beach.

A’tuin needs another adventure! And I need some nature time, no matter how hot it gets.