:: trails, mud and stacks of fun

Friday afternoon was not your typically inviting weather for camping. Nor was Saturday. But brave it we did and conquer it we have.

My shift at work on Friday went relatively well. Showers done, we all made our way at our pace up to the Big Room for the Friday Barbecue Breakfast. Fridays always have a great start because no matter how long you are working for, you get to eat a hearty meal with the residents. Work finished a bit late, and i managed to shower and pack my car up for camping within an hour. I was also impressed.

Picking Pete up on the way, I was highly amused that he was bringing more stuff than me - a girl. He was even bringing more clothes than me, which when I first thought about it, I wondered if I somehow could've missed packing vitally important things like underwear or a change of socks. Satisfied I hadn't forgotten anything, and that I pack better than him, I happily left him to tie all the bikes and gear up [because he didn't need any help, he said] and then we made tracks for the hills.

We passed the Mount Lofty Information Centre with the understanding that Pete knew where he was going. I thought we needed to take road [a] but Pete thought we took road [b]. So we drove down road [b] to discover that it wasn't the way we were needing to go. I again thought we should take road [a] but Pete thought perhaps we should go down road [c] - but the choice was up to me. SO I did what any chick would do - I drove back to the Information Centre to get a map.

HILARIOUSLY... I was right. But because I'm nice, I don't rub it in. Noteably, if it was the other way around, I wouldn't hear the end of it. Ha. We had some trouble getting the lock undone at the gate, but we found the site quickly, followed by Tim & Nay.

We were all ready for bed - it was only about 9pm - when Justin & Cheryl finally arrived. It was amusing to watch him put their tent up, he wasn't happy with his tent not behaving, and it probably didn't help that we were having a good laugh about it. Pretty much, as soon as they were set up, the rest of us dispersed to bed.

The next day, after a restless night of sleep, most of us took a while to warm up to the vertical position but thanks to the roaring fire that wasn't starting too quickly... [note: kids verses boys. Kids cheat first, then boys cheat, then boys atleast start the fire using their cheating method]. The blokes took swing to the wind and hacked up several logs, slowly building our burning nest egg up throughout the day. I took a ride down one of the roads nearby, only to discover its mush and lack of riding ability on a downhill run and careered into the trees via a slip-sliding path. After a tour through some pine growth, I came out the other side, muddy, tired but enjoyed the ride. After lunch, some of the others took to a ride, and found a bike path through the pines that a group of us did several times. It had all the perks of sharp corners, sludge pits, a nice down hill run quickly followed by a sharp turn that if you miss will create an entertaining scenario for anyone else watching. Atleast after we finished the ride, I wasn't the only one with a mud trail up my back and splatters down my front.

Justin and I had a jam sesh in the arvo as he brought his guitar [wait, I brought his guitar], which I really enjoyed, and I think the others did too. Some of the gang started getting tea ready, and others took some walks. At about 6pm, 2 girls that Sharon knows from church came out and brought dessert for us all. It was GREAT! We all stank, yet it was nice that they were keen to chat - AND bring great food. Our eyes  were all stinging from the smoke which made going to bed early easy... until....

5:30am. Car alarm going off. Thankfully it stopped soon after, however we later discovered that no one turned it off and no one got out of their tents to check out why it did go off. But then something [okay, it was a roo] was sniffing at my tent not long after that - so I decided that Roo's had bumped into someone's car and set off the alarm. That was a better theory than one that some perve tried to get into a car and then came and sniffed my tent. Yeah, not cool...

The next day we all were packed pretty early and eating delicious porridge. That is, all of us except Justin & Cheryl. Somehow they missed the note [or the general awareness] that you usually pack up and leave a campsite early. There was this classic moment when they were both sitting looking at the fire eating breakfast when the rest of us are loading up cars and tidying up. I had a good chuckle!

After a GREAT lunch at Williamstown, we all made our ways back home to unpack, set up, clean up, pack down and wash.

God, I just love camping!!!

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