Campers Road Trips

**Camper** · 10-09-2017, 10:15 AM

Originally Posted by Kiwivan

Had a bit of a chuckle at that story.

Cheers Kiwivan

Yeah, I definitely got done there, no real hard feelings though, if I was going camping with a wife and 4 kids $28.00 seems reasonable and the other activities would be an attraction.

If I had gone there just for Laser Skirmish etc. and wanted a shower after $4.00 would be fine, If I was managing a site full of school kids I may want security on doors. If you asked me to chop wood I would want at least $20.00 an hour, plus super, tax etc.

Having dealt with customer complaints over a lifetime in hospitality I couldn't really get mad at the business for not being what I wanted, looking at their website now it is clear who they are and what they offer. The fault was mine in booking such a place, there are other options. I will chalk it up as a learning experience and book elsewhere next time I'm in the area.

Where was your bad park? NZ?

**Kiwivan** · 10-09-2017, 04:22 PM

Yes in New Zealand
Feilding to be precise.
We still laugh about it.

Cheers Kiwivan

**Camper** · 20-09-2017, 11:29 AM

Hey all,

back from another short over night trip, had a look at Callide Lake, Wongi National Park and followed the coast opposite Fraser Island.

Will post more this afternoon

**Camper** · 20-09-2017, 08:51 PM

.

I like to stick to the back roads when I can, you get to see so much more, including farm machinery

I felt like I could drive straight under given the need

Love a country road, this area is all farmers and scrub

I took an interesting turnoff without knowing where I was going, saw a sign warning of steep, winding roads next 68Ks and figured I had to check it out, glad I did

Cute little things - pretty faced wallaby

If the last road was all fields this one was all cliff edges and water crossings, Callide creek here as it enters the Lake/Dam

Surprise power station, I had no idea this was here

Found a lookout, there are 2 power stations, a dam and a coal mine all right next to each other

Back down by lakes edge, you cannot camp here but you can bring your caravan and boat...

Overflow from the dam, very clean water and an easy crossing

After this it was back on the highway for a dash towards the camp spot 300Ks away, just made it before dark

**Kiwivan** · 21-09-2017, 04:24 PM

Nuclear or geothermal power station?
Nice pictures by the way

Cheers Kiwivan

**Camper** · 21-09-2017, 08:52 PM

Originally Posted by Kiwivan

Nuclear or geothermal power station?

Cheers Kiwivan

Thanks Kiwi,

it is a coal fired power station, 2 right next to each other - I certainly thought Nuclear when I first saw that cooling tower. Simpsons has me prepped to believe any big tower like that must be nuclear.

**Camper** · 21-09-2017, 09:17 PM

It was getting dark by the time I made it into camp, I had stopped a couple times along the way for a nap/walk etc. The dirt road into the campsite was a bit rougher than I thought it would be and poorly signposted, lots of unnamed cross roads (even those that are named are numbered 2536/3718/2518 etc etc.) Lucky I had the GPS with me.

It ended up taking me nearly an hour to do 56Ks!

Got to the campsite, quick look around and an even quicker set up, gotta love a van for that.

Next morning I was woken up by birds and the beauty of the place revealed itself

The light was changing quick so I went for a walk along the edge of the main waterhole

I think this might be my new favourite photo, the tannins from the paperbark have stained the water nearly black making for great reflections.

The water at one end was covered in this weird weed, does anyone know what its called?

The water is like a mirror

Back to camp, toilets and cold showers provided - all for $6.35 a night bargain! and only 1 quiet neighbour on the other end of the site.

**Kiwivan** · 23-09-2017, 06:50 AM

Again beautiful pictures
What are using as a camera?

Cheers Kiwivan

**Camper** · 23-09-2017, 11:45 AM

Originally Posted by Kiwivan

Again beautiful pictures
What are using as a camera?

Cheers Kiwivan

Thanks Mate,

I mainly use my phone, a Google Pixel XL and a Lumix TZ80 - it has 30 x zoom and fits in my pocket - they say the best camera is the one you have on you.

You can get the Pixel for around $700 now, new one is about to come out.
The camera on the "old" one really is outstanding, if it had the zoom I would probably just use this.

https://store.google.com/product/pixel_phone

The Lumix is around $500, it has some issues with low light shots but otherwise has been great to use and is my first dedicated camera - I am new to & just getting into Photography. Really only since I bought the car.

http://www.panasonic.com/au/consumer.../dmc-tz80.html

I am learning alot about still photography and really enjoying it, this is probably the reason I have not gotten more into video yet.

I have 2 cameras that are mostly for video that I have hardly used so far, I'm thinking next trip I will play with them a bit more, 5 nights camping in one spot coming up. Hopefully I finally get to see some Platypus's!

An action camera style from Nikon that was about $400

http://www.nikon.com.au/en_AU/produc...keymission-170

I have experimented with putting this on the outside of the car for some short drives - fell off once! It's tough as, waterproof and capable of some tricky long exposure time shift stuff that I am still learning about. Think of those cool shots of stars moving.

and secondly a Gyroscopic stabilised camera that I was really amped for when buying, but have hardly turned it on, the DJI OSMO 4K Plus over $1,500 with all the extra add on bits I got.

https://www.dji.com/osmo-plus

It's a lot bigger, heavier and more complex than I thought it would be but is capable of cinema level filming.

I have a lot to learn and experiment with, going forward I will probably need a more powerful computer to edit 4K video, other than that I think I am fairly set for gear for the foreseeable future

and broke...