Camping at Woody Head

We had a long weekend here at the end of August, thanks to Gold Coast Show Day on 29 August. What is the Gold Coast Show, you ask? Good question. According to the internet: “The annual three-day Gold Coast Show is a community-driven celebration of the agricultural history and diverse modern culture of Queensland’s second largest city. The event attracts over 120,000 visitors who come to enjoy the mix of city and country competitions, demonstrations and displays, free live entertainment, carnival atmosphere, rides and our famous fireworks.”

It’s only a public holiday within the City of Gold Coast. This seems to be an Australian thing: public holidays that are specific to a city. Brisbane has Ekka, Melbourne has Melbourne Cup... I wonder if there are any others?

We didn’t make it to the Show this year because we were invited on a camping trip with Craig and Mel for the long weekend. Maybe next year! Camping isn’t really my thing (as my parents would tell you). The only camping I’ve done since childhood has been the obligatory school trips, and that has only been because it is a part of my job. Andy is about the same. This hilarious HuffPost article on the difference between a vacation and a trip has a section on camping that sums up my feelings perfectly.

Still, Mel and Craig both raved about the campsite at Woody Head they often go to, and camping life in Queensland in general, so eventually they convinced us to give it a go.

Camping is a cheap holiday… once you have the gear. Luckily, one of Andy’s colleagues lent us his tent, a 12-person, 4-room monster, basically the biggest tent I’ve ever seen. We trialled it in the front garden a few weeks earlier, and the kids loved playing in it. Still, we had to buy a lot of “essentials”: chairs, mats, sleeping bags, table, stove, dishes… we basically needed everything.

The lead-up to camping is A LOT. Honestly, I felt like I needed a holiday just from the prep. To make things trickier, the week before, Andy was away on a three-day school camp with his Year 8s. He came back exhausted, and I’d been juggling solo parenting and school runs to both Ollie and Ella's schools - a major downside to having them at different schools. By Thursday night we were wiped out. We had noble plans to pack the car that evening so we could get away first thing in the morning, but instead ordered takeaway, poured a glass of wine, got the kids down early, and collapsed on the sofa to watch Veep.

Friday morning, somehow, we were up early and on the road by 8am—not bad. The drive to Woody Head took just over two hours, including the compulsory Maccas (McDonald’s, for the non-Aussies) stop for breakfast. 

We ended up getting to the campsite a little before 11am. Almost immediately, Ella disappeared. Craig and Mel knew a few other families at the site, and there was a big pack of girls aged 8 to 12. They spent the weekend together riding their bikes around the campground and playing together. I read all the time about how kids need more “unstructured, unsupervised play,” and this was exactly that. They were always within the campground, but not within constant sight, and we had no idea what they were up to most of the time. Perfect.

Ollie loved being on his bike, doing endless laps of the campground. We had to time him over and over again as he tried to beat his own record.

Campsites here are very different to what I grew up with in Canada. Back home, each site was usually surrounded by trees, giving you a little privacy. Not so in Australia. At Woody Head, the sites were lined up side by side with nothing between them, ours was maybe three or four metres from the next. If privacy is what you’re after, Australian campgrounds may not be your thing.

That first day was mainly bikes, bikes, bikes for the kids, while we set up camp (mostly Andy) and chatted with the other parents (mostly me). Andy likes to joke that he “went camping” while I “went to an Airbnb” - as if I just showed up to ready-made accommodation. (For the record, I did help set up the tent.)

That night there was a campfire with marshmallows, followed by an impromptu beach dance party. With the sun down by 6pm at this time of the year, we were all ready for bed by about 8pm. 

The kids slept soundly, but I had a terrible night. My least favourite part of camping: midnight bathroom trips. The more I think about it, the more I end up needing to go. Of course, the toilets were a few minutes’ walk away, and on my first outing I was startled by kangaroos and wallabies munching the grass quietly in the dark. Luckily, they weren’t at all interested in me and I was able to walk by with no issue, but it did freak me out at first.

Saturday morning came early. I tried to steal an extra hour of sleep while Andy and Ollie went with Craig to do some SUV driving on the beach. It was a glorious morning, judging by the photos. 

During our breakfast, Ollie was very cute, sitting in the camp chairs stating "I love camping!" over and over. 

After campfire bacon and eggs, Andy and Ella joined the others for a mountain bike ride, which ended up being over 11km! Apparently Ella held her own was very impressive.

Meanwhile, Ollie and I stayed back as he's not quite ready for a long bike ride like that yet. He did more laps of the campsite, and I read my book. I was working through My Friends by Fredrik Backman (author of Beartown and A Man Called Ove), but sadly I found it tedious and ended up abandoning it, which was disappointing after loving his other novels.

I did coax Ollie into a short beach walk and some exploring around the cliffs, but eventually we both retreated to the tent for a rest. He even fell asleep - an actual nap, which never happens anymore. Clearly, he was worn out.

That afternoon we went into the nearby town for lunch at a little riverside café. It was chaotic with five families, but the food was great, and once the kids finished, they ran off to play, so it worked out well.

At lunch, Andy floated the idea of packing up that night instead of staying till the next morning. I’ll admit it sounded tempting. I was tired, and we had visitors arriving Monday, so a whole day to unpack and reset for the week ahead felt like a gift.

The kids, however, did not agree. Ella in particular was devastated about leaving her new friends early. We tried to explain she was only missing a night of sleeping in a tent, but she wasn’t having it. We softened the blow with a promise of McDonald’s on the drive home, which helped, but they were still disappointed and I felt very guilty!

Back at camp, Andy and I slowly packed while the kids played. Around 4pm everyone headed to the beach for a kids-versus-adults soccer game, then we finished packing and said our goodbyes. Ella and her new friends had a big group hug, which was very sweet.

On the drive home, Ollie cried for the first twenty minutes, begging me to turn the car around. I took it as a sign the trip was a success. We pulled into the driveway around 9pm, unloaded the food, and went straight to bed.

And honestly, I think leaving was the right call. Waking up at home Sunday morning felt amazing. We had all the camp gear unpacked and put away by lunchtime, the house reset, and even a relaxing afternoon soak in the spa. The perfect way to end the weekend.