Our first family camping trip

2 nights on Prince of Wales Island in the June-July school holidays...

     When we went back to Brisbane in the Easter holidays, we bought our boat & lots of camping gear.  These holidays, we stayed on T.I. for the full 2 weeks & filled our time with local activities.  2 nights camping on P.O.W. was the highlight!
     We asked permission from Tanya & Dirk Laifoo (their daughter is in Milly's prep class & they are P.O.W. locals) & set off the first Monday of the holidays with enough supplies for 2 days, but ready to bail after 1 if necessary!  We went to Little Butter Tin beach on advice from other camping families - it's a close trip form T.I., has a lovely sheltered North-facing beach & plenty of sandy flat areas or tents.
     Setting up camp was extremely challenging - the tide was very low & poor Dwayne made many trips loaded with heavy gear across the wide mudflats between the anchored boat & the beach, while I supervised the girls & put up the tent.  Next time - we'll definitely arrive & set up during high tide!

     We spent the rest of the day playing in the tent & on the beach, eating dinner with sunset views & sitting by a campfire.  We showered under a tree beneath the stars and enjoyed the bright light of the full moon in the evening.  

     Dwayne & I slept terribly - constantly worried about the boat, which was anchored far from shore because of the crazy low tide.  We checked it was still there 100 times during the night & for a while thought it was floating away & that we would need to flag down a passing boat in the morning...
     ...but the boat was still there in the morning, & as the tide slowly came in during the day, we kept pulling the boat closer in, eventually anchoring it right by the campsite - phew!  
     We found our groove the second day.  We walked & did yoga & rested & found shells & collected firewood & enjoyed time as a family.  By sunset the girls were rolling in the sand  - it was like sharing a tent with 2 pieces of sandpaper!  We slept very soundly the 2nd night & were so happy we'd stayed.

     We left after breakfast on the third day while the tide was high.  The ocean was as smooth as glass all the way back to T.I. - beautiful & calm.
     We parked the boat & trailer, washed our hands & headed immediately to Uncle Frankie's Cafe for 4x thickshakes, 2x choc chip cookies, 1 cappuccino & a serve of raisin toast - fantastic!  
     Felt like champions - an empowering camping experience!