It was a hell of an experience camping outdoors in a forest that was 1.5 hours away from Adelaide city. You know I have used the phrase 'pitched a tent' in my primary school essays without even knowing what it really entails. Well, on Saturday I actually got a chance to do exactly that. It was so cool to take out all the equipment, set it out on the ground. At first I could not make out all the rods and stuff but after the demo, it was pretty damn simple. I shared the tent with my partner. We laid out mats and our sleeping bags in the tent which was going to house us for the next two days. Then we cooked our dinner outdoors. It was super exciting to cook our meal and occasionally glance up to see the moon. I must say that was my favourite part of the whole trip! Each pair got one portable stove. Some cooked noodles and there were people who cooked meat. There were even a talented few who cooked gourmet pasta and stuff. And there was us, who cooked instant macaroni and cheese which was easy and we were done cooking within no time and cleaning up was a breeze. Did I tell you, how freaking cold it was even under those layers but sitting around the fire warmed us all up. I was trying to get as close as I could to the fire without getting myself burnt...haha. We were all playing games and told jokes while we ate roasted marshmallows. In between all of that, we went looking for wood to keep our fire alive. It was all good fun!
Eventually, everyone turned in. Was so cold, I almost died getting into my sleeping bag. Anyway, that night I had the most restless and broken sleep ever. I was shivering continuously throughout the night and it was horrible to wake up to footsteps(could have been some kangaroos visiting us). I told myself the next time round I would be more prepared and bring thermals which a fellow mate had told me would keep me warm even in the coldest of nights.
The next day it was more bushwalking. We had to locate several checkpoints and do some challenges as a team. That was tiring but also good fun. Before I knew it was time to pack and deflate all the tents and we were heading back to the city.
Camping is seriously a great way to have family reunions and team bonding and I see myself camping in the forest sometime soon! The best part is that all the required gear for camp can be hired so you could go on a camping trip even tomorrow if you wanted to!