Camping in Queensland

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Camping in Queensland

Camping in Southern and Central Queensland by Martin Bowerman ($10.95) is without doubt the best publication available for this area. It first appeared nearly 10 years ago and most Brisbane based campers in the know adopted it as their camping bible. The book reviewed here is the latest edition and is an A4 paperback of 160 pages. The binding is glued and our old one is still going strong! The book appeals to those who only use commercial parks occasionally - they are mentioned, but glossed over which is fine for most A'vanners. Martin's writing style is bright and breezy and he makes you want to get up and go! Most importantly he tells you most of the nitty gritty stuff you need to know before visiting a campsite that ALWAYS gets left out of the ads. At the front of the book is a table that goes for 11 pages giving you the features of each campsite at a glance. It is easy to use as it is divided into regions and even includes our offshore islands. It is not perfect - we were doing a story on Andrew Drynan Park and read Martins version to see how we stacked up. A great read, but very surprisingly whilst the directions were spot on the mileages were way out. Not a problem if travelling in daylight, but not too good if you are trying to find a spot at night as many Brisbane-ites depart on Friday nights! The book also covers private camp grounds that tend not to get listed in automobile club guides. Good information on dog friendly places. The only thing not mentioned is mobile phone coverage. So some places we have visited to get you started - Elanda Point, Peach Trees State Forest Park, Yarramalong near Aratula, Binna Burra, Rainbow Beach, Emu Creek, Lake Wivenhoe, Booloumba Creek State Forest Park plus dozens of others. We have had no bad experiences using the book.

Martin has a travel show on Channel 7 in Brisbane called Creek to Coast on Saturdays at 5:30PM. On Sundays at the same time and channel he does a camping segment in The Great South East. This is mostly fantastic and can really fire you up! We believe these segments aren't paid for so they are NOT advertorials. Follow the links to their web pages as there is an excellent archive of stories going back yonks. Our book came from Campmart in 30 Moss Street, Slacks Creek, Qld. and you can order it by mail using your credit card. Leave your credit card at home if you visit this shop as it is brim full of goodies! Most major Brisbane camping stores carry it, but we have never seen it in a newsagent. You can contact Martin direct at Adventure Publications, PO Box 6822, Gold Coast Mail Centre, Q, 9726 (that is the post code listed - it loooooks wrong!)

Absolutely recommended as ESSENTIAL for all A'vanners living in the area and a very worthwhile purchase for those visiting as you WILL STAY and ENJOY LONGER if you have a copy! Ours permanently lives in the front cupboard of the A'van!

Bob Eustace