7 camping tips for beginner campers

By on_kingston, 8th August 2023

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A great camping adventure starts with good planning and preparation. You’re away from home and your normal daily comforts and you’ll be sleeping in the outdoors, dealing with whatever the weather may bring.

Don’t expect to become an expert camper in a hurry, it takes a little bit of trial and error to create an enjoyable experience. With time, you’ll work out your own rhythm and figure out the camping gear that suits you best.

Becoming an expert camper is about the journey not the destination. Pardon the pun!

Below we’ve provided a few expert tips for beginner campers to help make the most of your first camping trip/s, and to avoid some common rookie mistakes.

1. Arrive early and in daylight to set up

This is rule no 1 for a good reason. Arrive when it is daylight so that you can see what you’re doing. If you’re a beginner camper and you’re trying to set up a tent, it can be very frustrating at night. If you have kids with you, they might run off to check out the park, or they might be hungry. Your first priority is to set up the campsite, your home for the next few days. Give yourself plenty of time and good lighting to do this.

You don’t want to be eating dinner after midnight with grumbling kids!

2. Make the trip shorter

As a beginner camper, we recommend a 2 or 3 night camping trip to start, maybe a weekend. Even if the weather conditions are bad, you’ll learn a lot about what you need for a good camping adventure without stretching your endurance (or your family’s) too much.

3. Invest in quality campaign gear

You don’t need to buy everything up front. To start with, buy the essential basics – tent, sleeping bags, torches, chairs and a stove if you’re not in a caravan park – and figure out the rest after your first couple of camping trips.

Even if you’re on a budget, you’ll have your camping gear for many years so look for the things you need during the sales, and buy quality brands wherever possible. When you’re camping, you don’t want camping gear falling apart when you need it most.

4. Keep warm at night

Sleeping bags and bedding are one of the most essential items for a comfortable camping adventure. If its winter and you are freezing cold at night, you’ll want to get back home as soon as possible. Research your sleeping bags and invest in a good quality mattress to put on the ground and protect from the cold.

5. Take good lighting

Trying to cook, unpack, tidy up, or find anything in the evening when you’re camping is frustrating without proper lighting. Today there are many options for lighting your campsite, from LED head torches, LED lighting strips and fluoro battery charged lighting.

6. Pack up food at night

The Aussie bush has many nocturnal bushy friends who like to come and poke around in your food and garbage. Possums, kangaroos, foxes and even wombats have been known to plough through food and garbage to find tasty morsels. Pack all food and garbage safely away so that you don’t have to tidy up a big mess in the morning.

7. Know your camping gear before you leave home

Reading instructions for the first time at your campsite is not a good time to do it. Set up the tent at home first, try out your sleeping bag, turn on the stove and make sure your lights are all working. If anything needs or be fixed, you can do this at home where you have all the tools.

Book a campsite ahead of time – Kingston Foreshore Caravan Park

If you’re a beginner at camping, then we highly recommend booking onto a caravan park for your first few trips. You’ll learn plenty about camping, with facilities and conveniences, and you’ll still have a fabulous time at Kingston Foreshore Caravan Park.

Our park has a camp kitchen, outdoor BBQ’s, fish cleaning areas, a laundry and dump points. Only 20 minutes from Robe, we have powered or unpowered sites. Book online here or call us on 08 8767 2050 to find out more.

Photo by Julian Bialowas on Unsplash