Complete Campsite’s First Camp Out

The past few months have been a very exciting time for all of us at Complete Campsite. Not only have we held a very successful Open Day in our newly renovated showroom and customer lounge, we also held our Inaugural Complete Campsite Camp Out at Camp Cobark, in the foothills of the beautiful Barrington Tops in NSW. Over 60 customers joined us and oh, it was a sight to behold!

Some of the campers set up at Camp Cobark

We all arrived on Friday afternoon, and after an unsurprisingly quick set up (this is Complete Campsite after all), we were ready to make our way to the Apple Tree Lookout for happy hour at sunset. And what a happy hour it was! The sunset over the hills was breath taking, and helped the beer and wine go down a treat.

Shortly after our very happy hour, we made our way back to camp to continue our conversations around the fire. There is nothing like a campfire to bring people together (except maybe the champagne that was flowing). So as night set in and the stars came out, the barrier between customer and company, stranger and stranger, Windsor Caravan owner and Complete Campsite owner, broke down as we swapped travel stories, compared trailers and searched for shooting stars. It was an idyllic beginning to what was to be a wonderful weekend.

SATURDAY

We awoke to the sound of roosters crowing, the horses neighing, the neighbour snoring (was that just mine?), and the sun shining. The aroma of bacon and eggs soon spread throughout Camp Cobark, and the Kookaburras were more than happy about this-as were a few of the stayers-on, who woke up with sore heads and needed some sustenance.

So with our tummies full and our spirits high, we began to make our way via a 4WD track to a glorious swimming hole on the banks of the pristine Barrington River. Jodie proved that Jeeps aren’t Cheaps; the ladies proved that we CAN complete a river crossing, and Dave amazed us all with the ability to trek through snake infested bushland with nary a shoe in sight.

‘Cause we got a mighty convoy
Rockin’ through the night
Yeah, we got a mighty convoy
Ain’t she a beautiful sight?

CONVOY!

We were all prepared for snow-as it often does in August at the Tops (ducted heating and thermal blankets, anyone). However, Mother Nature had other ideas. We were treated to some stunning weather reminiscent of late spring, which kept everyone in a great mood all weekend. The kids especially enjoyed it, with some even getting in their boardies for a…shall we say… ‘invigorating’ swim in the Barrington River. The silly buggers had a great time, while we adults watched on in envy, wishing that we had packed more suitable attire.

The pristine Barrington River

In the early evening on Saturday night, we all made our way in our ‘Australiana’ themed finery to the barn for the ‘Australiana’ themed dinner. A few famous Aussie icons were there, including Louie the fly, the late Steve Irwin, Eric the Crocodile, and the Sydney Opera House. Ernie Dingo graced us with his presence, and Shazza and Dazza made an appearance, although they were not so graceful.

Crikey! The resemblance is uncanny!

The undisputed winners of ‘best costume’-Ricky, Cassi, Rob and Zac Hill-your prize is still in the mail!

Byron channeling his inner ‘Dazza’

The caretakers at Camp Cobark ensured we were all well fed (thank you Katie and staff-the carvery was excellent-especially the sticky date pud).

After dinner and a quick speech by Steve and Eric (aka Grant and Jodie), we settled around the fire pit while John and Julie from Getabout Training Services taught us all a very entertaining poem, ‘One Fat Hen’. John taught us the phrases, while we repeated them one by one until someone (or everyone except Donna and Glenn) made a mistake. We have listed the words below, and as you can imagine, hilarity ensued.

One Fat Hen (creative license taken by John and Julie Eggenhuizen)

One fat hen * Yes, Lynette gave us permission for this!

Couple of ducks

Three brown bears

Four running hares

Five foxy females-and one ring in- fixing for a fight

Six simple Simons sitting on a stump

Seven Sicilian sailors sailing the seven seas

Eight cocky sock cutters cockily cutting socks

Nine sleazy sheet slitters, sletherly slitting sheets (yes we made a word up). I’ll not sleep on slitted sheets, but on slitted sheets I’ll sit

Ten pleasant pheasant pluckers awaiting the arrival of the tenth pleasant pheasant plucker’s farmers daughter

And finally……

Mrs Fuzzy Wuzzy has a square cut punt, not a punt cut square, but a square cut punt. With a hole in the middle and a square cut front, Mrs Fuzzy Wuzzy has a square cut punt.

Doesn’t Neil make an excellent Mrs Fuzzy Wuzzy?

On Sunday, we awoke to another beautiful day. After a lovely breakfast provided by Complete Campsite (with eggs supplied by Terry and Alison Reilly’s chooks), some of the campers decided to go on a horse ride led by Camp Cobark. While they were gone, John and Julie from Getabout ran a towing challenge for the so-called ‘amateurs’ amongst us (however, everyone who had a go did a brilliant job).

Continuing with the Australiana theme, we also held an impromptu thong throwing competition whilst we waited for the riders to return. Glenn B showed us all how it’s done, until John overtook him with his signature underarm-overhead moves, but Glenn J would have been the winner, if it weren’t for Lynette who caught his thong instead of letting it sail past her head. Considering John is Lynette’s dad, and it was father’s day, we do believe there was an ulterior motive there.

Suffice to say, a relaxing weekend was had by all, and it was wonderful to spend time with our customers. We at Complete Campsite enjoyed it so much that we’ve decided to make this an annual tradition. We’d like to thank our dear customers for taking the time to join us, and for making our Camp Out one to remember.