Time to Roam Magazine Issue 5 - October/November 2013 | Page 61

Barry enjoying the great outdoors, top right, an early shot with Barry second from left along with
sister Elizabeth and friends.

camping and on the third, we check into a
B&B or hotel for a clean up.
Recently I had a recent fantastic ride
through the Snowy Mountains via Thredbo
and into Victoria – it’s an amazing landscape
in Autumn especially.
Tell us about some of your favourite camping
memories.

In 1983 (I think), after an extended water
skiing holiday, my brother and I still had a
few bucks left and we decided to hitch a ride
down to Melbourne from Sydney and then
jumped on the ship to Tassie.
The two of us and a mate headed down
the east coast camping every night, mostly
for free. Sometimes you would pay a dollar
a night which would include showers and a
fire pit.
As it happened, Tassie was in the world
spotlight because of the Gordon below
Franklin Dam site controversy. There was
a huge protest and people had come from
all over the world. I wasn’t overly politically
minded at the time but there were a lot of
girls protesting so we joined the team. Our
protest (and relationships!) were short lived
but our time in Tassie lasted another two
months.
We hitched a ride with a couple about
our age who were meeting friends in the
beautiful fishing village of Bicheno. We skin
dived for lobster Abalone and fresh fish – I

reckon I put on a couple of kilos that week!
The camp site was $2.00 per week including
showers and amenities. The sky was clear
and beautiful, the ocean was plentiful and
the locals extremely friendly.
Any not so favourite camping memories or
experiences?

Not many but on the same trip to Tassie
we were camped under a tree and we arrived
too late to set up the tent.
The mozzies where so bad they nearly
carried us away, the sound of them buzzing
was terrible. I was completely covered by
my sleeping bag trying to protect myself,
but they were still getting us. And it was
freezing.
Then my brother kept telling me to put
my head out of my bag because he thought
he could hear someone. We were a long
way from anywhere so it was a little freaky.
Suddenly, out of the blue, a possum fell
out of the tree above and landed on me. It
screamed, I screamed and that was that for
me. We hiked three hours till we found a
town and sunrise. My sleeping bag needed a
wash after that!
Do you have any camping tips? Must do’s and
don’ts?

My main tips are to make sure you get out
there, and only take what you need. There is
nothing more frustrating than unpacking all

the unnecessary expensive stuff to find the
simple practical thing you need.
What’s on your camping location wish list?

Camping is on hold for a year or so with
my two bubs only 12 months old (Barry has
twins).
I am dreaming about camping under
the stars with the kids out in the desert. I
retired in 2006 and spent a lot of time on a
yacht in the Mediterranean. I sailed down to
North Africa from Sicily to meet a mate and
we spent a couple of weeks in the Sahara. I
have not seen a lot of Australia’s deserts but
I imagine from my experience in Africa they
must be amazing. After living on the coast
for a long time, I want to make sure