family

Haven't tried this but looks like it would work. Check out the video for a cheap, easy, disposable popcorn maker out of a coke can.

Wondering past a camping shop today. Out front a row of camping chairs from $30 up to over $100.

For a camping chair? It seems that this once humble item has become a luxury item. The super profits tax should be applied to chair manufacturers.

$100 for a camping chair?

A long time ago we made the decision that a chair was an essential item for a camping trip. It's a no brainer.

But $100? Is any camping chair worth that much?

But never fear - you can still buy the cheap ones for seven bucks at Bunnings or BIG W or other such places.

We ended up at Coledale Camping Reserve just south of Sydney on the weekend. Great little spot and one of the rare places you can set your tent up with an actual view of the waves. On Saturday we had a terrific lightning storm out to sea and good rain. We were able to sit under our awning and watch the light show.

Pros - on patrolled beach, close to Sydney, plenty of grass, good amenities

Cons - can be crowded (go in bad weather - that thins them out), not that many sites, street lighting, only the northern sites have beach views, it's not really away from it all

Well worth a look if you just want to get away for an overnighter. Probably less crowded during the week.

Designers should know better...

But they continue to produce equipment that have stupid switches, the sort that come on when you shove your head lamp in your gear bag. You pull it out to use and thanks to an idiot in the design department, something has pressed against the raised switch, turned it on and now the batteries are dead.

To fix this on a recent head lamp I bought (I should've known better than to buy it in the first place - I partnered in the designer's idiocy) I used some Shoegoo to build the area up around the switch so that instead of the switch being a raised knob, it is now level with the Shoegoo. A silastic of some variety would do a similar job.

So now I can shove it in my gear bag and it won't get knocked on and flatten my batteries before the first night of my next camping trip.