Camping at Pinbarren (our first time using Youcamp)

Mario and I love to go camping, but unfortunately we don’t have the time to get away as often as we like.  To encourage us, I had added to my 2017 52s list to go camping with friends this year. We had tried to plan a few trips, but due to schedules it never came to fruition. Finally, we realised that based on the pregnancy we had to go soon or else the opportunity was going to pass by.

It was recently our 6 month wedding anniversary so I decided a revision to the 52 was in order (something I’m allowing myself to do this year). Instead of going with friends  we decided that we would book ourselves a weekend away to celebrate the anniversary. Thus the 52 was modified to go somewhere new.

Enter “Youcamp

It couldn’t have been better timing. One of our friends had randomly shared something online about Youcamp, described as the Airbnb for camping. Essentially it’s people with properties and facilities opening up the areas for people to book into. The options range from cabins right through to open areas suitable for caravans and camping (powered and non-powered).

My favourite part – you could find dog-friendly camping easily. That has been the bane of my existence for a long time. It’s hard to find anywhere we can take our dog with us!

Camping options for dogs on the Sunshine Coast

After we found a suitable location, booking was an easy process. Later it would turn out the owners of the property we had selected were amazing, and spoiled us with a fruit basket with fruits from their property!

Arriving at Pinbarren

We stayed at Rainforest Edge, just near Pomona on the Sunshine Coast. We had originally booked for Friday to Sunday, hoping to get away from work early on the Friday afternoon. Unfortunately I had a meeting that I’d forgotten about that couldn’t be rescheduled, so I wasn’t able to get away from the coast until 6.30’ish. Mario had already left after he finished work earlier in the day, so by the time I arrived he had everything all set up ready to go. It was 4wd only to the campsite, but I left my car at the carpark at the top of the mountain. He collected me and we drove down to the camp site.

We were right by a little creek, although it hadn’t been raining much so it wasn’t running (a little further down there were waterfalls though). Over the next few nights we would see possums and even a little bush rat that had made a nest in the base of a tree! Mario also found a yabby hanging out in one of the water holes. Admittedly we were a bit spooked because we had heard of wild dogs being in the area, but they never surfaced. Needless to say we made sure we kept our dog, Missy, close by us at all times just in case.

Camping at Pinbarren, just west of Pomona. It was our first time using youcamp, the AirBNB of camping. We had a great time.

Camping at Pinbarren, just west of Pomona. It was our first time using youcamp, the AirBNB of camping. We had a great time.

Rainforest Retreat

During the days we spent the time wandering around the property, which is normally completely booked out. All of the spots were great! Some are larger in area, perfect for bigger groups (one even included logs set by the fire pit). Ours was the smallest, but perfect for us. All we had was the swag with our gazebo – there was no need to pack anything more for only two nights away.

There were plenty of waterfalls and water holes around the property. Missy loves to swim (funny since she hates the hose and baths), and sure enough wherever there was water she was in it. We didn’t end up climbing up to the largest waterfall, as it was climbing over large rocks and boulders. Given I’m pregnant, I really didn’t think it was wise should I have a fall.

Camping at Pinbarren, just west of Pomona. It was our first time using youcamp, the AirBNB of camping. We had a great time.

Camping at Pinbarren, just west of Pomona. It was our first time using youcamp, the AirBNB of camping. We had a great time.

Camping at Pinbarren, just west of Pomona. It was our first time using youcamp, the AirBNB of camping. We had a great time.

The weather wasn’t our friend – sort of

We’ve had some bad experiences with the weather where we’ve lost tents and gazebos before. After that, we bought our swag and haven’t looked back – it’s been amazing. Low to the ground, handles the wind, and so incredibly warm. It’s a king size, so the both of fit in easily. Our dog normally just curls up at our feet (it’s luxury to her since normally she sleeps outside at home). She enjoyed it so much that she snored!

Temperature wise it was a pretty good weekend. It wasn’t too cold and wasn’t hot – perfect to sit by the fire each night. I’ve been loving toasted sandwiches while pregnant, so decided we would buy ourselves the camp jaffle iron. We still have a bit to go in mastering it – we had charcoal sandwiches to eat this time (the insides were still good though).

Camping at Pinbarren, just west of Pomona. It was our first time using youcamp, the AirBNB of camping. We had a great time.

On the second night the skies opened and it began to rain. I’m a huge sucker for the sound of rain, and had a great sleep because of it. The following morning it was time for us to go home, and thankfully we were able to back up the truck to the gazebo. That meant we were able to pack in everything easily without getting wet. All we had left was the gazebo to pack up, and luckily it had reduced to a bit of a drizzle by then.

Definitely using Youcamp again

In the end we had an awesome weekend away! The property was great and it was amazing to find somewhere new so close to home. I’m excited to try it out again, although given the circumstances it might be a while – at least after the baby. Maybe if we stay in a cabin so I have a bed to climb into? No idea when I’m meant to find it difficult to start getting up and down off the ground.

Once the child is born we’ll have to upgrade our equipment again no doubt, since it will start to become a bit cramped. We’ll be keeping the swag though – I’m sure opportunities will present itself to use it. In fact, Mario just wandered in and mentioned he’d love to roll it out so he could sleep with Missy at his feet tonight!

But I digress.

Knowing that we have so many options close by to go camping is exciting. When we factor in the cabin options it doesn’t even matter if you don’t own equipment.

Where we stayed the owners were amazing, and I’d love to visit there again with friends.

If you’re looking for somewhere to stay I definitely recommend giving Youcamp a go. And if you do, I’d love to hear your experience!

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