A Camping We Shall Go: March 2015

Sandy Creek Camping Grounds
Off Cedarvale Rd.
Kilcoy, QLD.
March, 2015

Mr and Mrs M.

Our first camping trip with just us and both children! We were looking forward to seeing how we and the kids went and while we were anticipating a pretty good trip we were well aware that camping with young children can also be unpredictable and stressful.

Well… it was actually a breeze! An absolutely wonderful, relaxing success. Even the drenching of rain we got as we packed up couldn’t dampen the fabulous time we all had.

Sandy Creek Camping Grounds is definitely our favourite spot yet. For many reasons, but the biggest of which is the beautiful creek we camped alongside. It took us an hour and 20mins from northside Brisbane, going through Woodford. The owners recommend you follow the map on their website when you get closer, not your GPS. Access is via an unsealed road, but is fine for conventional vehicles.

We camped directly beside this beauty, but there were some other lovely areas to choose from too. More on that soon.

The owners are very friendly, we saw Brian most days out and about and he’d usually stop for a quick chat. As you enter the grounds you’ll see the owners’ house/reception where you must go upon arrival, and some trailers full of wood (You can buy the wood there and Brian will deliver it to your campsite). As you leave their driveway you can turn right, to a small campground called Fig Tree, or left to the larger campground called… hm, I don’t even know if it was called something…

First, Fig Tree.
This one would be perfect for a large family group or kids camp, or you name it. It’s a smaller camp ground with a large tree (Fig, I’m assuming) providing oodles of shade and a couple of swings hanging underneath. There’s also a big flat grass area closer to the amenities block (flushing toilets and hot showers). The creek in this section is very shallow and sandy, making it perfect for toddlers and young children. It does also deepen in a smaller area and further down is full of rocks perfect for the bigger kids to clamber.

The water in that wide sandy part was about an inch deep during our visit.

Now, the Left-Turn-To-The-Larger-Campground.
There are two sections to this area. The first is as you drive in, a huge expanse of lovely flat grass, on one side is the creek that you’re able to camp quite close to. There are two shaded picnic tables in this area.

This was us. That’s the creek you might be able to see just past those tree trunks. We also happened to have a swing in the tree beside our tent.

As you follow the road up a slope you will find the second section. This has another large area of flat grass, with some trees and another two picnic tables, no creek view at all. This is where the amenities block (flushing toilets and hot showers) is. So yes- if you’re camping down beside the creek you do have a long walk up to the amenities and back. We decided it was worth it. Winking smile

The amenities block sits behind the trees where the road ends and the (far off) green sign is.

We found the amenities blocks to be very well kept, very clean and tidy.

In terms of wildlife, there wasn’t a whole lot to be seen. One morning when I was up early I saw a group of grey kangaroos in the top campground, but they disappeared quickly after seeing me. There were plenty of birds around. A lot of kookaburras (one or two would watch us when we ate, but no brave ones flew down to grab food as we’ve experienced elsewhere), and a small flock of king parrots that would gather on the gravel road (I think there was birdseed scattered there). We heard other birds around as well as frogs. The creek only seemed to have some very small native fish. What we didn’t see were any lace monitors (got to watch them around little children), green ants, jumping ants (oh, so nasty) or many spiders. Missy and Boyo often walked around the campground in bare feet with no problems.

The website says that there are rainwater tanks for drinking water. We didn’t end up needing to find those as we collected any water we needed from a fast flowing cascade in the creek beside us.

A note on the creek. Yes it is sandy in places, but not beach-sandy. It’s more of the broken-down-rock kind of sandy so it can be rough if you’re paddling in bare feet for long. We use reefies (lycra surf shoes) for the children anytime we go to creeks and they were perfect this trip in keeping their feet safe while they spent hours exploring and playing. The creek is also full of huge rocks just perfect for rock hopping as far as you like. It’s great exercise (just ask my legs) and lots of fun! We spent many hours beside or in the creek during our stay. There were plenty of little cascades, streams and pools to play in, dangle your feet in, or clamber over using the big rocks. We loved this place, and plan to go back very soon!