The Dirt Off Road Campers held its annual Owners Muster over Easter at the Lincoln National Park on the foot of the Eyre Peninsula. The event is open to customers who’ve purchased a camper or trailer from us.
We’d pre-booked the group camp site at Surfleet Cove which fronts the water, looking through a conservation area. The camp is at the end of the bitumen, so its easy access and avoids the crowds that squash into unallocated camp sites around the coast, accessible via unsealed roads. While we love backroad touring, we enjoy our own space, so will always choose camping spots with allocated areas to avoid overcrowding.
Attendees were down on previous years due in part to the distance from home with many locked into regular Easter activities with family and friends. Still, we had a good mix of people and campers including Pioneer, BRS Offroad and Rhinomax.
To make the most of the break we added a few extra days, travelling down on the Thursday and coming back on the Wednesday.
On most days, people did their own thing which ranged from relaxing around camp, bush walks, kayaking, fishing, exploring the national park and other activities.
Coffin Bay was a popular destination. At least half the group, did the Oyster Tour, which involved wandering out through the shallows on plastic crates to the local Oyster lease, for Oyster 101, learning all about the history and life-cycle of the Pacific Oyster. This included the briefing, tastings and learning how to open an oyster, with many opting to wash it down with a beer or glass of wine. The wander back to shore was much more exciting with the higher tide proving an interesting challenge for shorter punters. Still a few piggy backs were had and all made it back to shore without incident.
Many enjoyed lunch on the deck overlooking the water, consuming more fresh seafood. Some ventured onwards to the Coffin Bay National Park, while others explored the Oyster Trail walkway around town, meandering along the back of some impressive looking holiday homes.
Participants checked out each other’s rigs and shared camping hacks – cunning ideas that make camping easier for them
Each evening we’d gather in the late afternoon for happy hour. Bird watching was popular, given the surroundings, and many a book or phone app was used to identify the species.
Emus wandered into camp during the day, when many people were off doing other activities with many chicks in tow. Roos weren’t so prominent, with only a couple seen during our stay and that was away from the road while on a bushwalk.
Well that’s it for this year. Keep an eye on the newsletter for next year’s date which is likely to be at a different time of the year. We manage a Members-Only Facebook page for our Owners, so if you’ve purchased a camper or trailer from The Dirt Off Road Campers you can join the group HERE.
