Bluff Creek Campground Kenilworth

Bluff Creek Campground

This was our first camping trip with the new addition to the family, our Cobberdog, Sadza.

Bluff Creek Campground is located 5 minutes out of Kenilworth beside Imbil State Forest and the beautiful Mary River. It is a private property on 100 acres that has a number of campsites and is of course dog friendly. There are two toilet and shower blocks as well as portable toilets scattered around the property. See our video of the campground and the trip further in the post below.

Shayne’s Recount…

Day 1

Now that he was 5 months old the time had come for Sadza Cobberdog to have his first camping adventure. We set out on a Friday and were spared an early wake up as our destination – Bluff Creek Campground in Kenilworth – was not too far away. As well as the usual preparation we had to get some travel sickness medication into the doggo. Although he was ok on shorter trips longer, windy roads could bring on the womits. This meant disguising the ginger based liquid in that most delicious of substances – peanut butter. He gulped at least a few mouthfuls down before realising he’d been tricked!

Once we had wrestled him into his sports bra aka his travel harness, we were on our way. We had decided to go via Nambour for a more scenic option than the highway. It certainly was a beautiful drive, winding our way up into the hinterland. Just as we started our descent the bitumen temporarily ran out… This was a little unexpected and we carefully wound our way down the very steep and narrow dirt section hoping it was one way! Our track did reunite with the normal road at the bottom of the hill.

The downside of setting out later was arriving in the heat of the day. After checking in we did a quick drive around the property. It was a lovely spot with views of Imbil State Forest and the mountains. The Mary River bordered one side but was sadly a little dry. Being a Friday there were a few campers already settled in but lots of free spots. We eventually picked one on a small rise by a little pond with purple water lilies. Sadza was very excited to be released from the car. We set him up in the shade of the car with water and a large bone. He got to chill and watch on as we sweated away getting the camp arranged. Peter was very happy with his new Drifta awning and got me to film him single handedly setting it up in  less than 2 minutes! I even managed to mostly keep my thumb out of the video…

Having got everything organised we planned to walk Sadza over to the river. However disaster struck as we realised our fridge was not charging! This meant that Peter had to stay behind and fiddle with the electronics while I took Sadza for a stroll. If we couldn’t keep our food cold our weekend might have to be curtailed!

Sadza and I walked through the camp ground. Nearby were a large group of baby boomers in their very nice caravans, complete with satellite dishes out front. One of them was wearing a top hat, a tad out of place in the setting! A kelpie cross and tiny, ancient chihuahua rushed over to say hello. Their owner warned me that the larger kelpie was a friendly fellow but the little chihuahua was a grump. Nevertheless Sadza was happy to sniff all their places and being a bit of a blunt instrument did not take any notice of the little dog’s standoffishness!

By the time we returned Peter had worked out our electrics problem, a new fuse and good to go. I gave Sadza his alfresco dinner and we started to prepare ours; grilled peri peri chicken and salad. When I headed off to the very clean ablution block for a wonderful hot shower (much needed after setting up in the heat) Peter was in charge of Stinkum (aka Sadza). Unfortunately Sadza was not too happy to see his mum heading off in this unfamiliar environment and cried incessantly until I returned!

Eventually it was bedtime. The boomers across the way had been having a little party and were slightly rowdy but by 10.30 had thankfully gone to sleep or passed out. We placed Sadza’s crate under the awning against the Oz Tent, complete with his blanket and best fren Elly. As we carefully arranged the mossie net I had insisted Peter buy over the crate, Peter commented thoughtfully, ‘You do know some dogs live outside their entire lives without any mossie net at all right?!’… maybe they do – but not this doggo! Luckily His Royal Highness approved of his bedchamber and we all slept soundly until the honking of the herons in the pond woke us with the first light!

Day 2

Our second day got off to a lazy start despite the early wake up. Something had ripped into our bin which we had forgotten to stow away. It may have been a feral fox as chewed chicken bones were scattered about. I had to beat Sadza to collecting these as being cooked they could splinter in his tummy. We then waited for Richard and Amanda to join us. They arrived while we were having breakfast. Sadza was excited to be reunited with Amanda, known to him as Biltong Lady as she had given him this treat when they first met. Richard went about setting up their site. By the time that was done it was starting to heat up quite significantly. We hopped into Richard’s Land cruiser as our awning was up and drove across to the river. Sadza was very privileged to be permitted inside Richard’s prized vehicle although he didn’t seem aware of the honour!

The Mary River was unfortunately a little empty…however there were still some deep pools suitable for a dip. Sadza was still of the opinion that dogs couldn’t swim. He was a little perplexed to see us all wade in and politely declined to follow. He had to be picked up and carried in… when I released him he came to the sudden realisation that he could swim! He paddled furiously the few metres back to the bank. We repeated this a few times before he would settle down whilst being held up on my shoulder or sitting in my arms. He was then content to bob gently up and down in the cool water. It was all very peaceful apart from some country beats from a group up river.

We left when Sadza started to shiver. Being a fluffy boi he had probably never been so cool! We spent the rest of the afternoon lazing about the campsite and chatting. Sadza was tired out from his new experience and slept hard in the shade. When it started cooling down a little we woke him up and took him for a little walk. At the top of the grounds, which had stunning views he met a small white dog with a fluffy purple tail – once he realised this creature was indeed a fellow doggo he was very keen to make friends. The elderly dog was not quite so keen! Her owner was a grey nomad who lived permanently in his caravan.

Back at our camp we started preparing dinner. We were interrupted by a concerned father from a site nearby. His toddler had been amusing everyone before by leading their enormous mastiff about on a lead (or the other way around!). Unfortunately a tick had latched onto the little boy’s chin when he took a tumble. The father was asking whether some vinegar or a lit cigarette may persuade the tick to detach…I decided to volunteer to remove it a bit more safely with some tweezers. Luckily the mother was a good holder and the whole tick was safely parted from the chin!

Amanda and Richard then made vegetable skewers, teasing Peter about his aversion to mushrooms. Sadza was gifted some zucchini from Amanda and enjoyed it immensely although he mostly wanted to play with it. Unfortunately due to his long sleep during the day he was pretty frisky! We had to keep him occupied while prepping food which mostly involved stopping him getting his long rope getting tangled in the table and chairs! Along with the vege skewers Peter made an amazing damper for the camp oven which was sensational with a bit of butter and we added some eye fillets. We were all pretty satisfied with the results.

See the beer damper recipe here.

We got to bed around 10pm – once again the campground had become quieter by then however our neighbours who had arrived that day had set up pretty close to the hedge separating our spots. In fact I’d spent a lot of the afternoon trying to dissuade Sadza from sticking his head through the hedge and staring goggle eyed at the pair while breathing heavily…. A little creepy dude! The guy had a very deep voice and although they were only chatting quietly it certainly resonated. We did eventually get to sleep though, which was fortunate as Sadza had an early morning planned for me…

Day 3

Our last day commenced at the crack of dawn with Sadza sitting up in his crate and barking furiously. Rick had woken up and walked past the tent on his way back and Sadza was not having it! In order to allow some peace and quiet for the rest of the grounds I got up and put him (Sadza not Richard) on his rope. We headed to the ablution block where Sadza stuck his head under the partition – luckily no one else was in there! As I finished up the door opened and a large older man stepped in. He pulled up short looking very confused to see a dog and a woman – neither of which he was likely expecting in what he thought was the men’s!

When everyone else eventually awoke we had to start the great pack. Some coffee freshly ground by Peter with his manual grinder helped us with motivation. Once this was achieved we set out for some 4 wheel driving in the Imbil State Forest. Prior to this I announced, “Just going to get the sports bra”, referring to Sadza’s travel harness. Rick gave me a very puzzled look and seemed relieved when he realised what I was going on about!

 We pottered around in the forest for a bit before finding a very steep and rutted track. “Why can’t we just ride roller coasters like normal people?”, I asked Peter through gritted teeth while hanging on for dear life. Sadza demonstrated his agreement by promptly doing an enormous spew. Fortunately we had the seat cover down but it still took some cleaning…

After putting Big Betty through her paces we were ready for lunch. However as we headed down the hill we were stopped in our tracks by an enormous tree trunk across the road at a 45 degree angle. Rick was pondering trying to winch it out of the way but Peter persuaded him it may be winched onto his car! Instead we each had to perform a 500 point turn on the narrow track with a steep drop off on either side… it took a while but we made it back the way we’d come and found an alternative route out.

We headed to a clearing with a fantastic view of the forest for lunch. Unfortunately even there it was stinking hot. Even the wind was warm. Sadza just wanted to go deeper into the shade of the forest and lie down… smarter than  us! He also disgraced himself by walking directly into the low table Richard and Amanda were having lunch at. Rick was not overly impressed with Sadza’s intellect but I reassured my doggo that at least he was very pretty and I didn’t care if he’d never be a doctor!

After a quick lunch we hopped back into the blessed air conditioning in Big Betty – my justification was that we had to keep Sadza cool! We parted ways with Rick and Amanda back at the bitumen and set out for home. All in all doggo’s first camping had gone pretty well. Now it was just a matter of finding some more dog friendly spots for next time!

The thoughts of Shayne.

Here is a link to the property’s website if you want to make a booking.

https://www.kenilworthcampgrounds.com/