Lake Wivenhoe Camping

13/9/2022 - Lake Wivenhoe

We took off mid week for a quick getaway, we decided to invite some of our friends that had young babies and toddlers and to our surprise most of them accepted the invite and made changes to work etc to be there with us mid week. Being the week before school holidays we expected it to be a little more quiet, and it sure was.

We took off on the Tuesday morning and made our way over the mountain and out to Captain Logan Camp Area at lake wivenhoe.

Why we chose Wivenhoe Dam camping?

As a kid Adam had spent a lot of September holidays out at wivenhoe camping with his family and cousins, so he has always had a soft spot for the place and its always been an easy option for a quick getaway. Being able to take Indy as the 4th generation of our family to be going there is also special to us.

Wivenhoe camp grounds are just over an hour out of Brisbane CBD, so it isn't a big drive to get there, we opted for the mountain route which of course is a little more hard on the vehicles but a nice scenic drive for sure. So if you were towing it would be an easier drive to just go around instead. 

Another big reason we chose this spot was because of the great facilities it already has to make the camping experience just a little easier, especially when we and our friends have babies and toddlers with them. Hot showers and flushing toilets definitely makes it more attractive for a number of reasons.

Types Of Camping ?

Wivenhoe campgrounds has 2 areas to choose from, the first one Captain Logan Campground & the second one, Lumley Hill Campground. 

Our favorite Captain Logan, is mostly tent style camping sites with some drive on sites available also. One of the newer additions is the glamping tents also on this campground.

The tent sites are all short distance from where you can park your car maybe anything from 5m to 25m, they are mostly flat dirt/grass pads with nearby water taps available. Drive on sites / camper trailer sites / caravan sites are much the same just with the obvious extra space and are a bit further back from the water than most sites. There is also a large BBQ area with BBQ's for larger group cook ups if needed in the centre of the campground area near the toilets etc.

The glamping tents look to be pretty neat setups, if your looking for a very easy camping experience then this may be for you. Nice big tents, synthetic grass around the outsides, BBQ's, Solar and lighting, fire pitt. I think some of these even had eskys or fridges, tables, linen and even cutlery all taken care of.

 

Lumley Hill is more for the powered site campers with camper trailers and caravans, nice concrete pads for level setups etc, We have stayed here before but our personal opinion is the views etc aren't as nice from this campground but each to their own.

Costs ?

Glamping $149 Low Season & $199 Peak ?? (Check their website)

 What camping / 12v setup we took ?

For this trip we decided to not take the camper trailer and just use a tent style setup. It made the trip out there a little easier just going over the mountain with no trailer. As relatively new parents we have still been experimenting with different things we like to have with us when camping etc and enjoy trying new ways to do things. We took our own fire pitt and timber but believe you can hire one for maybe $5 and purchase timber if needed.

We used a 6x3m gazebo with a gazebo hut on the outside along with walls and a wall for over the hut if needed. This made for a very spacious camp setup, plenty of room for pantry, tables, fridges and storage tubs. We also had a new portable power station / cargo box setup we built and we wanted to test it out. 

The new 12v setup we wanted to test is a tough cargo style case we built into an all in one type box. It has 12v sockets, USB sockets, anderson plug outputs, inbuilt 40amp DC-DC charger with solar regulator built in, 1800w inverter with external remote face adaption and GPO sockets running through a 150amp breaker, bluetooth battery management, push button circuit breakers for protection and to top it off a 175ah lithium deep cycle battery. 

For the 3 nights / 4 days we stayed, this allowed us to run our 60L fridge and another couples smaller 40L fridge, campsite lighting, we also ran a coffee machine and milk frother. We charged batteries when needed for our new makita 18v kettle we decided to try this trip, and for Indy we were able to run her white noise machine while she slept during the day and at night to drown out any noise we made when cooking etc. Along with charging any phones etc through out the stay. All of this without a single bit of charge going back in for the whole stay. 

This was a great test for it and we definitely think it will be used again and we will take some solar to keep it topped up along the way.

Things To Do There?

Our friends brought some kayaks, so we ventured out for a few paddles with the kids. We went for a couple of walks over to the day areas and playground.

• Boating 
• Fishing
• Kayaking Canoeing 
• Swimming 
• ​Wild Life
• Hiking
• Bike Riding

Wrap on the stay

We thoroughly enjoyed this trip, even with a little rain on the last night.

Choosing to go midweek, it felt like we were the only ones there at times it was soo quiet and peaceful. The views are fantastic, Sunsets over the water were very nice. Wildlife everywhere, it was just really easy to relax. With toddlers running around it was easy come shower time and wash up time etc.

We stayed on campsite #28  to give you some idea from photos if booking.

Its not a big drive if you wanted to do more also, Fernvale and Esk are only short drives from the campgrounds.

This really is an easy one to get started with. 

Some positive points to help you get out there:

• Its just over an hour travel if you live in Brisbane
• Its cheap to camp, kids under 4 are free
• Hot showers / flushing toilets
• Its a safe environment 
• Can access everything by normal car

Check out their website for more information and to book your trip there!

https://www.campingwivenhoe.com.au

And a big thanks to the staff there, place was looking great. Everyone we dealt with was super friendly and easy to talk to.

We will be back.

Adam, Steph & Indy @ Open Cut Off-Grid