The Dower Family

We've just had school holidays here so we packed our little crew (& a bunch of stuff) up and went to Stradbroke Island for a week of camping. This was our first family foray into hardcore, no electricity, fetch your own water, no toilet camping. The potential was there for it to be a total unmitigated disaster, but somehow miraculously it all worked out just fine. That isn't to say it wasn't without it's challenges. We arrived on the island just as the grey clouds started to roll in but thankfully the rain held off long enough for the boys to get most of the big items set up. Then it really started to bucket down!! Our first night was spend using pegs to stop leaks between our gazebos and catching rainwater in buckets. Less than ideal but the kids didn't seem to mind in the slightest. Day two was much better, and after that the days just got even more gorgeous. We drove the cars on the beaches, the big boys surfed and the little boys frolicked in the surf. The t