Wade Carmichael

First Camp with an Infant

Wade Carmichael’s forged an enviable path for himself as a travelling free surfer with a love of camping, cross-country road trips and remote coastlines.

But how would this career accommodate new fatherhood? When Wade and his partner Elouise’s baby son Skip was six months old, they decided to try a test run. Perhaps wisely, they opted to do something Wade rarely does and drive away from the coast. “We go to the beach every day, so we wanted to do something different and get some quality family time and go inland,” he says.

A quiet patch of bush in the Tweed hinterland provided the ideal short getaway to test their camping with infant game. “It’s very different. You’re always thinking of him. You’ve got to plan more, instead of winging it,” says Wade.

The first shock was packing. Wade’s probably driven across the country with less planning and preparation than this weekend away with the family. “You’ve obviously got a lot more stuff with him. Packing the car, I thought, oh my god, we need so much stuff.”

His concerns were, however, short-lived. “Once we got through that and were all set up it was just relax time, and he was just cruising, looking around, taking it all in. The build-up was full on and as soon as we got there, we got some really good family time.”

Wade’s a seasoned camper so he knows a bit about the right camp setup for the occasion, and for this mission the key was simplicity. “We took the Santorini 2 x 4 inflatable tent, and had his porta cot next to us. It was super cosy. We could open it up during the day and close it up at night.”

Add in the basic necessities of camp life, the Dometic Cadac 2 Cook 3 Pro Deluxe Gas Stove, the CFX5 35 fridge, running off a PLB 15 portable lithium battery and the family were all set. Throw in a couple of Dometic Go Compact Camp Chairs and Camp Table, and the young family were sorted.

“Super simple, super compact, super easy to set up,” says Wade.

And young Skip took to the outdoors life like the proverbial duck to water. “He was watching the birds, looking around, he was frothing the whole time,” says Wade. “We had a fire going and he loved that. He slept really well. My favourite part of the day was having him up at sunrise and sunset, and we would sit there together, and he’d be just loving it. He was just soaking it up. We did find a little creek, he had a nice dip in fresh water, he was super happy to be in nature.”

For anyone considering camping with infant on their first trip, Wade reckons it’s all about keeping it simple and choosing a calm location to ease into the experience.

Which is just as well, because Wade and Elouise plan to do a heap of camping in the future. “We’ll get up to Straddy this winter, keep evolving, keep moving around, and plan some longer trips as Skip gets older. It’s a learning curve, but we were psyched on the way it all turned out.