Kenilworth Camping Review by Accelerate Auto Electrics Sunshine Coast

The last long week end for 2016 and two weeks before my sister was heading over to South Africa for 3months (for her wedding) we decided a weekend off the grid camping was in order. A friend of ours had recently posted some photos on facebook of them at Kenilworth Camping and it looked stunning…so off we went.

We arrived at about 3.30pm friday afternoon, it took about 1hour from Buddina. I would suggest going via Eumundi, don’t be tempted by google maps to go via Mapelton/Obi Obi as there is a section of the road that is gravel and with a pretty serious windy decent that is signed no for caravans and trucks over 10 tonne (learnt this the hard way). The property has signs visible from Eumundi Kenilworth Road. The drive in from the road to camp grounds is fine for 2wd’s, my sister was in a mazda3 and it managed all the dirt roads, depending on where you camp you may need to leave your car and walk a short distance.

There are 4 main area’s where camping is permitted, 1 requires a creek crossing and is up nice and high overlooking the Mary River. We opted for the low side right on the bank next to a nice shallow section of the Mary River for the kids to paddle in. It was fairly flat, could of done with a mow (we spoke to the owner Shane Paulger about this in true farmer style he thought campers would prefer the high ground that doesn’t flood). The other two camp areas were further along the property both up nice and high next to a deep swimming hole.

The one and only thing I could complain about was no amenities, however it really didn’t bother us at all. They did tell us when we rang and booked. We camped right next to a porta loo, that was cleaned daily and our kids have always just bathed in a plastic tub fireside. So it was just the adults left a bit smelly and I really enjoyed having a wash in the river at 5pm just as the sun was starting to set, I was hot from chasing after the kids all afternoon and having 5minutes to myself to cool down and wash in the river was absolute bliss!!! The majority of the campgrounds are in flood areas so no point building any structures.

Kenilworth Camping is an actual working dairy farm so a highlight for the boys were the tractors, diggers and quad bikes parked around the place.

It also meant we got to go up to the dairy and watch the cows being milked. They milk the cows rain, hail or shine 365days a year, twice a day. We opted for the morning 6.30am session and we were the only ones there. We even got to see this beautiful 3day old calf being fed.

The kids loved getting up close to the cows while they were being milked and fed.

It was great talking to the owners of the dairy and getting their perspective of the Australian dairy industry. Our heart really does go out to all of the farmers that are doing it tough. It would be a hard decision to make to open your property and have hundreds of people sleeping in your backyard every night.

What we loved:

Shallow sandy swimming areas for our toddlers
Camp Fires allowed
Dogs allowed
No were near as busy as neighbouring campgrounds like Kenilworth Homestead
Serenity, Peace, Quiet
Stary Stary nights
Working Dairy Farm

Room for improvement

Amenities – only porta loo’s and no showers.

One of the reasons I love camping is the boys take on alot of the cooking – why because it involves FIRE, seriously If I could have a fire in my kitchen I’d never have to cook again! A big thanks to my brother in law Jacques (aka Jungle Jacques) who cooked up a storm and even busted out his famous Lemon & Garlic chicken.