Carry On Camping

For me, you can't have a proper summer without a camping trip. Whether it's a festival or a more relaxed affair, you just can't beat BBQing under the stars or listening to the rain patter on the outside of your tent. It's been hard to keep my eyes on work recently with the weather being so hot, so last weekend I booked Friday off work and headed off with some friends to my favourite camping spot, Shell Island.

About two and a half hours from home, its relatively low key and perfect for getting away for just a couple of days. The best part about Shell Island is the sand dunes. While you can camp anywhere across the site, it's best to head right down to the beach and pitch up in amongst the dunes for a bit of privacy and to be just a few hundred metres from the sea. We managed to set up camp after being delayed on the causeway for an hour (it floods with the tide, hence the island bit) and zipped straight over to the beach. You should also make sure you have a few strapping young men to hand (ahem) as, unless you have tow rope and a 4x4 handy, you're more than likely to beach your car at some point.

The beach at Shell Island is beautiful and, if you happen to get the weather, could easily be mistaken for the Mediterranean with the rocky peninsula on the horizon. We spent the entire weekend just lazing around, playing Uno (extremely underrated card game, in my opinion) and having the occasional dip in the sea to cool off.

As the sun started to go down, I whipped up some grub for everyone - namely peppered grill steaks and hot dogs on the Go Anywhere Weber BBQ that I mentioned in my last booter post - before heading up to the top of the dunes to watch the sunset.

I wouldn't say I'm the most well-travelled person in the world, but I think you'd have to go a long way to beating this sunset. We watched it go down and the moon come up for hours - all washed down with a couple of beers and a summer playlist, of course.

So what do you think of Shell Island? And where's your best kept camping secret?