BATHURST Camping Tips

[petepower]

Hi everyone,
Finally have the opportunity to attend the V8's at Bathurst this year.
We have our site at Max Cameron Camp ground.
Any useful tips and advice appreciated.
I also note that "No Glass" policy, we are taking a caravan does that mean I cant have my "Pickles in the glass jar? How strict are they with this, I can undersatand no glass beverage bottles..
They also state the per day alcohol limit, does that mean I can take in the full 5 days limit when I arrive, or only 1 days and you have to go out every day to top up? I cant imagine them searching every nook and cranny of every caravan, or do they.

Hoping for some fine weather and great racing.

Pete

[Full_Monty]

They found my 1Lt bottle of wild turkey which was well hidden in the caravan, so chances are they will find it. I just had to tip it into a plastic bottle and was good to go.

[Alan D Segal]

The good news is by camping there at least you can take grog. If you stay somewhere like tent city you've gotta buy your drinks there and consume them in the designated places (all of which have basically no view of the track and are packed out).

[ebv8]

We camp (in a caravan) in the chase camp ground and they don't even check out the van, helps going with my dad who is 67, he drives, he gets his van ready, my mum makes all the food, and we (3 brothers) just buy the grog
we take it all in, in the first day and never had any issues, burbon and all
if you want to save money take your own timber to burn its costs a bomb in bathurst oh and this year if its windy make sure you tied everything down, alot of people lost some nice tents and annexes last year, i saw 1 tent, poles and all wrapped around a new ss commodore

they might have a better check when headed up the top as the cops use dogs to check out the cars but should be fine in max cameron

[fordman302]

Camped at max Cameron for the last 5 years without drama, we have taken in glass olive oil containers etc without hassle, don't know how far they would go nor have I tested it. You can only take in your days supply of alcohol, not the equivalent to the five days, once upon a time they would store your excess but now you lose it. The bottle shops in town however are quite competitive with their prices.

Be prepared for every weather scenario, I have scraped ice off our camper, walked knee high in mud and been cooked from the heat.

Like EBV8 said, wood is expensive but a fire is nice to have. Ammenities aren't 5 star but generally no problem getting a hot shower.

Max Cameron is really family friendly, a little noisy most of the night but that's about as bad as it gets.

[ebxr8240]

Good shoes / boots , always take a windbreaker as you never know what the whether is . Noise?? Most are quite entertaining just join in with everyone ! .. Quietens down from midnight or so ..I we are around 1093 ? Just south of amenities / police .. Rum (whatever) in a coke bottle as it's plastic .. Right..

[GREGL]

Showers , you don't shower at Bathurst , when do you have time to fit a shower in .

[82XD393.3v]

i showered daily whilst camping at bathurst just go late at night after 11. one slab of beer per person over 18 so if 3 adults in car= 3 slabs, you can make multiple trips if you want per day and yes they do check. be prepared for snow,rain, high winds, if you have a driza bone take it

http://user.v8supercarevents.com.au/...tionID=3#faq28

[sgt_doofey]

I always showered at night. Much easier to get one then.
Yeah, the wind last year was terrible. Luckily, my tent weathered it brilliantly. We were busy helping others tie down their stuff too.
As for clothing, pack for all 4 seasons. It can be freezing cold at nights so make sure you have plenty of warm clothes.
Something windproof, something waterproof, something very warm, something for the hot weather. You'll never know what it'll be like up there weather wise.
A good pair of walking shoes as well. Especially for the trek up and down to Forrest elbow.

[Giant Cranium]

Money for the kebab van. Great kebabs coz if it was bad the van would be burnt down

[petepower]

Thanks Guys.
All good helpful info appreciated.
So where is the KEBAB Van??

[the_scotsman]

Originally Posted by 82XD393.3v

i showered daily whilst camping at bathurst just go late at night after 11. one slab of beer per person over 18 so if 3 adults in car= 3 slabs, you can make multiple trips if you want per day and yes they do check. be prepared for snow,rain, high winds, if you have a driza bone take it

http://user.v8supercarevents.com.au/...tionID=3#faq28

So what tricks do people use to get more in?

(I'm not going, just curious the lengths people go to )

[ebv8]

take your old man in with you, much more likely to search 20-30yo males rather than a 60-70yo, take your kids? hide bottles in their teddy

we have other tricks to get open alcohol into the track, but hiding an open can in your pocket and getting on the buss to the top is all good until you spill a full beer in your pocket drowning your phone.

I have a mate camping up top this year so i'm going to try and get him to take a 30 pack of cans for me so we can run back to his site and grab some cans to avoid paying $5 for a mid strength coopers in the gated areas

[82XD393.3v]

tricks lol no you just need to do multiple trips or bring non drinkers in the car with you so you can stock up using them
the searches are not overly hard they dont rip up carpet or look for hidden cells, security is private (Indians) cops dont really start to show up till Thursday but when they do dont try anything and they have dogs to search but im normally up at mcphillamy

[Alan D Segal]

Originally Posted by ebv8

$5 for a mid strength coopers in the gated areas

It'd be alright if they put a gated area somewhere with a view of some part of the track though!

[sgt_doofey]

Why would you smuggle booze in to a camping area? A carton of beer per person per day is a lot of beer!

[ebv8]

to tell you the truth we have leftovers of 1x 30 pack of VB, a 1x24pack of white ladies and a 2l cask of red between the 4 of us over 4 days. call us soft if you will but this is in the chase campsite and most of the drinking is on track
different story up top we would be drinking 15+ cans a day and then probably forget to shower and/or talk

[petepower]

Originally Posted by sgt_doofey

Why would you smuggle booze in to a camping area? A carton of beer per person per day is a lot of beer!

Hi Sgt, its not that I want to smuggle grog in or will drink a carton a day. I might have a few beers during the day, a glass or two of wine with my dinner maybe a can of Guinness after dinner, with a couple of bourbon nightcaps. So not quantity but more the variety.. So a cask of wine and a few tins of Guinness will probably not cause too many issues by the sounds of it.

[sgt_doofey]

Sorry petepower, that wasn't a comment directed at you specifically, more of a general wonder as to why anyone would need to smuggle in booze to the campsites there?

Another tip I thought of is if you do the real bare bones camping like I did the times I've been, then you'll be storing your food on ice in eskies. To stop your food from getting wet, simply buy the large zip-lock bags and put your food in them when in the esky. Keeps it nice and dry and you don't have to worry about food falling in to the ice slurry.

[madfordfan]

I've been volunteering there for the last 3years. Trust me you'll love. Be prepared for anything weather wise.
I usually shower mid afternoon not too busy then mainly dads & kids.
Bathurst has all your colesworth shops quite close to track. I usually head into town every couple of days for supplies but am also one of the lucky few that gets power there. More then welcome to meet n have beer while your there if ya interested.



Geoff

[sgt_doofey]

Oh, if your planning on using a tent, then buy bigger, stronger tent pegs. The ground there is really rocky underneath and near on impossible to drive a standard tent peg in to.

[ebxr8240]

The funny part about last year 5 girls in our group lost their tent in the wind.. I said camp up with us in the motorhome .. NA they wanted to drink some more..
It was freagan cold overnight and the girls slept in the back of a 4 runner..
We could NOT stop laughing the girls froze .. The funny thing is they couldn't drive till after lunch .. As they where all pretty shindlers list from the night before!!
Oh well we offered !!

[LemmeAbbot]

Last time I was there I camped at a tent city (tents and stretchers provided) on the edge of the town on a sports ground. It had rained constantly for about a week and the place was flooded and muddy. Gum boots would have come in handy. And it was freezing and the guy I went with had a cold before we got there. Coughed non-stop and made me sick too.

This year I am going again and I will probably stay in the same tent city but I won't be sharing any tent with a sick person this time.

[Crazy Dazz]

Take something with a sub-tank. Clean it thoroughly and fill it with Grappa. Just put on a longer hose and hit the "Sub" button whenever you need a top up.
If anybody asks, tell em its bio-diesel.

[petepower]

We will be in a Van so not an issue with tents. A good trick I use for really hard ground is drill a pilot hole in the ground with a Battery hammer drill with a masonry drill bit. Also for your meat in the Esky you cant beat Vacuum packing, most butchers will do it for you.