In the (camp) kitchen ...

We don't usually stay in caravan parks - and chose to stay without power this trip, so as to spread out more than a powered site would allow.

When checking-in we were advised there was a brand-new camp kitchen on site, just three weeks old.  In the heat, it was very easy to wander over and use the on-site facilities rather than setting up under our gazebos.  We had a simple BBQ on our first night.  Nick and Vaughan cooked the meat while the girls and I bought salads from a nearby (air-conditioned!) supermarket.

We shared dinner with family on our second night.  I'd pre-made hamburger patties for the trip and marinaded steak also.  They were defrosted and cooked on one of the stainless steel BBQ plates, ready for our home-made hamburgers and steak sandwiches.  I think they'll feature regularly on camping menus.  Yum! 

I'd planned to have a cooked breakfast one morning, before realising how hot the weather would be.  We ate cereal instead and cooked our breakfast provisions for dinner!  As we were a party of seven again that night I used both hotplates to cook hash browns, bacon, chorizo, sausages, tomatoes and mushrooms.  By the time all that was done, I was over cheffing and enlisted Nick to cook some of our chookie eggs just before serving!

On our last night Nick and I bought ingredients for Mexican wraps.  I cooked one kilo of mince on the hotplate, mixing it with taco seasoning while browning.  I hadn't tried that method of cooking before but it worked well.  The girls prepared salad vegies and guacamole - and it was a very nice finale dinner.

Most people staying at the park were in caravans and the camp fridge was empty when we checked it.  Given the heat and the power being drawn by our fridges, we used the camp kitchen freezer to ice water - and took over space in the fridge also (carefully labelling everything as per the printed rules).