What do you do to celebrate your birthday when you’re travelling? With no family and friends around to throw a party, with no chance to buy nice presents for each other, and with no cake, how do you make the day special? It was A’s birthday on the 12th, and it also happened to be our first night of camping. We did what all travellers do: MAKE DO!

An exquisite wine called ‘Cupcake’ from the vineyards of the nearest 7-Eleven marked the occasion. A stack of BBQ chips complimented its delicate flavours.

Gourmet snacks and exquisite 7-Eleven wine for the birthday boy

A banana cream pie made with ingredients from Walmart

Banana cream pie with flavoured yoghurt, banana slices and a readymade Graham cracker crust

A healthy, yummy breakfast to start the day (and to offset all the burgers we’ve been eating!)

Breakfast for two: milk, banana cream pie, cereal and fruit

We reached our first campsite just before dark on a balmy evening, and were delighted to find the lovely Burke Lake right behind us. The campsite was almost deserted, but apart from giant squirrels, there was nothing to worry us. We pitched our tent with some struggle, unpacked our groceries and made a quick-fix dinner of sandwiches. Our first night was a little uncomfortable, with the extra-warm sleeping bags proving too warm for the end of summer camping and the strange noises from outside startling us in that lonely campsite. We also didn’t inflate our mattresses properly, causing them to roll us around a bit.

But camping has its own rewards and after a troubled night, we awoke to birdsong on the birthday morning, next to a peaceful misted-over lake, squirrels scampering around, and fresh air wafting through our tent.

All that makes the birthday boy one happy camper.

Say hello to the birthday baby!