Two of our rigs on a sandy flat at Shark Bay, tyre tracks everywhere and the sun high overhead

Camp journal

Where we've been. Where we're headed.

Real trips, real dust, written down so you can go and do your own. Our crew, our families, our camps. Just people who'd rather be out there.

Read the tripsStart your own

Shark Bay, January 2025

Where we've been

Pick a trip. Each one has the photos and the feel of it. None of it is fancy. That's kind of the point.

January 2025 · Shark Bay, WA

Shark Bay: where the red meets the blue

Some places look like someone turned the colour up. Shark Bay is one of them.

We pointed the rigs north and kept going. Long, straight roads, a fuel stop at the Billabong Roadhouse, and then the land starts changing colour.

The tracks out there are red. Properly red, soft and deep, and the dust stays on everything you own for weeks. Then you come over a rise and it's white sand, and water in more shades of blue than we had names for.

We parked where the sand meets the water and just sat for a while. No plan for the afternoon. No signal worth chasing. That's the whole trick, really.

Try this: before your first beach or soft-sand drive, learn how to let your tyres down (and pump them back up), and go with someone who's done it before.

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Easter 2025 · Dads & Kids

Dads & Kids: Easter by the fire

Just the dads and the kids. One long weekend. One big fire.

The idea's in the name. The dads take the kids camping, and everyone gets a long weekend out of it.

The days are for running around. The nights are for the fire. Gazebo up, chairs pulled in close, hoodies on as it cools down, beanies on the little ones. Nobody wants to be the first one to bed while the fire's still going.

Around a fire with no screens in the way, dads and kids actually talk. Not 'how was school' talk. Real stuff, silly stuff, stories. That's what we came for.

Try this: check the fire danger rating and any fire bans before you go, then give every kid a fire job: kindling, chairs, water bucket. They'll own it.

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2026 · Dads & Kids

Dads & Kids 2026: round two

It worked, so we did it again. Same deal: dads, kids, dirt.

Matching tees for the crew photo, then it was soft sand. The bush tracks narrow in through the trees, a sign warns you about the soft sand ahead, and then the dunes open up, pale and wide under a big blue sky.

To a kid, a sand track is an adventure park. For the dads, it's a chance to show them how to read the ground, take it slow and back yourself.

Watch a kid climb a dune they thought was too big. That's the stuff we're out there for.

Try this: let the kids help plan. Show them the map and let them pick one stop. They'll care about the trip before you've left the driveway.

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September 2026 · Outback Maasai trip

September 2026: the whole camp

Families, awnings out, chai on. This is what Outback Maasai looks like now.

This one was everyone. Awnings out, camp chairs everywhere, kids in gumboots, the tailgate doing double duty as a kitchen bench.

Food tastes better at camp, everyone knows it. A plate straight off the fire. And the chai: milky, sweet, poured from up high until it froths, the Kenyan way. A little bit of home in the middle of the bush.

No big agenda. Long lunches, slow afternoons, nowhere else to be. Honestly, that's the best kind of trip.

Try this: bring one dish from home, wherever home is for you. Food is how a camp turns into a crew.

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Coming up

On the list. If you're camped nearby, come and say g'day.

  • Fri 13 Nov 2026Coming up

    Cowalla

    A camp in the trees. One night. We'll write it up when we're home.

  • July 2027Coming up

    North to Ningaloo

    Perth to the reef and home again. The route and the camps land here as they're locked in.

  • OpenComing up

    The next one

    Tracks not yet named. When it's locked in, it lands here first.

5 March 2019 · Callcup Hill

Where it started

  • Maishalife
  • Msafiriitraveller

Two Land Cruisers on the white sand at Callcup Hill. "First Adventure around southwest Western Australia." That was the first post, back when the page was called Maisha Msafirii. By May we'd been to Boranup, Karijini in the Pilbara, Coral Bay and Lucky Bay. The rest is in this book.

Our white Prado and LandCruiser ute parked side by side on sandy ground under a clear blue sky
Shark Bay trip, January 2025

Your turn

How to start your own

You don't need what we've got. We started with two four-wheel drives and a free weekend. Here's the short version.

  1. Start small

    One night, a couple of hours from home. A campground with toilets is fine. You're building a habit, not a highlight reel.

  2. Gear basics

    Shelter (tent, swag or rooftop tent), something warm to sleep in, chairs, a stove, plenty of water, a first-aid kit and a torch each. Borrow before you buy.

  3. Pick a spot

    Look up national parks and campgrounds near you, check whether you need to book, and check the access. Plenty of great spots don't need a 4WD at all.

  4. Plan for no signal

    Tell someone where you're going and when you'll be back. Download maps for offline use. Carry more water than you think you'll need.

  5. Phones in the glovebox

    Take a few photos, sure. Then put it away. Agree on it before you leave, so nobody has to be the bad guy.

  6. Leave no trace

    Take every bit of rubbish home. Check fire bans and use existing fire rings. Stay on the tracks. Leave the place better than you found it.

  7. Do it again

    The second trip is easier than the first. By the third, the kids are packing their own bags.

See you out there

Phones down. Dust up.

Every trip in this journal started the same way: someone said, let's just go. Be that someone this weekend. Then tag #outbackmaasai so we can see where you ended up.

Read our storyShop the tees

Camped near us? Come and say g'day.