Wakiti Creek Resort, Kotupna review: Braving the great outdoors

Kilometres from anywhere, Kathy Evans finds teepee camping puts daring and derring-do into the routine.

My memories of camping are not good. Random snapshots include washing up in a plastic bowl of lukewarm, greasy water lugged from the nearest tap half a kilometre away and a bossy Brown Owl issuing dire warnings about touching the sides of the tent if it rained, which it did in the North of England - a lot.

So it is with damp enthusiasm that I embrace the idea of life in a teepee at the Wakiti Creek Resort, near Echuca, despite the website that assures us this is camping "without the hassle".

But the picture of a teepee outlined against the sunset is one of serenity laced with a hint of adventure, so we load the car with sleeping bags, duvets and packets of dehydrated food and head north.

Three hours later we emerge from the boiling-hot interior clutching a collection of pot noodles and feeling a bit inadequate. Surely we should be sharpening sticks ready to spear a fish or two in the creek or gutting the sunbaking snake we ran over on the 12 kilometres of dirt track to the campsite? But we were yet to shake off the debilitating effects of urban living, with its predilections for cleanliness and cooking equipment that beeps and pings (thankfully, there is a microwave and kettle not too far away).

The teepee is reassuringly big enough for five of us (it sleeps six) and comes with mattresses laid out on a chipboard floor.

There is a dinky electric light and covered gas barbecues are close by. Oh yes, this is definitely camping for dummies.

Wakiti Resort has five teepees set in a semicircle on a vast grassy plain, separated from the main tent city and caravan park, so it is quite a hike to the nearest fridge or shower block. On about the fifth trek it dawns on me that camping is magic at transforming the tedious routine of everyday life into a daring act of derring-do. Going to the loo in the middle of the night involves fending off creepy crawlies waiting to sink their mandibles into juicy human flesh and you can feel a thousand pairs of eyes watching your nervous form from the nearby trees.

After a couple of days we are really in the swing of it; owners Richard, Chris, Jayne and Phil can't do enough for us. There's a perfect mix of activity and serenity to keep you tied to the campsite, which is a good thing because there's nothing around for kilometres (Echuca is a good 35-minute drive back down the dirt track and the nearest town, Tongala, is tiny). We enjoy archery, cycling around the BMX track, bushwalking and swimming in the muddy-brown waters of the creek (the on-site pool is small and crowded) but it is the canoeing that really makes the weekend. Paddling down the river at first light, when the world is so still you can see its soul in the glass reflection, is a memory that has gone a long way to snuffing out those Brown Owl ones.