Glamping at Cobb & Co Gympie, Queensland

Light Bulb Moment….Let’s go GLAMPING!  So we did, at Cobb and Co Camping Grounds just outside Gympie, Queensland.   This was a virgin experience for us with the bonus being the destination was only an hour away.

A quick phone call and we’d secured ourselves a moveable one-bedroom tent. Yes, that’s right – moveable, so we could pick own site on arrival.

Cooking up a Glamping Storm

Location of Cobb & Co

Fifty lush acres of camping/glamping grounds were waiting for us at Tandur, on the edge of the Sunshine Coast and Cooloola Coast – nine miles south of Gympie, Queensland.

The very organised O’Hanlon family sent us an SMS after we’d booked with very clear instructions on how to find the grounds – both from north and south of Gympie.

Choose your Luxury Tent for Glamping!

I don’t usually include costs in my blogs, but it’s handy to have them, and these were as at July 2018:

Luxury two-bedroom tents (great for families) that come with:

• Carpet
  Solar lights
  Quality linen, blanket, doona, pillows
  1 x queen bed
  2 x single beds
  Large eating/lounge area between the tents
  Some have exclusive fire pits and barbecues.
  Cost – $100-$120 per night + $15 for an extra bed.

Double the luxury!

Personal fire pit and barbecue

Moveable tent (which we enjoyed) and included:

• Carpet
  Solar light
  1 x queen size bed
  Quality linen, blanket, doona, pillows
  Large front verandah with benches along both sides.
  Cost – $60 per night.

Home with a Verandah

There’s masses of unpowered camping site for caravans, tents and RVs as well – cost is $15 per adult and $10 per child (2-16 years).

Remember to take your own cutlery and plates!

Only Us and the Fresh Air

• Give me a home among the gumtrees (yes)
  With lots of plum trees (no)
  A sheep or two, and a kangaroo (yes a large grey fella hopped across our glamping site!)
  A clothesline out the back (yes)
  Verandah out the front (yes)
  And an old rocking chair! (well it was a camping chair – but you get the idea of the idyllic camp site)

Because we visited for a couple of nights during mid-week – another luxury that comes with travel at 60 – we had the place to ourselves!

It was quite a sight seeing our “home” for two days being pulled along behind a tractor to the sunny site we’d selected.

Fresh air in the Aussie Bush

Amenities – Rustic but modern.

This was a really basic glamping trip (meaning we had a sausage sizzle for two nights) – so the Camp Kitchen was great for with its gas burner and barbecues.

The amenity blocks are mostly brand new with more under construction. Showers were hot (a blessing because it was the middle of winter) and the hooks to hang clothes on are horseshoes!

The Coachhouse (Shop and Reception)

Reception and Small Museum

Here we stocked up on wood for our fire pit and bought marshmallows to toast.  There’s other basic items such as ice, ice-creams, matches, milk and cereals just in case you forget to bring any food with you.   (After we’d set up it was a quick trip into the supermarket at Gympie – 10 kilometres away – to buy the basics needed for two days.)

There’s so much rustic memorabilia around the grounds and the Reception/Shop has a small museum of yesteryear memorabilia to browse through.

Did you ever use one of those irons that needed to be stuck in the fire to get hot??

Drinking water is on tap at the back of Reception but you need to take your own container.

Glamping with a Coffee Bar

We were the first customers to try the fantastic brew at the Cobb & Co on-site Coffee Bar.  Let’s face it, not too many camp sites have  such luxuries. The coffee is a blend from Papua New Guinea and Colombia (South America) and you can buy a supply of the “Cobb & Co” brand to take home when you leave.

Resident Furry Friends

For those who enjoy the company of a dog or cat, the resident pooches pop round and say hi most days and the young cat (April) is happy to sit on anyone’s lap when invited. Particularly when close to the fire pit on a cold night!

April claims the chair!

Dingo Creek Winery

Any GLAMPING experience needs a winery nearby, right?  Enter Dingo Creek Winery only a short distance from the campsite on the Tandur Traveston Road.

The winery opens on Saturday and Sunday from 11am – 5 pm.  They have lunch to enjoy with your wine (or should that be the other way round?) and there’s a menu in the Cobb and Co Coachhouse (Reception)

Sadly, we were there mid-week so no wine tasting for us…but definitely an excuse to go glamping again.

Cobb & Co Activities for all ages

A wander down to the Billabong is a must – just sit, enjoy the peace and think about the Swagman in Waltzing Mathilda. Although we didn’t see any Jumbucks or Troopers!

Once a Jolly Swagman….

We didn’t have our cycles with us, but there are several trails on the property.  So, for us it was a matter of pulling on the joggers and exploring the walking tracks.

A Paradise for Little People

There’s horse and cart rides, pony rides, train rides, tractor rides, swimming, and farm animals to get up close and friendly with –  goats, chooks, horses.

Wagon rides!

The playground area has two flying foxes, mini jumps for pushbikes, logs to crawl through and a rope climb up into a fort.
Honestly, the choices are endless.

When school holidays come round there is extra entertainment such as shows by the amazing whip cracker “Whip Wilson”.  Whip (AKA James) wasn’t there this time but we have seen many of his incredible shows over the years.

Fort and Flying Fox

Mount Mothar Rock Pools – Woondum National Park

On day two we decided to drive through the Woondum National Park – a five minute drive down the road from Cobb & Co.

This is a beautiful  secluded spot for a picnic (and a swim – in the warmer weather!).  Feeling adventurous we decided to clamber over the massive rocks and have a walk around.  (Well we didn’t exactly “clamber” but managed not to twist an ankle!)

Bit chilly in winter but terrific for summer.

Note – You can reach the Rock Pools in a conventional vehicle but if you decide to keep going past the pool you’ll need a four-wheel drive vehicle.

Boulders made for climbing.

At the end of the road if you turn left you’ll find  the James McKane Memorial Lookout that gives fabulous panoramic views of Pomona, Cooroy and Kin Kin areas.

The reflections in the pools brought back wonderful memories of our trip to Uluru and the silence that surrounded the Rock.

Handy Information

• Cobb & Co Camping Grounds – owned by Sean & Katherine O’Hanlon
• Booking information: Phone 07 5483 5065  /   0400 612 892
• Email: cobbco-ninemile@hotmail.com
• Facebook: @cobb.and.co.nine.mile

Then all too soon it was time leave our Glamping home at Cobb & Co Camping Grounds – but one thing for sure – we’ll be back.