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Dry season is camping timeTHE dry season is not far away and

with two long weekends coming upKatherine campers are gearing up to em-bark on their first camping trips for theyear.

Camping with the family or a groupof special friends can be a great bond-ing experience to create lifetime memo-ries.

To make sure those memories are un-forgettable for the right reasons (and notbecause the tent pegs were left at home)BIG4 Katherine Holiday Park has col-lected easy camping rules.

Make a list, check it twiceThere is nothing worse than arriving

at your destination, only to find thatyou’ve left something behind.

Chances are it will be a crucial com-ponent of your trip like tent pegs ortorches too.

Prepare a list of camping essentialsto make sure everything is packed.

Sticking to the list will also mean youdon’t over pack and end up digging

through a bag at midnight searching foryour toothbrush.

Do you really need to pack that hairstraightener? Strike it off the list.

Research activities before you goIf you are heading to a destination for

the first time, research the area and localattractions before you leave.

If you are travelling with the family,get your children involved with the plan-ning and pick out some attractions youcan enjoy together.

If you single out destinations youwant to visit, you can save time trawlingthrough brochures when you arrive atyour destination.

When booking tours, make sure youbook through a tour company with pos-itive reviews and book well in advanceto avoid disappointment.

The last thing you want to do is turnup and be denied entry because youdon’t have a booking.

Set up your campsite in daylightSetting up your tent and camp site

can be a breeze or turn into a nightmare,so it’s best to tackle it in daylight toavoid anyone getting frazzled andcranky.

Tents can be tricky enough on theirown so make it easy on yourself by put-ting yours up in full light.

If you’re not a traditional camper atheart, book a cabin where you’ll enjoya comfy bed, your own bathroom andthe luxury of air-conditioning.

Plan for a change in weatherSwimming, canoeing, fishing ... the

list of holiday activities goes on, but itcan get infinitely smaller if rain cloudsroll in or if temperatures suddenly plum-met during the dry season.

In case the rain comes back in thenext few weeks - pack some boardgames and toys to keep the little onesentertained.

Older kids might enjoy brain teasergame books, crossword puzzles, sketchbooks or card games.

Many BIG4 Holiday Parks host kids

clubs throughout the school holidayswith craft activities, cooking classes,movie nights and more.

Keep food simpleWhen you’re enjoying time with

family and friends in a beautiful holidaydestination, the last thing you want to dois spend time aimlessly wandering su-permarket aisles wondering what tocook.

Make sure you can create fulfilling,healthy meals for the duration of yourtrip by creating a meal plan before youleave home.

It is nice to eat out occasionally whileholidaying, but it can get expensivewhen travelling as a family, so cookingyour own meals will save budget for funholiday activities.

BIG4 have created a book full ofquick and healthy camping recipes totackle this challenge.

Visit www.big4.com.au to downloada copy of the camping cook book in timefor the Easter break.

www.katherinetimes.com.au KATHERINE TIMES, WEDNESDAY APRIL 16 2014 11

Chineseiron oreport tounloadcattle

ONE of China’sbiggest iron ore portscould soon be unloadingcattle from WesternAustralia, marking asymbolic shift in thetrading relationshipaway from a reliance onmining toward more in-vestment in agriculture.

WA exporters signedan agreement with Chi-nese companies fromthe eastern province ofZhejiang last Wednes-day to begin trial ship-ments of cattle to China.

The timing of theshipments will dependon China’s introductionof an official animalhealth protocol but WAPremier Colin Barnett,who travelled toHangzhou last week tomeet with provincialgovernment officials,believes they could startwithin 12 months.

If successful, it is ex-pected demand fromChina could quicklyreach 100,000 head ayear, worth roughly$200 million, making itthe second biggest mar-ket after Indonesia. Thenew demand wouldboost the value of graz-ing land and lead tomore investment in big-ger cattle herds.

Mr Barnett believesthat if the transportation,infrastructure and quar-antine issues are workedthrough during the trial,China could become "aneven bigger market"than Indonesia.

“I think it’s going tobe a huge, long-term se-cure market for Aus-tralian beef,” Mr Barnettsaid.

The WA Premierjoined Prime MinisterTony Abbott’s delega-tion to China, togetherwith his state and terri-tory counterparts, onFriday.

In a further sign ofthe shift from mining toagriculture, FortescueMetals Group chairmanAndrew Forrest has re-portedly teamed up withElders to explore oppor-tunities in cattle exports.

WA has been at theforefront of forgingcloser agricultural tieswith China, includingthe $700 million expan-sion of the Ord River ir-rigation scheme, whichis being developed by aprivate Shanghai-basedcompany.

Mr Barnett, who ison his third visit toChina in 10 months, metwith Zhongfu Groupthis week and said theproject was “chargingahead”.

The Katherine region offers a broad range offantastic get-aways for the Easter and Anzac

Day long weekends.

From Kakadu National Park to Timber Creek,and from Pine Creek to Mataranka and Bor-

roloola - the Katherine region is the place to befor campers.

When out bush, remember to only swim in des-ignated swimming areas and water holes and

be crocwise.

Prior to your trip check road conditions online at www.ntlis.nt.gov.au/roadreport.