Took this photo last night as the sun set under a thick bank of fog that had cloaked us all day long… quite spectacular, and very wintry! Brrrr!

We just returned from a brief winter camp trip using the new ‘Waratah’ Burke & Wills swag imported from Australia by www.theaussieshop.co.uk. We’ll be writing an in-depth review of this great piece of gear, but for now here’s the video of the swag in action – also see our full article on Aussie Swag camping.

These kettles both come with cooking support stand kits, so you can cook above the kettle or in the base using the 2 semi-circular grids that come with the kits. However when cooking on the base this can mean it’s hard to keep enough heat in the fire as you can’t feed it without removing the grids – I’ve used this method – a simple copper bottomed indian wok with handles on either side: prop the handles with 2 sticks (make sure they are solidly dig in otherwise they’ll tip – you can always add a third stick for extra support on one side though, but 2 should be enough). That creates a kind of ‘bi-pod’ which suspends the wok above the flames, allowing you to feed in as much material as you need. Works very well for quick cooking such as frying or heating liquid based food like stews, the campers favourite baked beans or soup or porridge for breakfast. To stir just hold onto one of the handles, or lift the wok off, stir and then put back on the bipod. On a small fire base like this the handles don’t heat up much so you can lift off the wok when you’re ready – eat straight from the wok or transfer to plates/bowls. If the handles do heat up as they do when I cook with the wok direct on an open fire a single stick through each handle across the pot is all you need to lift it off safely.

in situ at a morning camp stop in the rain, sheltered under a tarp:

The wok used directly on a small open camp fire, porridge coming up!