CAMPING in a RAINSTORM - Sheltering From Heavy Rain in Perfect Tent

Oh my goodness, it's an absolute deluge. Wow. All righty, heavy rain. It's here already. Hey everybody, welcome back to the channel. As you've probably seen there was some extreme torrential rain as I was driving in and it's spitting now and quite windy. It's gushing through this area but I think I'm going to camp here. It's a short walk in for this one. A lot's been going on which I'm going to talk about later but yeah, I'm here now. I'm going to get the tent set up. I've got my tarp and the Helleberg net and hopefully the rain can hold off for a bit. I want this one to try and be like more of a relaxed camp but we'll see how we get actually I think it's coming in now. Better get this tarp up quick. By the way, carabiners and line locks. It's the best way to do a tarp. There's actually quite a bit of rain coming down. Not sure if you'll hear that on the camera. This is working good. Might fill around a bit and get it perfect. Sounds like I just got the tarp up in time. It's a pretty heavy shower coming in. It's quite windy as well. All right, I'm going to get the stuff into the tent, get my whole base set up, get my table set up and my chair set up and hunker down. I'm going to get some wood too but there's heaps around so that shouldn't be an issue. Oh, this is nice. Going to get the table set up. I love this little table. It's called Travel Bird and I think you can get them on Alibaba. I don't have a link but yeah, Travel Bird. Quite a few people ask me where I get this from. A lot of people ask me what stove I use and this one here is called the Fire Maple Blade 2. I like it because it's quite small. It's compact. I can fit it into this tokes 650ml cup and it's got feet and a removed canister so it feels a bit more safe to use and you can modulate the gas nicely. Cook burgers and stuff. But yeah man, it's got dark all of a sudden. I don't know if you guys can see but real dark clouds coming through. Anyway, I think I might get a brew on and then think about doing some wood. Ah, just kidding. Cheers everybody. I know all of you Brits got pretty upset and you know the most liked comment on my previous video was something along the lines of I'm going to be excommunicated from the Commonwealth for making my tea like that or it was kiwi piss or something but you know this time, no milk, proper builder's tea. Although, I'm probably still doing it wrong because builder's tea probably has a drop of milk. But we're going to try it. We'll do a review. That's actually quite good. Maybe I should listen to you guys in the comment section a bit more. Could be good for my self-esteem to not get roasted all the time. But anyway, I'm going to enjoy this and hopefully the rain comes in. Anyway guys, let's move on from the builder's tea and we'll put that one to bed. But I'd just like to take a moment to thank BetterHelp for being the paid partner of today's video. BetterHelp is a platform where therapists and their clients can communicate effectively to get the most out of therapy. Therapy allows you to share what's on your mind, whether it's stress, sadness or any other issues you're facing without the fear of judgment. These camping trips are how I find the time to process my thoughts along with speaking with close friends and family. However, therapy can be a great option to consider if you think that you may need some help. Think of therapy as a tool for personal growth. It can help you better understand yourself and develop healthier habits. Through therapy, you can learn effective ways to cope with and solve problems. Seeking therapy is actually a sign of strength and self-awareness. It takes courage to acknowledge when you need help and to take steps to improve your mental health. One of the best features of BetterHelp is that if your therapist just isn't the right fit, you can easily switch to another one until you find somebody that you really connect with. If you're struggling and think that you'd benefit from a therapy session, click on the link in the description or go to betterhelp.com forward slash ableinvictoria and get 10% off your first month of therapy. That's betterhelp.com forward slash ableinvictoria to get 10% off your first month of therapy. Go check it out. It might really help you and massive thanks to BetterHelp for being the paid partner We've got the silky Zubat arborist and we're going to go destroy it on some of this extremely dense and hard Manuka wood. I'm probably going to have to get a new blade after this and see how much I got. My saw is going to be wrecked after this. This wood is perfect. See all the rings in there. This wood, man. I'm not sure if you can hear or see me cutting, but it's a very different from that beech, the trees that I'm usually in. This is so hard to cut. All right, I'm going to try tidying this up and yeah, I don't know if I can split it. I could find some twigs. I'm not sure how batoning this stuff will go. I do have my axe, so I could try use the axe. It's starting to get pretty cold, but there's like a beautiful misty rain coming down. Just an amazing spot here. The birds are singing, views out to the river. This is nice. Got the axe. This is the big Agnes hatchet. We'll see how this goes splitting the wood. I'm not sure how it'll work on this stuff. I just got to get some pieces like this for kindling. Should work pretty good. Yeah, this is really dry. This is why I kind of like to use the knife because you have way more control. The axe is a big wedge though, so it works particularly nice on the fat pieces. The Lionsteel T5. It's a beauty. Yeah man, the knife just has so much more control. People in the comments, the old bush crafters, they've probably never actually been out camping. Using a knife to split wood. Look at that. It's like the perfect incision. That's what we need. Okay, should do it I think. Once this wood gets going, it's going to be real hot and real nice. It's just so much denser than the beech wood that to get that initial take just takes a little bit more effort. This knife by the way, the Lionsteel T5. I mean look at this. Made in Italy. It's a five inch or a little over five inch blade. It's beautiful. Now we're talking. This is nice man. How relaxing. Yeah man, it's good. I'm gonna get the fire under control, get it burning real hot, then I'll think about doing dinner. And at that point, I'll update you all on the fantastic news that I have. I know a lot of you are going to be interested in that. Some of you are, but you know it's a pretty special thing for me in Victoria, so I'm going to give you guys a little story. But we'll do that after dinner I think. Look at that fire man. That's an amazing fire. Putting out massive heat. We're going all out. Got my brioche buns. And there's just fumes man, aromas filling this little glen. What a setup though, this looks cool. I'm looking forward to sleeping in the Niak and I've got the Zambivia, so it'll be a real cozy chilled out night. Oh, it's just nice to be out. Had a hectic, hectic week. The old jerkins. All right, I think these are done. This is going to be legitimately incredible. The fire's cranking, we have a nice rain falling. There's so much heat coming off it and I'm just, yeah, I'm looking forward to these burgers. I'm patty, hibachi cheese, pickle burgers. Leather it up. Start with some tomato sauce on the base and we'll do one patty. Then the secret ingredient, pickles. Whoa. And I've got a little bit of French's mustard, just to add to that zing. And you know what I do with the juices? Probably another pickle. Man, it's really raining now. It's coming in all of a sudden. For those of you that hate pickles, these burgers will not be for you. But personally, I'm a big fan of the old pickle. The old jerkin. Jerkin to jerkin. Holy cow. I've got to show you this. I'm going to get wet. Have you ever seen anything like it? The double pickle stack. Oh no, one of the burgers fell over. Oh, there's pickle going everywhere. This is food heaven. Oh my word. Oh, the pickles. I've got juice all over me. Look at my fingers. It's a mess. Look, it's come apart. Too much pickle. Look at my fingers. Holy cow. I think that was the best thing I've ever eaten in my life. That dinner. The extra double Wagyu patties, Havarti cheese, pickle stack. Amazing. And it's absolutely coming in now. It's like a full-on rainstorm. It's so loud. But we did it. An amazing camp. I'm going to tidy up dinner. Make sure this fire is just cranking away. Clean everything up. And I'll come back to you guys and tell you about the surf. Cheers, everybody. I've got my hot chocolate. The fire is absolutely cranking. It's putting out too much heat, actually. I'm probably going to have to move back, but I'll try and endure it with a fireside chat. So yeah, the baby has been born and her name is Penelope and it's the most incredible thing I've ever seen in my life. And it kind of makes me feel emotions. It's kind of hard for me to talk about because I don't really know what to say. It was just, I mean, if you've had a kid yourself, you'll probably know what I mean. But if you haven't, just, I recommend that you do. Because I mean, honestly, going through all of that and just seeing this perfect baby appear into the world, it's just a miracle. So thank you, everybody. Thank you so much for all your kind words, your thoughts and your prayers for Victoria and for the baby and for me. It's just amazing. And I'm just so proud of Victoria. She did the most amazing job and she really, she had a pretty hard time of it. It didn't really go as planned. And yeah, I'll tell you a little bit about the whole process. Victoria doesn't mind, I asked her if it's okay to share it. So what happened was, it was a beautiful evening, gentle rain falling and Victoria started having pretty intense contractions at around about 10 pm. And I was like, oh no, this is it. I went to bed. So did Victoria. She didn't really sleep much. But around 1am in the morning, things started to become real. And she was in full-on labor. And it was pretty rough. I mean, I think Victoria was prepared for it to be pretty bad. But the baby ended up being in quite a compromised position. So there was just a whole lot of extra pressure that Victoria was feeling during the contractions. So she was having these intense contractions from about 1am through to about 6am. And things didn't really progress much. And we were at home during this stage. And we live quite close to the hospital. So we jumped in the car, the wagon, the Outback, boosted into the hospital. And Victoria was on the gas trying to get some pain relief. But things just weren't really progressing. I think it got around to about 8am. And it was just getting too much. So we ended up having an epidural. Which, you know, we didn't really want to do. Victoria didn't want. But at the time she was like, give it to me. Because it was just, you know, just overwhelming. But there was also some complications. So the baby's heart rate started to drop. And it was, she was getting quite distressed just because of the position. Her head was tilted back a bit. So we just waited a bit and kind of monitored the situation. But things just weren't progressing. So I had to end up getting an emergency caesarean. And yeah, like I said, it wasn't the plan. But it actually ended up being the most amazing experience. I think Victoria was a lot more calm than I was. I was freaking out. Because I mean, I'm not used to this kind of, you know, environment. In a surgical theatre, there's like 10 people running around. I'm just sitting there in my scrubs. Like, what's going on? Trying to like, I felt helpless. Because I mean, you want to help Victoria. But you know, I'm not a surgeon. So you have to trust that the people there helping us knew what to do. And they did a fantastic job. The anaesthetist, the obstetrician, who actually worked with Victoria's mum, because she was a nurse at the hospital. So we knew people in the, you know, throughout the whole process. And the midwives, they were amazing. And yeah, it just ended up being an extremely special day. And we ended up with the perfect baby. She's so healthy. It's just incredible. It makes you feel a bit emotional. But yeah, I can't wait to get home and see them. I have two amazing beautiful girls now. I'm a very lucky person. So yeah, I'll put up some pictures on the screen of Penelope and Victoria and maybe me holding the baby for you guys to see. And just yeah, it's just incredible. So I can't wait to actually get home in the morning and see them. So I'm going to pack up early. I'm not going to have a fire, have a coffee and head back to, you know, give them treats. But yeah, it's a good situation because Victoria's mum's a nurse. And Victoria's auntie actually worked in the hospitals and midwife like her whole career. So Victoria's got like first class service between the 24-7 hospital midwives, her mum, me trying to do what I can. I can't do much apart from bring coffee and, you know, try and be nice. But yeah, she's got so much support. And just thank you. If you're watching the video, anyone who helped out in the process, I'm super grateful. And I think Victoria would say the same. So thank you everybody. Whoa. And yeah, it's just, I'm just rambling away. I think you guys will understand if you've had kids before, what it feels like. So I'm still just, you know, over the moon. I probably will be forever. So that's, that's the situation. The baby's born and I just can't wait to take her camping. Oh, I feel some emotions. Oh man. But I'm going to enjoy this. Probably pack down and get into the tent. It's been a fantastic night and a fantastic camp. And I'm just, yeah, I'm over the moon with gratitude, happiness and just love for my family. Now I'm a family man. I'm providing for the family out here camping. So all your support is extremely appreciated. And like I said, all your kind words and everything, it just means a lot. And hopefully, hopefully Victoria can get out for a camp sometime soon. She's a bit sore at the moment, understandably, but yeah, it's just what an experience everyone. Back in the tent. I haven't used the Helleberg Near in quite some time. I've been using the Una over winter because it's just a bit more storm worthy with the flight of the ground, a little bit stronger, thicker materials. But this one's, this is spacious, man. They call it a 1.5 person tent. You could fit two people in here, but I mean, for one person, it's massive and it's got good headroom because there's pre-bent poles. So the ends are kind of like elongated a bit, a bit more volume. But my fire's, it's just still cranking. I put all the wood on. I probably shouldn't have done that, but I'm not going to light it in the morning. So I'll just sit here in bed, watch it die down and listen to these like raindrops and the river raging over there. But I hope you guys have enjoyed the camp. It's been pretty therapeutic for me after, you know, everything that's been going on. I probably have a whole lot more to say about it once I've processed it a bit more, but you know, it's just so fresh in my mind, the whole berth and everything that, you know, I'm probably not articulating myself in the best way. So maybe in the next video, I'll have some more in-depth analysis and be able to, you know, share a little bit more of, you know, my perspective. Listen to that. But yeah, I'm going to get cozy and probably call it a night. But yeah, thanks for coming guys and I'll catch up with you in the morning or I'll flip the camera on if I get attacked by wild animals or something. There could be boar around here, you know, in the night. I don't have my night vision camera so I won't be able to, you know, see them. But anyway, I'm going to go to sleep and I'll see you guys tomorrow. Good night. Good morning everybody. Just woke up. Absolutely great night's sleep. Pretty much rained consistently all night long. Oh, feel refreshed. It's about 5.20am or something. And yeah, still a few spits coming down. I think it's time to get a brew on and just enjoy the tent for a bit, I think. It got quite chilly overnight. When I went to bed, it was actually really hot. But I had to fully tuck myself in eventually. But it's a beautiful morning. Probably snowed up on the tops or it could have. But yeah, we're going into summer now. Well, it's not summer yet. It's spring. Start of spring officially. But it's already a lot lighter in the night. The evenings are getting thrown out. Winter was good, you know. I made the most of it. I've got quite a few good snow camps in. But you know, I don't really like the summer camps. So I've got to make the most of spring before we go into full summer mode. No fancy coffees today. We're doing the dirty double Maconas. Oh, just what I needed. You know what I was thinking? All you Brits who get upset about me having, you know, too much milk in my tea. What do you guys think of people having instant coffee like this? Because for someone who's a self-described coffee enthusiast, this is sacrilege. You know, but it's also nice. I can appreciate both things. Yeah, what do you guys think of instant Macona? In case you're wondering and you think it's weird that I'm up so early, I always wake up early before the sun comes up. Unless I have a hangover or I'm sick. And I have neither of those two things right now. So I like to watch the sun come up, get up in the dark. All of the birds started singing at exactly the same time. How do they know to do that? It's like when a certain amount of light comes into the environment, it triggers the birds in unison to begin their morning chorus. Well this camp's probably a little bit different to the usual storms. Although last night was like a pretty intense rainstorm. I think I can see, I think there's snow up there on the mountain top. I'm gonna have this coffee and probably just chill out. Try and relax a bit. And I'll pack up and I might try to get across the river over there and show you guys up to the mountains before I head out. But yeah, thanks guys for continuing to support the channel. Going forward, obviously with the baby, I might not be able to get out as much but I'll still try and do two to three videos a month leading into Christmas. And then I might take a month off or something over the holidays. But yeah, this is going to be the new reality. Camping with a baby, well at home. But I'll still get out because it's, you know, I need to. Helps me relax. Like I said in my paid section, with a bit of help. Speaking of the sponsors, I'll probably do a few because they just really help out. They allow me to get more gear and just, you know, keep the channel running. So if you do, check out the sponsors. They would really help. And you know, they are pretty good. I only do ones that I think, you know, could actually help people and decent products. So don't get too mad about them. I know some people patch the ads when they see a YouTuber doing a sponsored segment but that's all right. All right, well back in the wagon. That's the camp. Hope you guys enjoyed that one. It's a bit different but it was still an awesome experience. So hopefully I don't get stuck driving out. There's a lot of rain overnight and it's going to be pretty muddy. But you know, that's my problem, not yours. So I'll see you guys in the next video and have a great week. And yeah, bye for now.