HQ UPDATE
Happy Camper HQ is still a work in progress. Between Council approvals, building regulations and the seemingly impossible task of getting enough power into the building, our “simple” warehouse conversion has become anything but. So while we wait, we’ve decided to have a little fun with the space anyway - graffiti, table tennis, firepits, spit-roasted meat and all.
So a quick update on Happy Camper H.Q - our community kitchen and event space..:
More than a year ago we took over the warehouse next door to Campground Kitchen, with dreams of creating a community hub, event space and prep kitchen for our Happy Camper Pizza trucks. Simple, right?
Wrong.
First it took nearly a year to convince Council that a former mechanic's workshop could become something other than a mechanic's workshop.
Then we discovered that changing the use of a building means a 60-year-old shed suddenly has to behave like a modern building. And then there's the power…
Apparently we can build giant AI Data centres, but trying to get enough power to run an air conditioner in Braybrook is where the system draws the line.
Honestly, it's doing our heads in a bit.
So while we wait for reports about reports and permits for permits, we decided to stop taking ourselves so seriously. We graffitied the walls. Collected free table tennis tables off Facebook Marketplace. And lit the firepit.
Remi cooked slow-cooked meat on the spit and made the team kebabs. There were marshmallows, questionable table tennis skills and T-shirts for the artistic types to spray on. The team got right into it - not sure if their enjoyment writing profanities is a message to us, Council or the power company. Anyway. Happy Camper HQ isn't ready yet.
But maybe that's okay. If there's one thing we've learnt over the years, it's that some of our favourite memories have happened while Plan A was falling apart.
In the meantime, the firepit works, the spit kind-of works and the table tennis tables are only mildly broken.
So I guess we're off to a pretty good start.