There’s a certain kind of experience that only exists when you strip things back to the essentials.
No power.
No schedules.
No pressure.
Just a clearing in a state forest and a circle of people who have chosen, year after year, to return to the same place.
For the past fifteen years, Easter has meant one thing to us, packing up the car with our camping essentials and heading out to our spot. No facilities, no bookings required and no stress. Just us and all our friends, and the ongoing promise of a long weekend built on connection.
What started as a small group has grown into something bigger. Families have expanded including ours, kids who couldn’t walk, can now roast marshmallows and explore the forest. New friendships have formed by young and old, and has become one of our favourite annual traditions.
The journey
The journey there begins the same, cars lined with bags, chairs, mattresses, tables and food. The drive of three hours always involves playlists and the kids asking, “how long until we get there”. Coffee stops, snacks and games. Then slowly the roads change and the bitumen turns into gravel, phone reception fades and the air is different.
Cars arrive in the forest one by one. We greet the same faces in the same place each year.
We begin the familiar routine of finding our space, setting up our tents beneath the trees, collecting firewood, pouring drinks, with laughter echoing through the trees.
Food, fire and the simple things
Kids that were once toddlers are now in school, run freely into the bush and the adults finally slow down.
There’s no strict plan when it comes to food. Some nights we share meals and other days each family tends to their own little set up. No matter how the evenings begin, it always ends the same way.
As the light begins to fade, everything circles back to the same place – the fire.
Camp chairs pulled close. The fire building slowly and deliberately. The last of dinner shifting into more indulgence, toasted marshmallows, wine and cheese, all which taste better under the stars.
Music plays in the background, just enough to carry the mood. Slowly the children begin to fade, one by one falling asleep. Their absence shifts the energy, with the night becoming calmer and more intimate. Games appear, cards, stories, with people present in the moment.
The Easter Hunt
Easter morning brings a different magic. Whilst the kids are playing, there’s a quiet flurry of movement. Chocolate eggs are hidden among the trees, tucked into bark and scattered through the clearing. Then the sound of little feet, with their baskets.
Excitement. Laughter. The chaos of the hunt with kids running in every direction, baskets filling quickly and the pure joy on their face. Older kids helping little ones and dogs trying to join in. Adults watching on, coffee in hand, soaking in this moment which they will soon outgrow.
These are the memories that stay.
Fifteen years on, it’s not just about camping, it’s about continuity. Showing up for the same people, in the same place, year after year. It’s the beauty of simplicity, and the luxury of time together.
Kindle and Kin was born from this tradition and these moments. We didn’t set out to create just a product, we wanted to recreate this feeling of togetherness and the quiet luxury of being present with our people. Whilst we can’t escape to a remote forest every weekend, that feeling should always be within reach. Kindle and Kin set out to bring this feeling it our home and other homes.
