Camping in the woods is a great experience. You get to experience the beauty and mystery of nature up close, and you get to feel self-reliant and capable as you make fires to cook your food over and set up a cozy place to get away from the night’s chill.
And there’s also something a little thrillingly spooky about being out in the dark woods. It’s why people love to tell scary stories around the fire, and why it makes us feel extra close to the people we’re with.
Of course, if sleeping in a tent on the ground isn’tquite your thing, it might seem like you have to miss out on the whole camping experience.
But that’s not true. Thanks to places like Camp Kulning, you can get the best of both the rugged outdoors and the comforts of a house.
Camp Kulning is located in the countryside of Victoria, Australia, and consists of a cottage, a restored vintage camper, and, most impressively, a whole 1920s tram car that’s been made over into a cozy cabin in its own right.
The tram strangely looks right at home in the middle of the trees, and it’s been decoratedin a delightfully kitschy, shabby-chic style that highlights its age without sacrificing comfort. It’s not slick and spaceship-like like some of the made-over Airstream cabins we’ve seen, but it’s got a beautifully eclectic vintage charm.
And you can also stay in it! The entire “camp,” including the tram, cottage, and caravan (“camper” for those of us in the U.S.), can sleep eight people, and with a full crowd, comes out to only about $30 a night per person.
Check it out below, and see if this is the kind of camping you’d be into.
[H/T: Messy Nessy Chic]
The 1920s tram at Camp Kulning in Victoria, Australia, wasn’t always the cozy getaway it is now.
The tram had actually been in service until the 1970s, and then it somehow ended up in the woods. This is how owner Angela found it.
From the 1920s through the 1970s, trams like these transported people throughout cities in Australia.
It wasn’t exactly inviting, and was even maybe a little creepy, but Angela saw potential in it.
Fast-forward about two years, and here’s the tram now!
It’s become a cozy little cabin, complete with charming old furniture and a little stove for warmth, as well as a bedroom that sleeps two.
As you can see, Angela opted to keep some of the weathered paint for a shabby-chic look that highlights the old-timey elegance of the tram and also gives it a rustic feel.
The bedroom looks a little like a stately sleeper car of old.
It’s also full of charming vintage items like these croquet mallets. And there’s plenty of room outside to use them, too!
And the tram isn’t the only building on the property.
There’s also the camper, similarly renovated, as well as a number of small sheds.
Angela brought in the camper, but the sheds and tram were all in disrepair when she purchased the property. But like the tram, they didn’t stay that way.
One of the sheds became this adorably kitschy tiki bar, for example.
It’s a great place to gather, say, if it rains and having a fire isn’t an option.
And it comes complete with a set of pineapple tumblers and a flamingo “bartender.”
When the weather’s nice, there’s space to build a fire so everyone can gather, cook, and hang out.
If this isn’t “glamping,” we don’t know what is!
And the tram, cheekily nicknamed “Jean-Claude van Tram,” actually looks right at home in the woods.
This nifty 360-degree shot shows the Camp Kulning property in its entirety, and distorts it to look like a tiny little planet.
If you look around the edges of the “planet,” you can see the tram, the camper, and the sheds.
Read more: http://www.littlethings.com/camp-kulning-australia/
