The five must have items to keep your car picnic ready

Going the long way just for the fun of it. Taking the highway up-and-over a hill to find a lush, grassy field that’s perfect for a spontaneous picnic.

It’s ironic that you need to be prepared to be so off-the-cuff. But if you put these items in your boot and forget about them until the perfect moment, you’ll be eternally picnic-ready, able to pounce on the best patch of grass at any moment.

Not all grassy fields are created equal. Some are lush, soft and inviting to your buttocks. Others are torturous prickle jungles about as comfy as a bed of nails. Keep a quality picnic blanket—one with those hard, waterproof undersides—as a piece of your impromptu picnic kit and you’ll be ready for any field.

There’s nothing more ‘Strayan than flies and heaps of them, but you don’t want them over-running your picnic. This goes for mozzies, too. Keep them at bay with a squirt of bug spray.

Who cuts the cheese? You do. Who will open the wine with the cork-topped bottle you bought because you forgot that corks existed? You will. A knife AND a fork are handy, and a corkscrew-and-knife combo is even better. Put it in your kit.

It’s summer. This is a no-brainer. The good thing about this cool box is that, until you fill it with ice and a bottle of wine or a beer or two, it makes the perfect box to store all this stuff in. Otherwise be traditional and bring a picnic basket.

Like flies and their mates, the mozzies, the Australian sun is trying to kill you. There will be no picnic tomorrow if you get cooked today.

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