Bright Victoria – Bright Pine Valley Caravan Park

This last ANZAC weekend we made the trek up to Bright, Vic – the High Country of Victoria. We picked the perfect time of year to visit this beautiful part of the country, and the weather was absolutely perfect.

The drive up from West of Melbourne to Bright was very pleasant. The green rolling hills passing you by mile on mile for pretty much the full 3.5 hours it took us to get there. The road is excellent and is a dual carriage way for 90% of the drive.

We stopped in Euroa for a break for the kids. Euroa is a lovely little town just off the main road (about 4km) and is a great spot to stop. There is a large playground on the way into town, which we stopped at to let the kids burn off some steam. Further up the road and right next to the main centre of town is a beautiful river and riverside park, perfect for picnicking. I didn’t try the coffee or the food here so can’t comment on it.

 

The Playground at Euroa

 

Once you hit Myrtleford (about 40 km from Bright) the scenery hits you. It’s a beautiful drive and you understand why there are so many cyclists around and why they are so well catered for. We will definitely be bringing our bikes next time we are up here (which won’t be long I can assure you).

 

The road between Myrtleford and Bright

 

We had picked Bright Pine Valley Caravan Park for our camp site for the weekend. The caravan park is pretty small and the individual sites are a squeeze. But there is plenty on offer. A good location, just 10 minutes walk from the centre of town, the park boasts a small,solar heated swimming pool, a jumping pillow, small playground, games room, camp kitchen area, en-suite camping sites, great shower/toilet facilities and some of the friendliest management we have come across while camping.

 

Bright Pine Valley Caravan Park

 

We had originally booked two camp sites next to each other, on of which was an en-suite site. One for us, and one for our friends who were also camping. It turned out that the booking was mixed up and the site next to ours had been taken by another camper. As the en-suite site had a decent amount of space (compared to the other sites) we decided to pitch both camper trailers (both Tambo Coopers) on the same site. We then used the other site for parking. It turned out really well. With the campers facing each other we had a great entertainment area between them and proceeded to have an excellent weekend.

 

The En-suite Camping site at Bright Pine Valley Caravan Park

 

The en-suite was exceptional. Very new and clean and tidy. And it even came with heating lamps to ensure a you didn’t freeze your nuts off on those cold winter mornings/evenings.

 

5 star accommodation for the kids

 

Bright Pine Valley Caravan Park

 

We were joined by our friends Viv & Russ and Clinton & Judy and all the kids for the weekend. Having friends around camp makes for a much richer experience in my opinion. Taking turns with main meals means that you are not on the go all the time and many hands make light work of all there is to do around camp. And there is always something that needs to be done; especially if you have small children.

Two evening meals included using the awesome spit braai that was a present from my cousin Cris. You can see it in the picture below. It’s fantastic for chicken. Lamb is not too bad, but I need to figure out how to time it better. I always seem to do lamb for a little longer than I should and it comes out a little dry.

 

All set for a great evening

 

Although Sunday was our last day a number of people had packed up an left the day before, giving us a little more breathing space around the park. Our neighbouring en-suite site campers upped sticks early on Sunday morning and gave us a perfect spot to set up for a most excellent cooked breakfast. There’s just something wonderful about eggs and bacon and a good cup of coffee to make camping experiences all the more enjoyable.

 

Sunday Morning breakfast

 

Walks and Colours

It seems that Bright has a lot to offer. So going there for a weekend trip is just not going to cut it.

There are endless walks along beautiful rivers and up mountain passes. Bike rides along single track, or rail track, fishing, wondering, 4×4’ing, or simply just sitting and enjoying the scenery.

The Oven’s river runs right through Bright and is the perfect spot for a walk, a ride, a picnic, or indeed a wedding; as we chanced upon on our walk up and down the river. The wedding ceremony had set up just a little further along (than in the picture below). It looked idyllic, and they had the weather to match.

 

Scenery along the Ovens River, Bright

 

There is a massive playground in the town right next to the ovens river and it’s a hit with the kids. Oh, at the Bright Brewery overlooks the playground as well, so there is always a cold bevvy on hand for thirsty parents.

We had dinner at the Brewery on the last evening off our stay and while the beers were good the service was very slow (50 mins for pizza) and the food, when it did arrive, was ‘Ok’. The staff would argue “It’s because we are so busy”, but that should be catered for (excuse the pun).

 

The Playground on the Ovens River, Bright

 

Bright is great for bikes

 

The playground kept the kids happy

 

Misty mornings in Bright, Vic

 

The Haylers out camping again

 

Bright, although quite a drive from Melbourne, was fantastic. Clean air, beautiful scenery, lovely people and happy campers. We will definitely be back, but this time I’m staying for a week.

Oh, and best coffee in town is at Cafe Velo. The service is slow, but the coffee is worth the wait, way better than what you get from the main street cafes.

 

Wilson’s Prom, here we come!

Getting very excited now. Our Christmas trip to Wilson’s Prom is just a few days away, but we are still nowhere near ready. This is going to be a first for us. Camping for a week, over Christmas, on a beach. Happy days!!

Trailers not packed, presents are not wrapped, ham yet to be purchased….. This is going to be a busy week indeed.

 

Marysville Caravan Park

This last weekend we took a trip up to Marysville, Vic. We used this as a base to get up to the snowy slopes of Lake Mountain Alpine Resort, where they were having a Family fun day/weekend. We had been promising Ben that we would go up to the snow just as soon as there was any.

We stayed at the delightful Marysville Caravan Park, which is situated right in the heart of Marysville. Complete with the Steavenson River running right through the park, this camp ground had a lot to offer it’s few inhabitants. There are wonderfully new and well appointed ablution blocks with hot showers, a coin operated laundry with both washers and dryers, a kitchen area with microwave and stove, a giant jumping pillow (it seems these are everywhere these days and are the preference over the trampoline), a kids playground, ample sized camping spots, community fire pits next to the river, and very close proximity to the town centre (a 5 minute walk).

We had a late check-in after only being able to leave Melbourne at peak hour (5pm). It took us the better part of 3.5 hours for what should have been a 2 hour journey. Next time I’ll take a half day and we will be able to get to our destination, set up camp and get ourselves ready for the evening before 5pm.

Whilst we had a bit of an incident on the first night, all of our fellow campers were very friendly and we had a good chat with everyone there (just about). Most of the others were older (read: older than us) couples with their Jayco’s, some of which were travelling as a group. There were a couple of other families with kids, which meant that Ben had someone to play with. He’s such a confident little guy. Just walks right up to the older kids and asks “Hey, can you be my friend?” “Let’s play run and chase!”

Dealing with the cold

It was bloody freezing on Sunday/Monday mornings. Literally. But we pulled through the night in our little tent with the help of a ten blade oil heater; bought for $20 off of eBay. What a difference it made. It got down to –3 on Monday morning, and it showed. The heater had kept us toasty warm in the main tent and the canvas was nice and dry. However the annex roof was frosty both inside and out. We had some fun warming up the annex to try and dry out the roof & walls, but it was still a bit damp come time to pack away. So it was out with all the canvas once we got home.

Kids love camping, and they love to help

I know Ben loves going camping. He says so. Often. And he was very upset that we had to leave, but was great at helping pack up the trailer. Stella on the other hand can’t talk yet and so we assume that she is having fun. Although, the change to her moany attitude was pronounced as soon as she had had a warm bath (in a warm room) and was allowed to roam freely around the house once again – She was fairly restrained at the campsite due to the river being so close. As she gets older though she will have lots more fun and will be able to join in with Ben’s play.

 

The caravan site itself is in such a beautiful setting. In amongst the hills and the trees it is very picturesque. And when the sun shines it is difficult to leave, as we found out this last Monday (our last day there).

Will we go back? Most definitely. So all that remains is to set another date and pack up the camper trailer. Oh, and wait for a bit more snow!

 

Lake Mountain Alpine Resort

As I sit here in the shelter of our awesome Tambo Cooper camper trailer with a glass of Penfold’s Port (the second bottle in as many days, but not for the reason you might think), I reflect on a very busy, but fantastic day out to the not-so-very-snowy slopes of Lake Mountain Alpine Resort.

Family Fun Day/Weekend

This weekend is the opening of ski season here in Victoria and Lake Mountain Alpine Resort has put on a Family Fun Day to get things started. Now last week we had a great weather system push through a dump a few inches of snow up here, so we were hoping for a bit more in the run up to this weekend’s camping trip. However, the sunshine and warmer temperatures had pretty much done away with the snow by the time we got there. All was not completely lost as the resort had a few snow ice machines pumping out as much slippery stuff as possible in preparation for the hoards of families that would be making the trek up from Melbourne.

They resort had also put on a DJ, some live music, a bouncy Batman castle, Lenny The Possum, and some gorgeous sunshine (not sure how they managed that one). I’ve got say, from when we were here last time (September 2010) things have changed a little bit. For the better, obviously. There are now two big buildings; one to house the ski shop and hire centre, and one to house the restaurant. Both buildings are pretty big and cater for a large number of people. Both are very well appointed and have great amenities. 

 

We had decided to take our own lunch, snacks and a giant flask of steaming Milo. I’m glad we did too, as the food coming out of the kitchen did not look that appetising at all and the vast quantities of it being left uneaten didn’t do anything to change our point of view. It was pricey too. The coffee (the only thing I did actually buy) was, um, drinkable. At least the bouncy castle and the live music were entertaining for the kids.

Tobogganing Baby!

The little toboggan slope that could. It held out well for the day of relentless sliders that adorned its once white and sleek profile, but then slowly descended into a brown hilly mess that was pretty hard to get a good slide on. We, who were there nice an early, got a number of pristine slides in well before the masses arrived. Climbing up that bloody hill over and over again is enough exercise for one weekend I can tell you….

Ben was a little nervous at first but then was hurtling down the slopes by himself by the day’s end. He’s quite the little dude now. “I can do it myself daddy!”

Stella, of course, was just too cool for school. Or that’s what she thought anyhow. This child worries me…

We managed to drag to kids away from the entertainment at about 2pm. We had been out since 8am, so these two poppets were absolutely shattered. The kids were pretty tired too. We took bets on who would fall asleep the fastest and how long it would take. Stella lost. She fell asleep within 4 minutes. Ben followed 2 minutes after her. Lynette came in 3rd at 15 minutes. I had to forfeit the game. I was driving after all.

All in all we had a brilliant day and will definitely be back here for some more snowy fun. And when the kids are big enough we will hit the slopes of Mt Buller for some proper skiing.

 

Dude, Where’s my Milk?

And my beer, my port, my bacon, my tomato sauce and my iPhone cable?

So we wake up this morning and I roll out of bed to make the clan some tea. Please note this is not just some tea, this is Imfrikkinstarvingwherethehellsmytea kinda tea. I open up the fridge (eski to Australians) and stare into it for a good 15 seconds. Then I look around the kitchen area and the back of the trailer. Then I ask “Babe, where’d you put the milk?”, to which the answer came back “In the fridge” “Are you sure?” “Yes!” So I stare at the fridge again half expecting miracles to happen, half bemused. “It’s not there. And by the way, there’s no much else it here for that matter either”

Penny drops. Eventually (Hey, it was early and it was a disruptive night, I was tired). Someone bastard had decided to help themselves to a few goodies during the night while we slept not 3 feet away. And they must have been shopping too as a number of our neighbours in the caravan park also had a few things missing out of their fridges/eskis.

My guess is that a few “young people” (really what is this world coming to these days) had been out on the piss/weed, got the munchies and decided that a late night shopping trip through the camp site was just what they needed. The local Woolies was closed at that time anyhow. That’s the limit of my speculation.

I’m really in two minds about this whole incident. On one hand stealing is stealing, no matter what it is and it should not be tolerated. Which is why I guess the the local Sergeant took it very seriously and got statements from all the ‘victims’ as well as questioning a lot of the youth that was out and about at the time. It’s also not great press for the caravan park. If word gets out (yeah, I’m not help much am I?) then there could be a decline in the number of visitors to the camp site. And this town needs as much tourism as it can get – it is still rebuilding after the horrific fires of 2009.

On the other hand, it was a few items of food and drink. Nothing of value was touched and there was plenty around I can assure you. In fact, the iPhone cable that was taken was attached to an iPhone at the time – they left the phone. They even left me a couple of beers. No one was hurt (except for my daughter who had to wait nearly 30 mins for her tea). So it wasn’t really a big deal. I was more just shocked that I couldn’t have my tea ….

The one thing I find interesting is that this type of thing has never happened around here before, Or so I am told. I’ve been camping in many places, in many countries, and have never had anything go missing at all. Until now. I’m going to chalk this one up to experience and count my blessings that nothing of value was taken (insurance would never have paid out for that). Next time we shall be more careful of what we leave lying around.

To those who helped themselves; I hope the bacon was as good as I imagined it would be. Don’t try it again. I’m ready this time.

 

Gunbower Island, Victoria

Nestled in amongst the trees Gunbower Island provides a tranquil escape from the busyness of Melbourne’s CBD. Except when you are on a boy’s weekend….

Gunbower Island is located 220km north of Melbourne and stretches from Gunbower Victoria to Cohuna and Koondrook on the Murray River. Gunbower Island in known as Australia’s largest inland Island which spans over 50 km in length and an area of 22,000 hectares . The Island is home to a population of native animals such as Kangaroos, Emus, Goannas, Possums, Snakes and over 100 different species of birds.

Source: http://www.gunbowerisland.com/ 

We headed out on our Boys weekend camping trip early Friday afternoon to try and cover the ~270Km up to Gunbower before it got too late. A stop or two along the way and we eventually made it to our camping spot at about 9pm – not as early as anticipated. But we did have to contend with a flat tyre and a loss of mobile signal (which meant that we had no idea where the other half of the party were).

Pre-arrival adventures

We realised that we had gone too far down a road and decided to turn around and head back the way we had come. This meant going off the dirt track. In doing so, and being less cautious than we should have been, a stump deflated our rear right tyre in about 2 seconds flat. The quickest one I have ever seen. It then took us a while to find all the equipment we needed to change the tyre and actually change it. Once done however, we managed to find the rest of the party in about 5 minutes.

The Campsite

Our campsite was located several Kms from the town of Gunbower. A great spot right on the river’s edge that had plenty of room for the ten of us that inhabited it for the weekend.

The Fishing

Was not existent. Nearly everyone had a rod (or two) out in the water, but nothing was biting. We managed a couple of small carp later in the day, but no amount of cheese, white bait, steak, worms, grubs or bread could entice the fish. If anyone knows of better ways to catch, what appears to be, the elusive Murray Cod please let me know.

Time flies when you’re having fun. Apparently. The weekend was over before we knew it and we had to pack up and leave for the 3 – 4 hour journey back to Melbourne. The guys with Swags took all of about 10 minutes to get all of the things together and into their vehicles. We on the other hand took about 1.5 hours to get the tent and trailer packed away and ready to roll. We hit the road at about 12pm and got home by about 4pm.

While it may not have been the leisurely trip that I was expecting, it was certainly eventful and enjoyable. Next stop, Marysville!

 

How NOT to take care of canvas

Brand new and I have already cocked it up royally. On the last trip, to Brisbane Ranges National Park, it rained a fair amount. And when we got home had to try and dry out the tent in the garage (we don’t have much yard space to speak of). We managed to get the main tent opened up and dried out, and even the extra bedroom. However, I had neglected to take out the annex walls that were packed away nicely in the trailer and they had started to go mouldy.

Bugger. For those that think this is not such a big deal, mould is a canvas’s worst nightmare. There’s not much that can be done to completely remove it without further damage to the canvas itself. Using chemicals, for example, will stain the canvas and very likely remove the waterproofing.

Trying to figure what to do, we googled a whole bunch of stuff on how to get rid of mould on canvas. The consensus seems to be to dry out the canvas as much as possible to kill/stop the mould spreading and then vacuum it, treat it (1 part bleach to 3 parts water, sponge the affected areas, rinse and then let dry), dry it out in the sun, vacuum it again, and then hope for the best.  It remains to be seen just how well the ‘fix’ will last.

Here’s hoping all will be well.

 

Lighting up the Camper Trailer

Every camper trailer needs some light. And as much as you like carrots and the fact that they do actually improve your vision, they’ve got nothing on a good set of LEDs.

LEDs light the way

LED lights are definitely the way forward when it comes to lighting up a tent and trailer. They are reasonably inexpensive, have a long life span, low power usage and are fairly hardy. They also come in many different formats. Lanterns, strips, torches. You get the idea. eBay and Amazon seem to be the best place to pick up these lights for a reasonable price – although having said that, using the Australian websites will mean you pay more than double what you would if you used the US/UK websites.

I’ve opted for a mix of self adhesive 3-Led push-to-turn-on lights for inside the trailer/toolbox and some DIY LED strips that will be attached to the 12V battery system. The strips will be placed along the poles under the awning and inside the tent. I’ve yet to find out how long the push-on ones last, but seeing as though they use very little power I’m hoping that it’ll be a while before I have to recharge the batteries.

And here are some photo’s of the lighting in the trailer:

These little push-on beauties are great. $8 for a set of 3. I have put two in side the trailer (as above) and one in the toolbox. They take 2 AA batteries and I’ve opted to use rechargeables. They have a couple of self-adhesive tabs to affix them to whatever it is you want to fix them to. But the great part is that they use Velcro; this allows to remove the light and replace the batteries very easily.

Once I’ve had a chance to sort out some of the LED strip lighting and get some photo’s I’ll update this post.

 

I want one of these…Non-Stick Griddle

I love the internet. It gives me what I need. And I need a griddle/hot plate for the 3 burner gas stove that we have for the camper trailer.

Here is one that should fit the bill nicely.

 

This particular model is double sided and therefore great for either pancakes/bacon/eggs or steak/chops/sausages. You get the idea.

Now I’m hungry.

 

Brisbane Ranges National Park

Our first trip out in the new camper. The Tambo Cooper XT. We haven’t been this excited for a while.

After a bit of preparation and packing up of the kitchen and the trailer, we were ready to head out on our first trip. We chose a spot that wasn’t too far away, mainly because we have two small kids and the weather was looking ominous. If it all went pear shaped then it wouldn’t be much to head back home. Having said that, we were only out for the one night anyway.

Brisbane Ranges National Park – Boar Gully Campsite

Boar Gully Campsite

Brisbane Ranges – Boar Gully Campsite

Boar Gully campsite is found in the northern part of the Brisbane Ranges National Park, which itself is about a hour’s drive west of Melbourne. The campsite is a basic one, with just a toilet and no showers.There is running water available, but you have to know where to look to find the tap (which evaded us for most of the weekend and we only found it the morning we left). There is only one trailer/caravan spot and several tent sites. All of the site have picnic tables and a fire pit. As I understand it, you need to bring your firewood with you as you are not allowed to pick up wood from the bush.

Setting up the camper for the first time was actually pretty straight forward. We had been shown how to do the set up and pack up by Keith, from Tambo Campers, so it was just a case of remembering in what order we had to do things. We had bought a length of shade-cloth that goes on the ground under the tent – a little protection goes a long way.

Getting the main tent up took us about 10-15 minutes, the extra bedroom about 20 minutes – the zips were a bit of a faff. The awning took another 15 – 20 minutes, but it now attached is staying that way, so all we have to do is pull it down, insert the poles (4 of them) and tie the lot down with guy ropes. We should be able to do it all a lot quicker next time; now that we know what we are doing. Our kitchen is one of those awesome Drifta’s, so it was out and ready to go in about 1 minute flat. Lunch was prepared and kids were fed in record time!

“The Hilton”

One thing that I got a little wrong the first time, was the positioning of the shade-cloth (or I should say ground mat). I managed to have excess out the back of the bedroom and not enough out the front under the awning. It also needs to be positioned further underneath the trailer to start with; right up against the tyre. As we will not have the bedroom on that much over the next few trips, I will likely double the ground mat over for the bit that sits under the main tent. When the bedroom is up however, I need to ensure that the ground mat is not more that 6ft from the back of the trailer, otherwise there won’t be enough for under the awning.

Even though we were just camping for the one night, we had set up EVERYTHING. And I mean everything. We needed to see how everything fitted together and worked. The tent is huge, which is a good thing for us. With two kids under 4 and the high probability that it’ll rain when we go out for a weekend (out of the 4 trips we have done since being in Australia it’s rained on 3 of them). The large tent will mean that we have some living space that is dry and comfortable and will allow us to entertain the kids. The extra bedroom will be a great addition when we have the kids’ friends come out with us, or have a relative or two to cater for.

“The Hilton”

After much fresh air, a good run around the campsite and preventing a forest fire, the kids had a bit of a nap and then we all went for a hike through the woods to look for koalas, ‘kangaroos and kookaburras. We managed 2 out of 3! On the way back to camp we saw a number of kangaroos, although they weren’t in the national park area but in the farmers paddocks next door. Loads of them. Then we spotted a couple of the iconic kookaburras just as we got back to the campsite.

The weather played along very nicely over the course of the day/evening. It rained lightly on and off every few hours giving the canvas its required bit of ‘seasoning’. Apparently this wetting-drying, wetting-drying cycle helps to shrink the canvas and the stitching and effectively seals the tent and prevents any future leaks (we had a couple during the night, which was expected as the canvas was brand new). So hopefully the next wet trip it will be dry inside!

We were fortunate enough to have the whole campsite to ourselves once the day-trippers had had their fun and had gone home. It was so peaceful and cold. It was fantastic. The only thing missing was a large body of water with some good fighting fish in it. But that’ll be next time when I head up to the Murray River with a few mates.