Camping at Lorne, Victoria

A group of us recently went on a camping trip.  We wanted to drive off somewhere not too far from Melbourne, and were looking for a site that is located near the water, either the beach or a river.  We found that Lorne, located along Great Ocean Road, has such camping sites.  The driving distance from Melbourne was only about 2 hours away, which is good because there is enough time to enjoy the roadtrip, but not too far that you'd get tired before arriving at the site.

So we chose to stay at Lorne Foreshore Caravan Park (click for detail info), located next to Erskine River and the beach.  It's very near to the small town centre of Lorne, shops, cafes, other hotels and apartments, and Foodworks supermarket is just right opposite of the caravan park.  There is also options for powered and unpowered sites for tents and caravans, and as well as cabins.  As like other caravan parks, there is a centralised toilet facilities, and cooking/pantry room.  There's even children's playground and picnic tables in the area.

At the time that we went, the weather was not the best that it could be.  It was sunny for a while, and drizzling in the next few hours.  Nonetheless, we had the opportunity to enjoy the gorgeous surrounding of Lorne.  Walking by the river, with the ducks and birds passing by, then walking on the boardwalk and taking a stroll towards the beach are definitely worth the stay.  Personally, I felt Lorne was just gorgeous and breathtaking.  Here are some pics from our brief camping experience there:

So what can you do while you're out camping in Lorne?  Well, you can visit Erskine Falls (which we didn't have the opportunity to visit due to the rain), have a walk to the town, go to the beach, have bbq, have a stroll or run around the area.  In this Lorne trip, what I enjoyed was just sitting back near the tent (and in the tent), having a stroll by the river, and just relax and really absorb the gorgeous surrounding.  It's at these kinds of places that we can feel and experience the serenity, calmness and freshness that's probably different from our day to day lives in the suburbs and the city.  So go there and remember that it's totally okay to not be filled with too much activities... but instead, just sit back and relax with your warm companies of family and friends (and a mug of hot chocolate early morning or in the middle of the night would be a perfect addition too!).

Lorne is located on the Great Ocean Road, further ahead after Anglesea.

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Other places along the way that you might want to consider visiting:

• The market by the river at Anglesea (beautiful, scenic river there as well)
• Ripcurl, Quiksilver/Roxy Factory Outlet at Baines Cres, Torquay VIC 3228

Summer = Beach!

So it's summer... and images of the beach, that gentle wave and warm breeze might be in your mind.  Thinking about going for a picnic with families or close friends, and having a swim while you're at it sound like a lot of fun.  But if you're not into heavy crowds, then it might be a bit difficult to find a more private spot during this time of the year.  You can bet places like St. Kilda Beach, Williamstown and Frankston is going to be full of visitors.

But there's hope!  Last Sunday we decided to drive towards Frankston, as we haven't visited that part of Victoria for quite a while.  On the way, we passed by Chelsea and Edithvale.  From the road, we can see glimpses of the beach behind the rows of houses.  We decided to take a turn and drove in, and found a very nice beach. We loved it!  The beach is not crowded at all, and a lot quieter than Frankston.  And for those who don't like a lot of crowds, it's just perfect.  (There's even life guard points not far from that part of the beach)

How to get there? Well, since it's like a 'secret' beach, we thought you should try discovering it on your own too. All we can tell you is that it's somewhere before Frankston, in suburbs of Chelsea and Edithvale.  To find an entrance into the beach, you'd have to drive into the roads of houses there. Good Luck :)

And there's also a wetland in Edithvale!

 

 

You might stumble upon this little guy when visiting the beach. 

Fret not, this is not a jellyfish.

It's actually a harmless secretion from sea snails 

as told by a local there when noticing us looking a bit confused) 

 

 

These are some pics from Edithvale Wetlands. 

This wetland is included in the Ramsar Convention, which means that it is high in bio-diversity. 

It's really nice to see a landscape different from what we usually see around Victoria.

Winter & Snow in Australia!

It's winter in Australia now, and the best thing about winter is of course the snow! For those from an all-year-round tropical country like us, winter is always the season to look forward to - cold breeze, blowing 'smoke' out from our mouth when we talk, and of course, the white blanket of snow, and if we're lucky, seeing snowflakes fall down from the sky.

Over these two years that we've stayed in Melbourne, we have had the chance to visit 3 alpine resorts that have snow: Mt. Baw Baw, Mt. Buller and Falls Creek. The other two snow places in Victoria are in Lake Mountain and Mt. Hotham (we'll be visiting Mt. Hotham for very soon).

These winter & snow posts have been long due for updates. We'll post the updates for Mt. Baw Baw, Mt. Buller and Falls Creek very soon, but meanwhile, you can have a look at their websites:

Click them to be redirected to their websites:

Mt. Baw Baw, Mt. Buller, Falls Creek, Mt. Hotham, Lake Mountain


For those in Malaysia looking for some snow adventure, now you don't have to fly very far. Because now we know Victoria have lots of them! :)