Day OneLoch Sport, a gateway to Victoria's Riviera, in between Lake Victoria in the Gippsland Lakes and Ninety Mile Beach, a water wonderland surrounded by National Parks - this was to be our home away from home for the Queen's Birthday long weekend.
The 4.5hr drive from Melbourne took us through the towns of Gippsland and by lunch we were at our destination. With choices of beach front camping between Honeysuckles and Golden Beaches, or bush camping on the western shores of Lake Victoria, we opted for the beach which seemed a bit quieter at this time of year.
Arriving in the drizzling rain, we set up our tent and overhead tarp as the forecast was for a wet weekend. C7 was an entire camping spot to ourselves with its amazing locality of only a 30 second walk to the beach.Car camping is still a bit foreign to us seeing as much of our past camping has been with hiking packs, but we are beginning to fall in love. Real pillows, bottles of wine, mountains of food and extra dooners to keep us warm - we were ready for a weekend of warmth and comfort.
Forgetting to pick up some firewood on the way down from Melbourne, it was lucky that the local store just 5 mins up the road at Golden Beach was heavily stocked. Although it was $25 for about 15 bits of wood, it was definately worth it (and seeing as there were no camping fees we couldn't be too stingy). As the sun went down, the cold settled in and it was time to get that fire started. The oversized mozzies seemed to disappear at the perfect timing as as our meal was ready to eat. The compulsory marshmallows weren't far away and as our stomachs thanked us for the delicious sweet, we soon found ourselves asleep under the stars.Day Two
Surprised to not have had a drop of rain overnight, we woke up to a lovely crisp air and dewy surroundings. The spider webs on the tea trees were beautiful in the morning sun and the crashing of the waves could be heard in the still air. With no plans for the day, we took a 2 hour return walk along the southern stretch of 90 Mile Beach. An amazing array of shells littered the beach and we soon found ourselves at a ship wreck on the sand. As the incoming tide swallowed up the base, we used this as our turning point to head back to camp.
A lazy lunch and a few hours of reading our magazines / books, we certainly were taking it easy. So much so that we were feeling guilty for not doing anything at all before our entree of cheese and biscuits, main of vegetable curry, desert of custard and pears, marshmallows, red wine, chocolate and milo........needless to say, we went to bed stuffed!Day Three
After a sleep in and packing up camp, we drove 30mins to the town of Loch Sport. Taking the signposted Scenic Drive, we stopped at the Lookout Tower and went for the adjoining 10 minute loop walk which was lovely. We continued to drive up towards the campground at Emu Bight which has a fantastic camp ground with about 20 sites. Situated right on the shores of Lake Victoria, it has communal fire pits where you can do your cooking, but due to its location it comes with a camping fee.
Time restrictions did not allow us to do the full 20km drive up to Point Wilson as we planned to return to the car park at Dolomite Picnic area to go on a 4km walk. Walking on fire tracks and passing the swamp, we soon arrived at Oil Bore Landing and the amazing view of the lake. With no wind, the lake was like a small pond, with the only ripples coming from the passing boats. From here the track thinned as we followed the shoreline past Pelican Point and we soon found the track covered in grass, which went to show that not many people have been walking on this track in recent times. A rarity in many parks.
As the afternoon crept up on us, we decided to head back to the car and begin our journey back to Melbourne. Spending majority of the weekend wrapped in doonas, beanies and scarfs, it was actually really nice to appreciate our surroundings and the ocean's crisp fresh air, without having to share it with too many people.
Definitely a place I would recommend to spend a long weekend in the winter (or summer)!
