For the first time in a long time, we took the caravan down to the coast on the weekend.
Snap goes the draw bar, then crunch goes the suspension. After our camper trailers’ life came to an end when it broke in two on way back from camping in Halls Gap, we upgraded to a caravan and went back to the Grampians, & of course, the car then gave way.
We were forced to steer our focus away from the WAY&FARER blog over the last few months and put our efforts into getting more gear up for sale on our online camping shop. After spending countless hours improving the site, getting the store up-to-date and our car back on the road, ready to tow, it was time for weekend getaway!
We headed to Anglesea at the start of the Great Ocean Road for a few days with no other goal than taking it slow, sipping some wine on the sand and watching the world go by.
We rolled into town early afternoon on Friday and set-up at the Anglesea Caravan Park, luckily enough, our campsite was just near the river and backed onto the beach.
Eager to smell the salty ocean breeze and stretch our legs, we took a stroll down part of the Surf Coast Walk towards Point Addis in the direction of Torquay.
We slowly walked along the track for a few kilometres and worked up an appetite. Usually we’d like to go a bit further and turn it into a bit of an adventure, but remembering our goal of taking it easy, we decided to loop back to the campground via the fish ‘n’ chip shop and spend a some time getting to know our little van a little better.
That was as busy as it got for our Friday, the rest of the evening was occupied with Yahtzee and few cheeky drinks.
Saturday morning, Eva was up bright and early to enjoy the sun rising over Bass Strait while I kept the caravan bed safe and secure.
Although we came camping in Anglesea, right in the heart of the Surf Coast, the swell was also taking a holiday, so we hired some SUP’s and explored the river.
On the opposite side of the river to the caravan park is the Anglesea Surf Centre. Here, you can rent out surf boards and SUP’s (Stand-up Paddle Board), but if that’s a bit too daring for your taste, there’s a small boat and canoe hire shack on the river bank.
Like usual, the mouth of the Anglesea River was closed, making the river quite calm and ideal SUP conditions.
We were only brave enough to take the camera out on the water while mucking around in the first part of the river, so that’s all we got photos of, but where we went was amazing!
Just to the north of where we entered the water is the main bridge in town, we laid down on the boards and drifted through to the other side where the water was even calmer and the flora was completely different.
Not long after passing the bridge, the river twists, bends and loops back around. There’s some dense bush and a Eucalyptus forest on the sides of the river (even if it’s still in the middle of Anglesea) and it felt like we had paddled out of town and into a national park.
What a way to do some exploring! We’ve been to Anglesea plenty of times and had no idea about this little treasure of a river that goes right under the Great Ocean Road.
Most of the rest of our time spent in Anglesea consisted of card games by the caravan and a few beers beside the river. There’s not too much more to report on and that’s exactly how we were hoping it’d go.
It was a good chance to test out the caravan and make a few notes on what we’ll need to modify before we head away on a long, slow loop around Australia later this year.
If you’ve spent some time in Anglesea and have some tips for what we should take a look at next time we’re there, make sure you leave a comment below.
