One of the last major places to visit on my list was at the very southern tip of the state of Victoria: Wilsons Promontory National Park. It has been highly recommended by many people I know. When I tried to make reservations for camping there on the phone they wanted to know whether I was a resident of the state or not. It seems all Victorian residents need to reserve spots in advance and all others must arrive in person to see whether any sites are available. It is a little nerve wracking to have to drive for a long distance just to see if there is space or not. Fortunately for me there was, but I can’t say I was too impressed with the campground.
The camping fee was $30, which is a bit steep for a national park. They do have hot showers and clean facilities, but I’m happier to pay less and get less. Perhaps they are catering to the wrong crowd – one that seems more interested in recreation than conservation. They seemed to have two separate campsites available, one for Victorians and the other for interstate and international tourists. They had some 375 odd campsites available for multiple people in each spot, resulting in probably over 1000 people there, and they all seemed to be full by the end of the day. The place was a real zoo with children whizzing around on bikes everywhere and most families focusing on spending the day on the local beach. I can’t say I was too impressed. The place looked like a tent slum and the mostly European people staying there didn’t seem to respect each others limited personal space – instead they wouldn’t think twice about just cutting through your site between your car and tent to get to their friends a few blocks over. Interestingly, the campsite originated as an army training ground in WWII and the street names have stayed the same ever since (1st Ave on up).
As for the rest of Wilsons Promontory, it was The quite beautiful, but not anything I haven’t seen or experienced in Western Australia in either Esperance or Fitzgerald River National Park. It would probably have been a more valuable experience there if I had the time to actually do some overnight hiking to more remote areas of the park or possibly do some sea kayaking around the place. Some beaches looked much friendlier to land on that others. I did manage to get a few short hikes in. One followed the coast south of the camp to visit a few more beaches without the hoards of people. The other hike was up to the very top of the highest point for a view down below on the entire National Park.
After my morning peak hike, I had to get on the road to loop around Port Phillip Bay through Melbourne and down to the Great Ocean Road for my coastal journey back through Adelaide and on to Perth. It was interesting to drive through some of the old neighborhoods I used to visit when I lived there back in the early nineties. I got as far as Lorne before I decided to duck off the very busy coastal road and head up into the Otway National Park for some free camping.
It is one of the very busiest weeks for vacationers at the moment because most kids finish their summer vacations this weekend and are due back in school next week. It is funny to think that in just over a week all these places will largely be empty until Easter.
