Two Sams TravellingThis week we dropped the camper off to be serviced and repaired, and spent the majority of the week exploring the Mornington Peninsula.
Day one
We had made some good distance over the past week, so we didn’t have to travel too much to get to Carrum Downs. We packed up and left Palmer just before it started raining and continued to make our way along the highway. Soon we were back on the main highway and heading towards the VIC/SA border. We stopped in at Keith to have a walk around, then continued driving until we reached a rest stop that was on the border. We had driven past this roadside stop back in January and there was a lot more traffic on the road now as we were right in the height of a COVID outbreak when we first travelled. We had some lunch, then continued driving until we reached some cheap diesel in Stawell. After filling up, we made our way to Great Western where we stayed on the very first night of our trip. We found a campsite and set up just before it started raining. We spent the rest of the afternoon in the camper as it was quite cold and the rain was starting to come down hard.
Day two
Today we had the same amount of distance to cover than yesterday, but we had to drive through Melbourne with the trailer on so we were feeling a bit stressed. We managed to find a gap in the rain to pack up, then we were back on the road. We made sure we set up the directions to not go through tolls but after stopping and turning the car back on, we managed to get back on the route that had tolls and didn’t realise until the last minute! After a tight u-turn, we got back on the right road and managed to make it out of the city without any issues. We were heading towards Carrum Downs as that was where we were dropping the trailer off the next day and we found a caravan park that was only 10 minutes down the road. We arrived at the caravan park and set the trailer up and started to do some sorting, cleaning and preparing the car and the trailer. We also hadn’t been able to give everything a good clean as we had non-stop driving days, so it was nice to be able to go through and clean everything properly. We also got some washing done and spent the rest of the day not doing too much else as it was cold and rainy.
Day three
It was time to drop the trailer off at Camping Adventures and it was nice to be able to meet Matt in person as we had been dealing over email and phone for the past nine months. We explained everything that was broken, and said that we had grabbed enough items for two days and that we would be back Friday to see how everything was going. After dropping the trailer off, we made our way to Aldi to get some food, then started heading towards the Mornington Peninsula. Our first stop was to check out the bathing boxes and we walked up and down the beach to check them all out. By this time the sun had come out and it was nice and sunny and we saw so many different designs. We continued driving and made our way to Safety Beach where we stopped to have some lunch. We also went for a walk around the beach and went and checked out the jetty. We hadn’t booked any accommodation yet as we weren’t too sure what we were doing, but we had packed the swag so we decided to camp for the night at Capel Sounds. Before heading there though, we decided to go and check out Jetty Road Brewery. We tried some different beers and they were delicious, and the food also looked amazing but we decided to keep moving to check out something else before heading to camp. We drove up the windy hill to Arthur’s Seat Lookout and we parked at the Sea Winds Gardens to walk through the forest. The views weren’t great at the lookout as it was a bit overgrown, but it was a nice walk and you could see some views. We walked back to the car and headed back down the hill where we stopped at one of the lookouts to take some photos, then we decided to head to our campsite. We had managed to book a camp that fronted onto the beach and the views were amazing. The campsite was on the reserve though so there were a few people walking their dogs right near your campsite. It was good for the night, but we were a bit concerned about security if you left your items there and went out for the day. We set up the swag and our awning and settled in for the afternoon. Towards dinner time, it started to get very cold so we had to layer up with clothes and beanies, and this was something we were not used to after spending the majority of the winter in the warm weather. We had our dinner on the beach and we were enjoying the view until it started to rain, so we decided to retreat to the swag for the rest of the night.
Day four
We didn’t have to check out until 12pm, so we were able to take our time and enjoy the beachside views for a bit longer in the morning. We packed up and decided to head to the other side of the peninsula to check a few things out and to stay there for the night. Our first stop was Gunnamatta Ocean Beach where we went for a walk along the beach and enjoyed the nice views. It was very cold and windy on the beach though but it was reminding us a bit of Tassie. We hopped back in the car and drove down to Cape Schanck Lighthouse to have a look. This location was more popular than the last as there were people everywhere and it was very busy considering it was a weekday. We walked to the lookout to have a look, then walked towards Cape Schanck. We weren’t in walking attire so we decided to not do the whole walk, but walked down some of the stairs to check out the view. We did the rest of the loop walk, then headed back to the car. We found a short walk to the Bushrangers Bay lookout, and we decided to head back and do the full Bushrangers Bay walk over the weekend when we had our walking gear. We headed up the road and stopped at Cairns Bay to have a look, then continued driving to Flinders. We drove down to the pier where we had some lunch and went for a quick walk, then we headed to Point Leo to have a quick look. We were searching for a lookout but we didn’t find it unfortunately, but we had a look at the camping area and it looked quite nice. We were quite close to another brewery, so we decided to go for a drive and to check it out. This one was called Red Hill Brewery and the beers and ciders we tried were very nice. We also had some chips to go with our drinks and they also went down well. Once we left the brewery, we went and checked out the Coolart Homestead and Wetlands. The homestead was huge and we had a walk around the outside and the gardens, and we also went to check out the Wetlands but they were quite overgrown so we didn’t see too much. It was around 3pm by then, so we decided to go and check into our next campsite. We found a $25 campsite at the Stony Point Caravan Park and the owners were so nice as well. We were the only ones in the camping area and it was close to the camp kitchen and toilets. Once we were set up we went for a quick walk along the jetty, but by then the wind was howling so we retreated back to the swag. We had to move the car to block the wind, but at least we were able to sit in the camp kitchen as well.
Day five
Today we were up and moving early as the wind had gotten worse, so we were keen to keep moving and to avoid the wind as much as possible. We went to Woolley’s Beach for a quick look, then went to check out Hastings. We decided to stay at the same caravan park that we did on Tuesday as we were heading back to Carrum Downs to see how the trailer was going and to get some more clothes, and they were very accommodating for us as we weren’t too sure if we would be in our trailer or a swag. We headed to the other side of the Mornington Peninsula but the wind was just as bad as it was at Stony Point, so we decided to head up to Frankston to have a look. We found some free parking near the pier and we went for a walk along the water and to the CBD. The wind was still as bad as it was earlier, so we found a shopping centre and went for a window shop. We decided to go and check out a brewery in Carrum Downs and to grab some lunch, so we left the shopping centre and walked back to the car. We had burgers at the brewery that we could both eat and they were delicious! Definitely some of the best burgers we have had on the trip. We also tried some local beer and cider and they were very tasty too, we were happy with our choice. After lunch we went to get something for dinner from Aldi, then headed to Camping Adventures to check on the trailer. Unfortunately it wasn’t going to be ready today and they were hoping it would be ready early next week as they were waiting on some parts from Lifestyle Campers. We got everything we needed from the camper and had a good chat with Matt, then headed to the caravan park to set up the swag. We had managed to break a chair while we were in Broome, so we ate dinner sitting on the ground and we decided that we would head to Kmart the next day and get ourselves a cheap chair to get us through. We spent the evening planning out our weekend and booking a campsite for the swag.
Day six
Before packing up to head back down the Mornington Peninsula, we decided to go and do Parkrun as it was the first one we had done in over two months. We chose one close to the caravan park and it was a nice flat course. We both felt good after the run and we were happy with our efforts, considering we had barely run in the past few months and Sam was recovering from an infected knee. We headed back to the caravan park and packed everything up, then we headed to Aldi again to get some more food before heading to Kmart to find ourselves a cheap camping chair. $6 later, we had a chair and we were ready to keep moving. As we had our walking gear with us now, we decided to go and check out the Bushrangers Bay walk as it was a nice and easy short walk. It was a bit of a drive getting there and when we arrived, there were cars everywhere! We managed to find somewhere to park and started the walk. It was a bit over 2km to get to the bay and it was a fairly easy walk to get there. Once you were near the steps towards the bay you could start seeing some great views, and we also saw a wallaby hanging around in the grass. The steps down to the beach were a bit steep and it was a bit of a challenge with people going both up and down. We walked down the stairs, had a walk around on the beach and took some photos. We decided to not venture any further as it was a bit rocky one way, and you had to take your shoes off and walk through the water to go the other way. We started making our way back up the stairs, and decided to go and check out Burabong Creek, but that was quite overgrown so we headed back towards the car, stopping at some areas with good views to take some more photos. Once we got back to the car it was a bit over a 6km walk and we had already done a 5km run in the morning so we were feeling it in our legs. We headed down the road to Point Leo where we had booked in to stay for the next two nights, set up the campsite and didn’t do too much else for the rest of the day as we were stuffed.
Day seven
We had lost an hour this morning due to Daylight Savings so it was a bit of a slow start, but after some breakfast we left camp and drove towards the Point Nepean National Park. We were keen to do some more walking, but we were a bit sore from our exercise yesterday so we weren’t too sure how we would go. We arrived and found a park at the Quarantine Station then went to look at the map for the walking track. There were so many different tracks to choose from, so we decided to take the track closest to the beach and started heading in that direction. We decided to save walking on the beach until the end and continued down the track. We ended up back on the road where we followed that until we saw another track that was going to lead us to where we wanted to go, so we decided to take that track and walk back by the road. There were some hills and stairs along the way but the walk was relatively easy, just quite long. We made our way back on the road and kept walking, stopping to have a look at the ocean views and to take some photos. We then kept walking until we reached Fort Nepean, one of the fortifications that protected Melbourne during World War I and II. It was really cool to be able to walk around and have a look at everything, and also walk through tunnels. Everything was really well preserved and we were able to see heaps of different things, including a bomb proof room and gun emplacements. We then found some stairs that lead to The Rip, that connects Bass Strait to Port Phillip Bay. If you have travelled the Spirit of Tasmania before, you would be very familiar with The Rip, or The Heads and it was nice to be able to look at it without feeling the effects on a boat! After wandering around for a bit longer, we walked back up all the stairs and made our way back to the car. On the way back, we stopped in at Gunners Cottage for a quick look before making our way to the beach to walk back. It was nice walking along the beach as the sun was shining and the water was so clear. We made it back to the Quarantine Station and back to the car and decided that we needed a well earned drink after walking 11km. We tried getting a park near the Portsea Hotel but being a Sunday, the area was packed and there were no parks in sight. We decided to keep moving and headed to St Andrews Beach Brewery as it was on the way back to the campground. When we arrived it was very busy there and we discovered that they were doing an Oktoberfest event, but it was free to enter so we decided to go and check it out. Even though it was super busy, it was very organised and we were able to find somewhere to have a drink. The drinks were delicious and they also had a live Oompah Band that were very entertaining. After our drink, we decided to head back to the campground where we settled in for the rest of the day as it was starting to get very cold.
Weekly stats
Number of KMs – 1,122
Number of states – 2
Number of campsites – 5
Number of items lost – 0
Number of items broken – 2
