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    Camping in the Otways

    IsoldeBy IsoldeJanuary 31, 2026Updated:January 31, 2026No Comments5 Mins Read
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    Rhea:

    It was a 2-hour drive along the Great Ocean Road to get there, the road was windy with nice views. The campsite was next to a river and it was pretty empty. We got there at around 4 and set up the tent. All of us except Jolan walked to the beach (Jolan was sleeping at the campsite) and the sand along the path was really hot. We thought it would take about 20 minutes but it seemed to take longer than that, it was a long walk with big sandflies buzzing around everywhere. We all went for a swim when we got to the beach. It was rough water and it got really deep really fast.

    We walked back and had pesto for dinner then we sat around playing card games for a while and we drank some tea until we went to bed. There were a lot of birds flying around from tree to tree around the campsite making a screeching sound, mum said they were corellas. I read for a bit before going to sleep.

    The next morning was really hot, there were flies everywhere. Jessie got up really early and walked to the beach and had a swim. After we had cereal and tea for breakfast, Tara and Jessie went on the kayaks that Jessie had brought and mum and me read in the shade until they got back. There were lots of little blue birds hopping around on the ground. Then me and Tara walked to the bridge over the river 300 metres from the campsite ‘cause we saw people jumping off it the day before. We stayed there for a while, jumping off. The water was really nice and we figured out how to get up climbing onto the posts and pulling ourselves over the edge. I dived off a lower level of the bridge and we were finding new ways of jumping in every time. There were a few other people jumping off the bridge but most of them had kayaks and paddled away. Jessie and Jolan came on the kayaks after we were gone about an hour and a half, then we went back to the campsite a bit after them.

    We sat in the shade playing Cheat and Tongues while we were eating wraps for lunch. Some people passed by our campsite because it was beside a jetty leading to the water, and a Victoria Parks truck came to enforce the No Fire ban that day because it was hot and windy. We went for another swim jumping off the bridge and mum jumped off the bridge eventually. We went back and decided to eat our sushi on the beach so Jessie cooked the rice for the sushi then me and Jolan kayaked over to the beach and the others walked (Tara walked before mum and Jessie and got there first). We brought a cardboard box to try to slide down the sand dunes and we also tried with a plastic lid cover and one of the kayaks but none of them worked and we ended up giving up.

    It had cooled down by then and was overcast and we sat in front of the ocean eating our dinner. Mum and Jessie both had 20 flies on their backs and there were sandflies buzzing around us all the time. Tara and Jolan went off to explore the rocks and we lost sight of them.  We found them coming back from the rock pools and Jolan had lots of shells. Mum and Jolan kayaked back, mum zigzagging a fair bit.

    Me, Tara and Jessie started walking back and we saw some guys getting into their cars. Jessie asked if they had any more room as we were passing, they laughed and we walked off. After as they passed us they slowed down and said that if we wanted to go on the back they could give us a ride. So Jessie got in the front and one of the guys got on the side on the step and me and Tara stood on the towbar. We waved to mum when we passed her but only Jolan saw us. We were hanging on, it was really fun even though we went through a few puddles and got a tiny bit splashed. We stopped at the bridge and got off and jumped in to the water. It was a bit cold (it was around 7pm) and we jumped in a few times until we walked back to the campsite.

    Mum got back a bit after us ‘cause she was in her kayak and she noticed a big koala on the tree. We all went to look at it and it got down off the tree and started walking along the jetty, it was really cute.

    We cleaned up and then played cards in the tent before bed. The next morning, the gas was nearly finished so my tea wasn’t very warm. We all had a swim in the river before we left. I slept in the car all the way back to Anglesea.

    The next day was really hot and windy and there was no camping allowed in any National Parks in Victoria. The week after that it flooded along the road we took to get there.

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    Isolde
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    After extensive travel for short periods both inside Australia and overseas, I took a break from my health policy job to travel for two months in Spain, Portugal and Morocco and live for four months in France, three of those in Paris. I'm currently living back in Australia with Steve and our twins Rhea and Lara.

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