Day12 - 18/12/12 - Wilsons Promontory -> Bear Gully Creek Vic

Well the luxury of having to be able to stay in a place for more than one night was short lived! However check out wasn’t until 11 ish and the park was only ½ full so we were pretty sure we would be able to stay over by a bit. So after doing the morning chores which included De’s first attempt at baking muffins in the Webber, De and the boys headed to Norman Beach that is next to the park while I logged into the office and did an hour or so of work. Poor Tone, who is looking after the business in our absence, had to pick up a big shipment that was supposed to be in before we left but got held up, so I did my bit to help out.

When I got to the beach the boys were off on an adventure with a couple of other kids from the park to what must be close to one of the coolest cubby houses ever constructed. On a small beach on the other side of a rocky headland an outcrop of rocks stands alone in the middle. It rises about seven meters out of the sand at its peak, to one side hundreds of pieces of driftwood have been intertwined to make a roof for a multilevel cubby house. The drift wood varied from the wind twisted native trees of the area, to bits of 4 x 2 hardwood and massive stumps all delicately woven together to create what was now a castle to defend the beach against invaders! If only I had bought my camera!! Their imaginations ran wild on what was a spectacular day. The sun was shining brightly, there was only a small breeze to keep things cool and the granite rocks lined the white sandy shores that edged the incredibly clear waters of Bass Straight. If somebody had dropped me on that beach, with no prior knowledge of where I was (and I hadn't dipped a toe in the water) my first guess would have been somewhere in the Whitsundays or Far North Queensland. However I was more than 3000kms to the south and the southern most point of Australia was a 10 minute boat ride away!

Unfortunately we had to leave and move to our next destination but we didn't mind as there were no more long drives and from here on our hops will mostly be half an hour to two hours, at least until we get to the Nullarbor! We looked up our three ‘free camps’ advisors and “Bear Gully Creek” sounded good, so off we went. This was pretty new to us, as up until this point our path had been predetermined by the particular places we wanted to visit, like Craig’s Hut or Jenolan Caves. So with little or no idea what it was going to be like we headed of down a dead end dirt road. It was only 5kms long so we decided that it was acceptable! It was a great little site right beside a rocky coastline which we had a great time hoping and picking through for the afternoon.

The other residents of the free camp were super friendly and we had a number of visitors throughout the afternoon and evening with all more than keen to chat. Most were off local farms and were there for 4 or 5 weeks over the Christmas holidays so I am guessing a few Queenslanders were a bit of a novelty.

The boys were pretty excited as they went to bed as we were off to see the Fairy Penguins tomorrow night!