Still reeling on a high by our recent Good Friday Easter Sunday long weekend road trip, Averal and I decided on another road trip during the ANZAC Day long weekend; this time to Grampians National Park. This popular park is about 3 times the size of our island homeland of Singapore.
Adding a few days of annual leave to extend the ANZAC Day long weekend, Averal and I did a 5-day-4-night road trip to, and around, Grampians National Park in a Toyota campervan from a popular company called Britz. This was my very first time driving a campervan, and of course, leading to my very first experience with caravan parks in Australia.
The neatly modified Toyota HiAce had a battery-powered fridge, mains-powered microwave, gas stove, wash basin with water from a built-in refillable tank, several drawers of crockery and cutlery, a clothes closet with hangers, a bed to fit 2 adults, an upper-deck bed to fit 1 adult, a indoor dining table, and an outdoor dining table. Almost everything required to live inside the van was provided. How cool is that?
After filling the campervan with our clothes and toiletries, we departed Melbourne for Grampians National Park. Along the way, just outside the regional city of Ballarat, we stopped to visit Castle Kryal. Then we continued our journey stopping at Ararat for some groceries. Our first night was at Grampians Paradise Caravan Park in a village called Pomonal in the Grampians region.
On route to Grampians National Park in our Britz campervan.
Arriving Pomonal village in Grampians National Park in our Britz campervan.
At Grampians Paradise caravan park.
At Reed Lookout in Grampians National Park.
At MacKenzie Falls in Grampians National Park.
At Lake Wartook in Grampians National Park.
At Lake Bellfield in Grampians National Park.
On the way to another Aboriginal rock art site in Grampians National Park.
Like motels and hotels, check-out time at caravan parks were typically 10am or 11am, and as expected, late check-out surcharge applies. After having breakfast cooked by her inside the campervan, by about 10am every morning, we would have washed up and locked away all crockery, cutlery and stuff in the cabin, and left the caravan park for the drive to our next intended destination.
By night, we are checked into a caravan park having self-cooked dinner.
At Wonderland carpark in Grampians National Park.
During the day, we drove many kilometers to visit and enjoy several sites around the huge national park. By nightfall, we would arrive at a pre-booked powered site in a caravan park where she would cook food from our on-board fridge for our dinner.
At Grand Canyon in Grampians National Park.
Sunset on Mount William in Grampians National Park.
My first ever use of a modified full-spectrum digital camera, a Nikon D70, occurred on this road trip.
This 5-day long campervan road trip traveled us 980km.
More images of our road trip are in our Facebook profiles.