Day 46: Melbourne - Wilson Promontory National Park

I wake up in the night because it is very windy, almost stormy. Oh my goodness, we still have our laundry outside and without any fastening. I jump out of bed and hurry to the laundry area. Some parts are already on the ground or flying through the air. Quickly, I gather everything together (I'm not the only one with this nighttime to-do). We got lucky again. Everything is still there. The rest of our family is fast asleep.

When we wake up in the morning, the great weather is over. It is still very windy and raining. We pack up and the men get everything ready in rain gear.

First, we go to THL depot. We want to fix our tire. We arrive at 10 o'clock and everything is done by 10:30. The customer service at THL is really top-notch - helpful, uncomplicated, fast, nice, and friendly. While the motorhome is in the workshop, we use the play area in the waiting area with the kids. Then we go to Aldi/Hofer and Coles (we want to get those delicious chocolate muffins again - they are simply a dream). There is also a sushi shop in the shopping center. Since Sami loves sushi and we haven't had any since Singapore, we treat ourselves to a large portion (surprisingly, the price is totally okay).

In the afternoon, we make our way to Wilson Promontory National Park. We have to drive through Melbourne and the drive is quite difficult. There is a lot of traffic and we lose about half an hour. The landscape along the route is initially very flat and then hilly. Everything is lush green and there are mainly cows and horses here. The further south we go, the better the weather gets.

At around 4:30 pm, we reach the entrance of Wilson Promontory National Park. From there, it's another 30 minutes to Tidal River Camp. The visitor center is already closed and we are not the only campers wondering which pitch is ours. We simply ask other campers. Even for the pre-booked pitches with electricity, you can choose whichever one you like. We decide on number 122.

In the hinterland, dark clouds are already gathering and it is extremely windy here as well. Since the sun is still shining on the beach, we decide to take a short tour to the sea. It's blowing quite strongly, unfortunately also blowing sand into our eyes. Michi and Samuel explore the campsite a bit while Maxima and I start cooking. It gets windier and starts to rain. The sky starts to glow, and Michi and Samuel go on a sunset tour. They discover a wombat along the way.

We'll see how the night goes. Our camping neighbors with tents have all packed up and left or decided to sleep in the car.

December 8, 2016

Overnight: Tidal River Camp / Wilson Promontory National Park (1 night, 66 AUD, huge and simple national park campground with 500 pitches, 20 of which have electricity - we can consider ourselves lucky)

Weather: Rain -> cloudy -> sunny -> stormy, 21 degrees

241 kilometers today, total 7,790 km