After a sweltering heatwave in Canberra with a few days close to 40 degrees, we packed up the camper and headed down to Eden on the south coast of NSW. We were meeting up with my sister and her family for a long-planned 5 nights at the Ingenia Eden Beachfront caravan park.
We stopped for a pie and a coffee in Cooma and then continued on down Brown Mountain. In Bega we called into Supercheap Auto and then went to a park for a bathroom break.
The entire Bega valley was filled with smoke, but all the fires in NSW on the South Coast were being handled. We’d been keeping an eye on the fire reports and movements just in case, as we were heading fairly close to the Victorian border were some out-of-control fires were spreading.
We arrived at the caravan park and checked in. We’d been given a powered site right in the middle of the park. It was a relatively small site and we were surrounded by people on all sides. Set up was simple as always. We’d brought the big awning again as we were staying for a few nights and we put up some walls to give some semblance of privacy. Even though the sites were small, even with out camper and awning setup we were still able to reverse the ute fully onto the side of the site to keep it off the road and out of the way.
Once set up we headed up up to the villas to say hi to the relatives and check out the beach. They had been upgraded to one of the oceanside villas which was an unexpected by welcome change. We all jumped in the water to cool off, though the weather did seem to be cooling down and a strong breeze was coming in off the water. By the time we got out of the water the outside temperature had dropped to around 17 degrees which was a little lower than we’d expected.
Dinner that night was a huge order of fish and chips picked up from the local Eden takeaway. We went back to camp relatively early after a big day. Despite all the close neighbours there wasn’t a lot of noise that night and we had a relatively good nights sleep.
The next day the cool change had well and truly come through and the wind was whipping up. Given the heatwave we’d just been through we’d all packed lightly, not expecting to need long pants and jumpers in January, but that’s exactly what happened. Breakfast was toasties and then we braved the beach. I say braved as that Sunday had a max temp of 19 degrees! The kids didn’t care of course and had a great time playing in the mild surf on the beach. Ollie had to come up a few times though due to blue lips and intense shivering.
At around noon I took him down to the showers to get rinsed off and warmed up, then he bundled up in the camper for a quiet couple of hours.
I read a book for the most part, but also stayed around to check the condition of the camper. The wind was intense, in the morning from inland and then in the afternoon coming directly from the ocean. Some of the velcro holding on the campers safari roof eventually let go due to the gusts of wind, so that’s a repair that will need to be done before the next trip.
That afternoon after lunch we headed to the creek inlet for a bit of a play on the sand there and see if we could keep out of the wind behind the small dunes there. Again, the kids went back in the water and played, but with the wind chill it was pretty cold even in the sun. Some rocks were collected for painting. Rosie used some others to try and convince the kids to help her build a dam, but the kids weren’t interested.
Dinner that night was fajitas cooked on the world’s slowest electric BBQ at the villa. Rosie, supermum extraordinaire, had prepped a bunch of easy to cook meals for the two families prior to the trip which was amazing at saving time and effort. We had a few cocktails on the balconies in our jumpers as the cold wind came in from the ocean before heading back to the camper to make sure it hadn’t blown away. That night was the coldest of the trip, dropping down to 13 degrees. Later we found out there were gusts up to 97km/h that night! We were fine, but it certainly wasn’t what we’d expected on this trip.
In the morning after breakfast we headed into town to get some snacks. A cruise ship was in the harbour and there were hundreds of tourists milling about on the main street of Eden. We ducked into the IGA and then headed to nearby Cocora Beach. We met with an old friend of ours and had a great catch up with her and her family. With seven kids around we headed up the hill to a nearby lookout, then took the kids to the beach to explore some rock pools. Ollie got on great with the other kids – much more social and outgoing than usual.
We said goodbye and then headed back to the caravan park. My sister-in-law, suffering from a severe (self-confessed) case of FOMO, had come down to Eden for 2 nights with Ollies cousin. They had booked the night before and were staying in a motel in Eden. The three kids all immediately went swimming at the beach.
The next day we’d organised to meet everyone in the morning at the Aislings Beach Rock Pool off the main beach in Eden. This was a fantastic spot and we got there early enough to beat the crowds that came later. The water was freezing but we all managed to get in for a bit of a swim. Once we couldn’t stand the cold water any longer we explored the nearby rocks and then the kids had a brief swim in the rather large waves on the main beach.
Heading back to the caravan park we went to the less hectic beach there to let the kids swim again. The forecast was for rain and cloudy weather the next few days, so we wanted to at least get it out of their system. That afternoon Rosie and my sister went into Merimbula for a bit of a spa pampering. Ollie and I headed into town as well for a special treat while it was just us boys.
That night was more of the same – catch up with everyone over dinner and then head back to the camper for a relatively early night. These were long days for Ollie and he was usually wrecked by the time the sun was setting. It rained a little overnight as forecast.
In the morning we headed into Eden to grab some breakfast from a cafe called Toast on the main street. Really good food, highly recommended. Then we headed to the Eden Killer Whale Museum just as it was opening. It turned out to be surprisingly good. Ollie was engaged for at least an hour, which was impressive.
After stopping through the gift shop for a couple of shot glasses, we all headed into Merimbula to check out Top Fun. This is an arcade that’s been in Merimbula for years and years. Rosie used to go there as a kid when she would stay with her grandparents nearby.
Top Fun was pretty good. We all put some money through the machines and scored some tickets. Then it was time for a brief stroll down the street into town, checking out shops along the way. We picked up a couple of books at a 2nd hand bookstore and Rosie scored an early birthday present at an art exhibition on show in a town hall. Rosie and my sister went to a jewellers to get some a ‘permanent’ anklet and bracelet put on. My brother-in-law and I took the kids to Maccas for lunch in the meantime.
On the way back home we called into the Longstocking Brewery to check out a chocolate factory there. We found it was a bunch of shops, cafes and businesses in a lovely set of old buildings. We got some chocolate (and a beer for dad) and found a seat outdoors. The older kids jumped into a surprisingly intense game of cricket nearby. On the way back to camp we stopped at Pambula Rivermouth to check it out. It looked like a great spot, though the weather wasn’t great and we were all a bit tired by then.
After a quiet afternoon with a light drizzle coming down, we headed back into Eden for dinner at the Eden Sports and Recreation Club. Dinner was pretty good, though the Panang chicken curry was probably a little bit hotter than it needed to be.
Back at camp the rain started coming down properly. We thought we were all good until Rosie noticed that a large amount of water was coming into the camper via a small hole on the roof. The hole was probably put there by the intense winds earlier in the week, and it was right on a seam where the roof and walls met.
With the awning in place it was basically funnelling all water running off the roof of the camper directly onto my side of the bed. I stuck it down as best I could with duct tape, but fortunately we could open up the window zip a crack to catch the running water coming in through the hole still and ferry it back out to the outside of the camper. Our quick fix held up, but one of our mattresses was soaked. Ultimate campers have three separate mattresses that make up the main bed, so we still had two mattresses for me and Rosie to sleep on. The sleeping bag was a little wet, but it was a warmish night so it wasn’t so bad.
The next day after a lot of rain coming down overnight we woke up relatively warm and dry. We were already scheduled to leave that day, but even if we hadn’t we probably would have packed up and left anyway just because of the intense rain forecast. We sent Ollie off to the villa to stay dry (and out of the way), and working together we managed to get the camper packed up and ready to go in 30 minutes. Packing up in the wet is never fun, but we’d bought a tarp the day before to keep the camper interior relatively dry while folded up.
We said goodbye to our family, hitched up the camper with relatively little drama, and took off north towards Canberra. We bypassed Bega to save some time, stopped in Bemoka for a pie and a pastie, then headed up into Brown Mountain. There was a lot of fog over the road up there, but we got through it and the rest of the trip back home was relatively trouble free.
Once we got home it was good to see Canberra was overcast, but not raining yet. I put up the camper on the front lawn so that it could air and dry out. It worked well and after about 4 hours by the time thunder was booming out before an afternoon storm the camper had fully dried and I was able to pack it back up again.
A big thank you to the family for coming out and spending time with us. We had a fantastic time and definitely would do it again.
Technical stuff Rosie doesn’t read
The hole in the camper is all fixed up. I had a canvas repair kit during the trip, but wasn’t able to apply it due to the location and the constant water. It needs time for the glue to dry. I’ll see what’s out there for a quick and dirty hole repair that can be applied in the wet.
The ute continues to be perfectly happy towing the light weight trailer. It’s still not as convenient as the massive space in the van, but we’ve definitely got a system now that works for us. I do worry I might need a new wheel bearing though as there are some odd noises coming from the wheels and tyres at certain speeds.
We probably wouldn’t recommend Ingenia Eden Beachfront caravan park. The staff were excellent and location near the beach was good, but there was limited hot water in the showers and minimal water pressure as well. More bathrooms would have been appreciated. Most of the sites are quite small and hard to get into (requiring neighbours to move their vehicles in a lot of cases). There are unpowered sites at the back of the park, but they are right next to the Princes highway and you would get a lot of road noise. Overall we’d give it 3 out of 5 stars.
We were pretty lucky to leave when we did. The night we left the entire south coast go inundated with up to 110ml of rain. The caravan park sent out advisories warning about going near the creek. One of the Eden caravan parks closer to town got flooded out.
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