#freecamping #campcooking #HepburnSprings
In this episode, we travel in our converted Ford transit campervan, with our dog, Twyla, to Mount Franklin in Victoria, Australia. We also had our nephew and sister-in-law free camping with us too. We spent most of the weekend in Hepburn Springs, Victoria.
On our first day we took do a leisurely walk in Hepburn Springs, where we visited The Pool. The Pool is nestled in a gully of Spring Creek on the eastern side of Hepburn Springs. This heritage-listed pool was built in the late 1920s and operated until the late 1960s, when it was replaced by the Olympic swimming pool in Daylesford. The pool was restored in 1994 but closed again in the mid-2000s due to public safety risks. You can still access the pool, but swimming is prohibited.
After our walk, we headed to The Chocolate Mill, located 7kms north of Daylesford. The Chocolate Mill is in a straw-bale building, designed and built by the original owners. The Chocolate Mill manufactures over 12,000 hand-crafted chocolates per week using fair-trade Belgian Couverture chocolate, no palm oil and no artificial ingredients. Chocolates are made using traditional European techniques and can be seen through a viewing window in the kitchen. The Chocolate Mill is open daily 10am - 4:45pm. The cafe closes at 4:30 pm. The Chocolate Mill is closed in February, Christmas Day and Boxing Day each year.
That night we free camped up at Mount Franklin in our converted Ford transit campervan. Jen and Hudson converted Jen’s car into a little home on wheels. They used a blow-up mattress from Kmart and packed few blankets so they could camp in the back of their car. Hudson was very excited about free camping in the back of their car.
Mount Franklin is an extinct volcano about 10 km north of Daylesford in Victoria, Australia. A road spirals around the outside slopes covered with pine trees, into a flat 50-acre caldera, now used as a camping ground, and onto the rim which hosts a fire lookout, parking area, and picnic ground.
For dinner, we done some camp cooking on our fireplace. We took along the firepit that we purchased from The Pit Kit that was custom-made for us. The firepit was perfect to cook our Mexican dinner. We also made mulled wine and hot chocolate later that night.
After breakfast the next day we headed back into Hepburn Springs. We had some afternoon tea at Hepburn Pavilion Café. The café was built in 1908 and is an Edwardian heritage-listed building that has been a popular meeting place in Hepburn Springs. It features magnificent stained-glass windows, a beautiful, tiled floor and a vaulted ceiling which combine to create a unique and welcoming environment for those visiting the Mineral Springs Reserve.
Next, we took a walk around Hepburn Mineral Springs Reserve, where you can fill up your water bottle from Australia's first mineral reserve, created in 1865. The reserve doubles as a delightful picnic and walking area, with a playground for kids, barbecues, graded walking trails, the Pavilion Cafe and the Hepburn Bathhouse & Spa.
After our walk, we were in the mood for something savory, so we stopped off at Hepburn Springs Brewing Co where you can sample beers, gins, and vodkas and enjoy a grazing platter. We had a lovely experience, and would highly recommend it to anyone.
We hope you enjoy our channel. We often get asked, ‘what is vanlife?’ Van life is a lifestyle of living in a vehicle full or part-time. The names are compound words that derive from the fact that it is typically done in a van that has been modified with basic amenities, such as house batteries, solar panels, a bed platform, some form of the toilet, sink, and storage space. Some van-dwellers live this lifestyle by choice while seeking freedom, self-sufficiency, and mobility without paying for conventional stationary housing, while for others it may be one step from living on the street or in a shelter. In 2020, during the COVID-19 pandemic, an idealized version has been popularized through social media with the hashtag #vanLife. Although the term van-dwelling implies living in a van, many types of vehicles may be used for permanent, mobile living arrangements, including former public buses or school buses, campervans, recreational vehicles (RVs), travel trailers, mobile homes, sport utility vehicles (SUVs) and cars.
We enjoy part-time van life, creating weekly episodes that are live at 5pm (AEST) Sundays, and sharing our experiences on our travels with our cavoodle, Twyla. In our episodes we stay at free and paid campsites, showing our tips and tricks on how to make life on the road easier and fun. Come join us on our adventures!
It’s great to see Australian tourism picking up with many people traveling around Australia in caravans, campervans, RVs, and camping in tents. If you enjoy traveling within Australia too, make sure you Like & Subscribe to our channel. Thanks for watching!