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Wanting to have a long drive with my family over the weekend and camping somewhere? any suggestion , place you have been to...

So many great spots in Vic but if you mean this weekend may be a prob cos of the fires. Grampians is out. Otways is nice but further along the Great Ocean Rd will be very busy this time of year.

Going East you have the vast & beautiful Gippsland. Depending how far you want to go, a few have done awesome camping trips around the Snowy, esp McKillops Bridge. Much closer to home is the very historic & scenic Walhalla, some great drives around there. Also a crossing of the Thompson R can be safely done in a standard Foz (see my signature, that was totally stock then), should be pretty low this time of year. El Freddo would say hit up the high country, eg the Dargo high plains, the Dargo Hotel is a must. Omeo & the Mitta R is nice (the Blue Duck Hotel is another must)

Wherever you go, check the CFA website for fire danger in the area you're thinking. This heat has dried everything out.
http://www.cfa.vic.gov.au/

Blue duck hotel you mean. I'd say stick to the coast, theres plenty of potential for big fires in the high country with dry conditions and lightning strikes

A really nice place that has a lot of walks, many 4wd, but great camping is Pt Hicks.
Ive been going there for decades, drive to Cann river, turn left, drive to the ocean.
Shade on hot days, a shallow warm river flows next to the camping area + much more.
Carefull, you have to book a site until Feb, unless you stay in a hikers overniter.

Personally at this point in time I would suggest staying at home and minimising your exposure/risk to fires - there are a number of them around and from what my family has experienced in the last few days we're going to see a number of fires potentially spring up due to lightening strikes. There was one that took a night or even a day or two to flare up in to a bush fire beside our neighbour's - luckily it's been controlled and is still under surveillance.

But once the weather cools off and the fire threat subdues there are plenty of places to go in Vic - it all depends on what you want to do/see and how far you're willing to travel to see it.

The high country is awesome at this time of the year and is generally a good retreat from the heat in summer. Plan your trip carefully as there are a number of tracks that are not subaru friendly - but with that said, you don't have to tour the 4wd tracks to enjoy it!
Up near Hotham there's a number of walking tracks (all over the high country actually!), Dargo has a great pub and some good fishing & camping too.
Blue Duck Inn is a must if you're fishing/camping on the Mitta Mitta - there's camping close by at the Angler's Rest. Last time I was there (too long ago!) the food was great and the experience of living with generators to power everything reminds me of my childhood with the dimming lights as fridges/pumps kick in. The drive up to the Blue Duck Inn is a very twisty road - a driver's road Very scenic too IMO.

Grampians are out, at least until there's been some rain - all the wild flowers etc will be popping up and seeing a forest regenerate is amazing!

Otways - beach and the bush... Best of both worlds and some good light 4wd tracks in there too if that's what you're after. There is also the tree walk (can't remember the name of it) where you walk along suspended walkways at the height of the forest canopy!

Cobaw/Wombat and Lerderderg forests - a huge range of 4wd'n in here. The wombat and Lerderderg have quite a gold history too. The Castlemaine gold diggings heritage park is also a good place to check out for gold history - I know there's a walk in there that I've done twice, dunno if you're allowed 4wds but I suspect it would be allowed.

Walhalla - really, where to start? We've been a few times but feel that we've not scratched the surface of whats really on offer out there.

There are plenty of tourist attractions to see as well. Hanging Rock in the Macedon Ranges is a good place for a visit. The discovery centre is more about the Picnic at Hanging Rock than the creation of the rock. The cost I think is about $12 a car now (at a guess!). Also check out the memorial cross in Cameron Drive on top of Mt Macedon. A walk to the top of the Camel's hump gives a good view of the surrounding areas - very spectacular.

There's plenty more to see but I'm done for now. Thanks to previous posters for some pointers to add to

Cheers

Bennie

You could try huggetts crossing just north of Mafra.
Bit of water, bit of camping, bit of bush etc
http://www.dse.vic.gov.au/__data/assets ... eserve.pdf

timmo wrote:Blue duck hotel you mean. I'd say stick to the coast, theres plenty of potential for big fires in the high country with dry conditions and lightning strikes

Fixed

Yeah, fire danger is pretty high now

Bennie, I knew you'd have some suggestions lol.

Thanks for all your suggestions.. Noted! but yeah we rescheduled the plan of camp out with all these fire danger around.

Otways ,Omeo & the Mitta R, Walhalla, Pt Hicks, Hanging Rock in the Macedon Ranges, memorial cross are all great places and really wanted to try that out.

Thanks for this link Zuba: http://www.dse.vic.gov.au/__data/ass...ic_Reserve.pdf

Hoping we can visit these places soonest!

Try Talbotville near Dargo there is at least two roads in with plenty of thing to do there

Jan