Hottest 100 camping weekend

Over the Triple J Hottest 100 long weekend (23rd - 26th January), my friends and I went camping at Beauchamp Falls in Victoria. We were at such a beautiful campsite, however we weren’t able to experience the site to its fullest because we had to evacuate because of the bushfires nearby. Let me explain.

Over the January long weekend, my friends and I went camping in Victoria but we ended up having to evacuate our campsite due to nearby bushfires. Ok it sounds more dramatic than it actually was, but it was definitely an experience. I go camping with a fabulous group of people called the Camping Honeys (follow us on Insta @camping.honeys). I love them all so much, they make life so much brighter. Anyway, we’d organised a camp trip for the long weekend in January with the main event of the weekend to be the Hottest 100 on the Saturday. This was also our first ever interstate trip! The site we chose was Beauchamp Falls in the Otway Ranges and oh my god it was beautiful. The site was so green, sitting right at the start of the walk down to the waterfall. Nick and I arrived on Friday evening after a speedy drive down from Adelaide. After we arrived and had finished setting up our tent those of us that were there (there were 3 others) decided to explore the trail down to the waterfall. It was a beautiful walk down and the waterfall was AMAZING, however I do believe that the trail was out to kill me. It was a short 2.1km return trip, but it was all uphill on the way back. Never have I been so humbled by nature. After getting back to camp and having a dinner of ravioli, we had 2 more arrive and join our camp. Hours later after much talking, we all retired to our tents and had a wonderful nights sleep.

The next morning, after breakfast and a quick trip into town to grab some ice for our eskies, the last of our campers arrived. We could finally get this party started! The sun was hot in the sky, the drinks were flowing, and the hottest 100 was playing over the radio. Life was good, we couldn’t be brought down! Until Nick turned to me and asked “Do you see that smoke?” Now, we knew that it was going to be a high fire risk weekend, especially the day of the hottest 100 with a max of 39 degrees. But knowing it could happen is a lot different to having it actually happen. After we noticed and smelt the smoke, we all decided to evacuate the site and head down to Apollo Bay to wait the fires out. Plus we didn't have service at our site so our plan was to assess the situation when we had an internet connection. Because we voluntarily left the site before we had to, we were able to grab our valuables and some things for the rest of the day. (I miscalculated on when we’d be able to come back to the site and so I ignored bringing clothes and only took my bathers and alcohol..) It was good that we made the decision early to leave the site because we weren’t rushed and panicked. In hindsight it was probably the best decision we made that weekend. While we had to evacuate and out hottest 100 was interrupted, we didn’t let the day waste away. We had a fantastic little impromptu beach day. The waves were big, the sun was out, and we had a great time. After an hour or two, we realised that we should probably be looking to book accommodation as well as grabbing dinner. The problems started arise when we were getting told by every hotel, motel and hostel in the area that they were fully booked for that night. Because not only were other campers and residents of the hills looking for refuge from the fires, it was also a long weekend. After walking up and down the Main Street, we noticed that the VIC emergency website had cleared our campsite for fire danger so half our group made the call to head back to our site to get our tents and sleeping bags. Our current plan was to just sleep on a grassy reserve along the Main Street and reassess tomorrow. The other half of us grabbed some dinner at one of the local pubs and towards the end of dinner, we spotted some guys who were working for fire control and we asked them about any refuge camps for that night and one of them actually pulled through! He’d called someone and let us know that one of the local caravan parks were taking people for that night so we drove straight there to grab and spot for that night. After getting confirmation that we could camp there that night we received a call from the others and they had devastating news.

“The roads are still closed. We can’t get to the camp site.”

So now we were stranded at this camp site with no tents, no sleeping bags and no extra clothes. I’m not going to lie, I was very close to crying at this point. I was well aware that others were in much more peril than us with these fires, but I was not looking forward to a night of terrible sleep in the car. Luckily, the manager of the park had gone looking for any extra pillows and blankets for us and he managed to find two massive blankets. They were an absolute godsend. The rest of our group drive back to us safely and we all spend an uncomfortable night sleeping in our cars.

The next morning, one of our group had seen on maps that there was an alternative route into the campsite around all of the road closures and so they soon set out to attempt the drive. About an hour later we got a call and head the magic words, “we’re in!” After that our spirits lifted and we all headed back to the campsite. There was a difference of consensus on whether to stay that night or not. I was of the mind that we didn’t know which way it would go while the others were willing to risk it. So they all stayed and Nick and I left early to drive back to Adelaide. God I'm so jealous! I was looking at all their social media posts and they were all having the best time. (They were safe from the fires as well might I add, they had a great time going back down to the waterfall and swimming in the river). Nick and I stayed at another free site on the way back to Adelaide (Fort O’Hare which is close to Mt Gambier) which was also lovely, but the drive back was so nice over two days. Much more relaxed.

Apart from the threat of the fires, it had been a brilliant weekend. The campsite was beautiful, the people were wonderful, and the vibes were immaculate. We were tested on our survival instincts (which I think we passed with flying colours), our adaptability, and our mettle. I’d highly recommend this trip (the Beauchamp Falls site and the Ocean Road. Not the fires).

Until next time <3