16 Hour Camping Adventure - On a scooter!

Sixteen hours isn't a lot of time away from home, so there wasn't much of an excuse not to get out on the bike and pitch a tent somewhere.

Especially since daylight savings will be over soon, I figured now's the time to make the most of it. 

I didn't need to take a lot, in fact, if I wanted to keep things to a bare minimum all I'd need is a sleeping bag, tent or swag.

Most of my camping gear packs down pretty small. I managed to fit a two-man tent, sleeping bag, pillow, air mat, torch, cooking gear and a tarp under the seat of the BV350.

There was also my Kriega backpack which had the important stuff like whiskey, water and some other odds n ends.

Food for thought
Since I was only going overnight, and I'd already had a decent breakfast and lunch, the only meal I had to consider was dinner.

There's the option of grabbing a bite along the way to the campsite, finding a pub nearby or taking my own grub.

I opted for two-minute noodles since I was sticking to a budget

Finding a plot
With only 16 hours to play with, I didn't want to travel more than 2 hours from home. I knew I'd be leaving about 5 and I wanted to be there with enough time to set-up and settle down before dark.

The forecast was looking good for Saturday, so it made sense to do The Great Ocean Road on the way back.

I opened up wiki camps and picked Gellibrand as my overnighter.

It has a store close by to the campground (and a pub) perfect for stocking up on anything I needed like snacks. Showers and toilets are available too.

Ready to roll
With the BV350 packed and ready-to-go the night before It was just a matter of counting down the hours to five o'clock.

By 5.30 I'd split my way through peak hour and was cruising along to some 90's dance tunes along the freeway. I opted for the boring route to the campsite as I wanted to keep within the two-hour timeline. 

Once I was out of Geelong, it opened up to some welcoming country roads with the sun low in the sky and the odd wallaby on the side of the road to keep me on my toes.

Rancho-Relaxo
Seven o'clock arrived, and I was eleven minutes away from my destination according to google maps. By the time I'd checked in, had a bit of chat, I was in my camp spot by 7.30 and had everything unpacked and on my first well-earned drink by eight.

Not bad going for a Friday arvo. The noodles were terrific too.

I was the only one there in a tent; most of the other 'campers' were in the cabins, so I had the whole area to myself which was entirely peaceful.

Except for the cows, I don't know if they make sex noises, but one of them was either really unsatisfied or really happy about something.

By the time it was well and truly dark, the mozzies were out in force, I opted for some Netflix and chill inside the tent while I decided on what time to set the alarm.

If I were to keep the trip to sixteen hours, I'd have to be up at six and home by nine.

Entirely doable.

Morning glory
I slept till nine. It was Saturday after all.

With the water on the boil, I made myself a coffee before packing up and heading into town for some breakfast.

Where I had the best tasting scrambled eggs, ever. A perfect blend of eggs, cheese and salt.

From there It was homebound via the GOR on the little BV350.

I was home by 2 pm, feeling quite accomplished, even though I didn't stick to the sixteen-hour deadline.

Best of all I still had most of the weekend left to relax.

Cheap n cheerful
All up it cost me $94.50.
$3 for noodles, $26 for bourbon, $19 fuel, $12.50 for breakfast and $34 for the campsite.

And the BV350 brought me lots of cheer through the twisties.