A YOUNG couple from New Jersey in the USA on a working holiday in Australia.
Two families from either end of the country, Melbourne and Brisbane, meeting up again to share their summer holidays.
Travelers from Queensland “doing the east coast”.
Daytrippers from Melbourne, many of them with South Asian heritage, enjoying ice creams out the front of the general store.
The ‘toffs’ with their cars parked all around the exclusive lodges.
And the Jones family from Beaumaris who won the ballot for the first time this year and are enjoying their first January week in 34th Avenue.
It’s a melting pot, the Tidal River Camping Ground at Wilsons Promontory National Park, at this time of the year, and there wasn’t a single whinge about the weather.
“Look, it was a bit windy the first day we got here but hardly a drop of rain since then,” said Brett Jones from Beaumaris.
“That’s the beauty of the Prom: If it’s cool you can go for a walk, and we’ve done quite a few of those, but it’s also been warm enough to swim and we’ve been out on the beach every day. It’s just so relaxing.
“After you’ve set up the camp, there’s really nothing else that needs doing, and Brett’s doing all the cooking,” said wife Stephanie.
“We’ve got a wombat friend who comes around for a visit each day and some red and black parrots, not sure what they are, not Rosellas though, who also come around.”
They’ve also seen what they described as “a brown snake” on their walks. If indeed it was an Eastern Brown Snake, they’ve just had a brush with the world’s second-most venomous land snake, after the Inland Taipan, so watch your step!
They’ve done the Lilly Pilly Circuit, the summit walk up Mount Oberon to see the view, the walk around to Squeaky Beach and have a few others in mind as well.
Brett and Stephanie are sitting outside, around their camp table, mid-afternoon, with a cup of tea, a piece of Christmas cake and some light reading.
Inside their six-berth Goldstream camper are their teenage daughters Asha and Siobhan playing cards and enjoying a bit of downtime before going back to the beach, over to the river or for a short family walk before dinner.
“We went to the outdoor movies the other night and saw ‘Next Goal Wins’. It was pretty good,” says Asha.
The family have had a couple of test runs to the Prom with their camper, on two weekends during the year, and reckon the Goldstream, with its solar power, bbq and all mod cons has performed superbly on their first extended stay.
“It’s been great, and I’ve got to give a shout out to the people at the Yanakie General Store,” said Brett.
“We stopped off there and got most of our supplies and the fruit and veggies in particular, especially the peaches and nectarines, have been great. We got some nice mince too for tacos and they have a good selection of wine at competitive prices.”
All the way from USA
Summer McSpirit and Tyler Meehan lived in the same street in New Jersey all their lives, went to different universities, the highly-ranked local research university Rutgers for Summer and Penn State for Tyler, but have ended up together, on a working holiday around Australia.
And they’re delighted they discovered the Prom along the way.
Tyler, a qualified finance and mortgage professional found work as a pharmacy assistant in Australia, and Summer, a sexual violence counsellor back home, has worked in a jewellery store.
“We’ve come down from Queensland, now we’re seeing Victoria before going to South Australia and we pick up a campervan in Perth in a few weeks’ time,” said Summer.
“The Prom? Yeah, it’s beautiful. We went up Mount Oberon this morning and we’re going for a swim at Whiskey Bay this afternoon. We’ve heard it’s a good place for a swim,” said Tyler.
