Day Two - 19th April, 2025.
Miriam Vale - Carmila Hotel Brandybottle Caravan Park & Golf Course
Today's plan is to move on to Carmila Hotel and camp there tonight. Also meeting up with Craig's brother Donny and his partner Francis for the night.
So quick easy breakfast this morning, pack up and we're on the road. Barney is still getting used to camping and moving each day is new for him. We've only done weekend camps with him so far, where we set up at a spot for 2 nights, so not much changes for the 2 nights. He doesn't have his routine, so his little life is out of sorts which creates whinging and whining at the campsite, however he has been travelling better in the car.
Road conditions on the Bruce Highway again today are crap, poor Barney looks like he is having head tremors constantly when he's sitting up in the back seat 😄
We finally arrived at the Carmila Hotel around 1pm I think. I went in to ask about camping and unfortunately I was told no camping this weekend, due to them setting up for the rodeo next weekend 😞 We have camped at the Carmila Beach area many years ago and I have read they have upgraded the camping area there and being it's Easter we figured it would be pretty crowded. We had seen a sign between Clareview and Carmila for a place called Brandybottle Camping which Craig did remember seeing on Wikicamps, and I had saved it. Gave them a call to see if we could get 2 campsites for the night and thankfully they had space. We couldn't reach Donny, so left a message about what we were doing and we headed off south 12klms back to Brandybottle Camping.
Well, what an absolute pleasure it was to arrive at Brandybottle Camping. From the moment you turned into the driveway, you just relaxed and is was just pleasant. Following the instructions I was given on the phone, we proceeded to the reception and waited. We were greeted by Storm the Owner and her daughter (I truely hope I have that correct). She showed us to our site that we'll share with Donny and Francis and Storm said just to come up once they've arrived and pay.
There is a golf course to use which is free, along with the golf bats, if that's what you like doing. You also have toilets, showers, power and water available and you camp on lovely green grass. Another bonus is they serve meals and alcohol at the Clubhouse and there is a huge communal firepit that Storm's Dad lights every night to sit around, if you choose.
Once Donny and Francis arrived, we had a couple of drinks and a chat, then wandered over to pay our camping fees - $35.00/night powered. Had a lovely chat with Storm and another team member, the Donny announced they wanted to pre-order dinner, so we thought oh well, we may as well also. For a small establishment, it's a really good menu. Donny and Francis ordered a pizza, Craig ordered Lamb Shanks and of course I had the Hawaiian Parmy. While talking with Storm she mention that we could let Barney off the lead for a run around if nobody was playing on the course beside us or we could go to the other area over the road. So, bonus time for Barney off the lead chasing the ball around next to where we camped, that is until Barney heard some kids laughing in a tent just up from where we were camped and that was it, he was off like a rocket (Barney loves kids) to their tent, followed somewhat at a distance by Craig, running, which in his words " I don't need to run again, there were bits giggling that never used to giggle, it was rather un-nerving" 😂 Anyway, Barney barrelled into the kids tent jumping on them, giving them lots of kisses, much to the kids delight. Craig said when he got to the tent the kids were laughing and squealing. Barney looked rather proud of himself when Craig brought him back, yes Barney still needs work on his recall when kids are around.
We'd booked our table for dinner for 7pm, at that time Storm mentioned there was only one other booking. We headed over about 6pm to sit around the communal campfire that Storm's Dad had collected timber for in the afternoon and lite for someone to enjoy - that was us!
The Bistro was starting to fill up, while we ordered some drinks at the bar and had a chat with Storm's Mum and Dad who were bartending. They were both very engaging, entertaining and certainly friendly! We took our drinks over to the fire and relaxed for a bit.
I think Storm will have her hands full tonight, the tables were chock-o-block now. It's a lovely area to seat and eat dinner, with a couple of options.
Our meals were huge and delicious. We had a very enjoyable evening eating at the Bistro and chatting to Mum, Dad and Storm.
Brandybottle Caravan Park is a great campground, if we're up this way again we will definitely stay and would definitely recommend it to y'all.
