Lerderderg State Park

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My girlfriend and I were thinking about going camping, when a friend suggested we head to Lerderderg. Where? Ler-der-der-der-derg. It sounded like somewhere Muppets would appear from behind trees and burst into song. I'm a sucker for a silly name, so we headed out there.

When we arrived we found that the whole area was proper Australian bush with tall, grey trees and at night it was dark enough to see the stars. We set up camp along the creek at O'Brian Crossing. The camping in the area is referred to as 'bush camping' but is actually pretty well maintained with clear camping spaces, toilets and park benches. Don't expect solitude, there were quite a few other campers around, including some loud hooligans. We were quite nervous that they would disturb our peace, but they cleared off surprisingly quickly. Mostly people kept to themselves, but sound travels, so we did hear all about our neighbour's wives, kids and footy tipping competitions. [BREAK]

There are quite a few possible walks in the park, ranging from 30 minutes to overnight. Our choice for Saturday was the Tunnel walk which took about 3 hours return. The walk took us along ridges and through trees to a clearing where the creek flowed through a tunnel. We were disappointed at first to find the tunnel was blocked by a mess of fallen trees, until another group of bush walkers suggested we go over the top to the other side. There the tunnel was beautifully tall and narrow and actually seemed worth the walk.

For our second walk we meandered along the rocky creek bank, enjoying the cool breeze and the problem solving of; how do I get from here to there without getting my feet wet? This walk is not on the official list, but defiantly worth trying.

We finished the weekend with a short drive to Mt Blackwood lookout, which actually turned out to be in the middle of someone's paddock and overlooked a lot of trees and not much else. After this mildly disappointing end, we reluctantly left the bush behind and returned home to Melbourne.

Lerderderg is about an hour and a half north west of Melbourne. Camping facilities include toilets, picnic tables and information on the nearby walking tracks. For more information visit the Parks Victoria website .

Alas there were no Muppets, but it's a great spot nonetheless.

#walks
#victoria
#picnic_spots
#parks
#outdoor
#camping
%wnmelbourne