Lake Tyers Camp and Caravan Park - Lakes Entrance Victoria

Lake Tyers Camp and Caravan Park - Lakes Entrance Victoria

Looking for a park next to a lovely lake, overlooking a surf beach with a totally bushland feel yet having all the little extras that make caravanning comfortable? Yes there is such a place and all for the unbelievably low price of $20 a night for a powered site. Lake Tyers is in the Lakes Entrance area in Gippsland in Victoria. The park is 10kms north of Lakes Entrance and the road in, is all good bitumen.

Delightful cosy campsite - No. 56

Don't be put off by the unimpressive entrance

We spent four glorious days here in Xmas 2000. Be warned though, if you are not on a tight schedule its definitely the sort of park where you book in for a night and stay for a month! Having no booking and being Xmas it was a miracle we could get in as we got the last available site. At first glance site 56 looked impossible for a van as it had a raised concrete drain top near the middle and was almost bounded on four sides with trees and shrubs. You know - the sort of site to give you deep gouges down the side of your van! However with a couple of goes pushing wise, we eventually got in, and it proved to be all one could ever hope for in a commercial park.

Lakeside walk starts at main parking area

Looking towards the hotel

Jenni Sexton the young manageress was extremely helpful on check in and it was hard to believe that she had only been in the job eight weeks. As soon as you arrive, this park gives off the right vibes! Yes it is very old but it has been cared for in a loving way. The amenities for instance really bring a smile to your face if you are a keen DIY person. The original owner was obviously a welder, as the toilet cubicles are all made of 1" gal water pipe. He welded some angle onto this and bolted on thick fibro sheets! To this day they stand in perfect condition and all the doors open and lock perfectly. There are some modern touches though - the hand dryers plug into ancient brown round bakelite power points mounted on wooden blocks complete with the old round switches! For all you young ones - bakelite was the first plastic ever made and it was pretty awful by today's standards. The showers are quite good, but put a whole new meaning into the song "Misty". They simply fill the cubicle with fine mist and everything gets very wet. There are hooks and a small seat. John, Jenni's husband cleans them at dawn mind you!

The closest launching ramp

The hotel with views to die for

If you get caught short during cleaning there is another toilet near the hall, but on our visit John was forgetting to unlock this! Very early on New Years Day one young lady just had to go - luckily there are toilets right next door in the reserve Crosses Landing. Lake Tyers by the way has won Tidy Towns for nine of the last ten years and these public toilets are cleaned everyday at 5AM - you have to be dedicated to clean that early after New Year Celebrations.

Excellent play area for kiddies

The other beachfront park - dogs allowed

The laundry is a mix of Maytag and old Hoovers. The good news is that a load costs just $1 and you can fit double into a Hoover. Drying is the same price, but you need to allow an hour at $2. This is not really a problem as there is ample line space on a hill in the breeze. An iron is supplied and costs 10 cents a go. There is also a good folding table and a few chairs. The laundry is open 24 hours a day which is marvellous. This is because there is simply no vandalism at all in this park. However, take a wander around cabin 13 and you will see all sorts of messages dating back years. These are all carved into the very soft bricks. We don't call this vandalism. We saw a similar thing years ago in Nara Inlet on Hook Island in the Great Barrier Reef. Sailors waiting out cyclones had taken hours to scale the steep cliffs in order to make their mark. Beautiful Australiana!

The park has a glorious bushland feel and it is hard to get a glimpse of civilization. Some sites overlook the lake and ocean. The best views without doubt are from the cabins on top of a small hill. Between a couple of cabins is a really nice area where you can sit and watch the sunrise or have a BBQ. Our title photo was taken there!

Looking south at Lakes Entrance

The entry to the sea at Lakes Entrance

The owners deserve credit for the large amount of open space set aside as public area. There is a huge hall complete with a kitchen and a dining area capable of seating 100. What an absolutely fantastic spot for caravan club rallies as the facilities are huge. During our stay community breakfasts were served there for $3 a head - a really nice way to get to know more fellow campers than your immediate neighbours. You could also get a baked dinner with dessert and tea and coffee for $8. This is a once a week do. The hall is ideal for club meetings. Outside the hall is excellent grass with a volley ball net and room for cricket. In the same area is a really large sandpit filled with all sorts of thingos for the littlies. On the other side is a covered BBQ area. It is an absolute credit to this park that so much prime open space has been made available.

Telstra CDMA and GMS work perfectly anywhere in the park, but on the beach CDMA is the more reliable. There are two Telstra phones in the parking area near the lakeside and a Gold Phone right outside the park office. Noise is not a problem in this park and many people seem to like to sleep in. There is minimal park lighting. The sea will lull you to sleep at night. In a word - peaceful!

Metung main street

The centre of Lakes Entrance

There are very few flies, mossies or sand flies. The flies are possibly kept down by the unique rubbish disposal method. John collects your rubbish each day from your site and leaves another black plastic bag. It is then taken off site. A bit of expense, but it works fantastically well. Other parks might like to try this?

Looking towards Lakes Entrance

The delightful jetty area at Metung

The local shop is just a stone's throw away and is ultra friendly. Range is excellent and they also have a small bottle shop. Fish and chips is a speciality and serves are very generous. Fuel is available from a servo 1km back up the road - limited hours though.

Grassy tent sites in the middle of the park

Excellent shop just across the road

Walking possibilities are excellent. A good introductory walk is to go down to the foreshore car park and follow the lake shoreline around to the boat ramp. The return trip takes about 45 minutes. You can walk either up or down the beach. Heading south eventually brings you to historic Bunga Lake - this is where oil was first discovered in Australia. All along the beach you will notice white posts. These mark the start of stairs leading up the cliffs. Some have lookout platforms at the top. It might be best not to attempt these stairs if you have any sort of mobility/heart problems as most are very hard going.

A typical lookout on top of the stairs

Looking north from a lookout

Similarly bike riding activities abound particularly in the adjacent State Forest. The beach can be ridden for miles at low tide and this is a very popular activity.

The launching ramp at Lake Tyers

Metung foreshore scene

Lake Tyers makes an ideal base for exploring the surrounding countryside. A very nice day trip is to head down past Lakes Entrance until you come to the Metung turnoff. Just go down every road you come across and you will eventually wind up in Metung. What a delightful surprise this was. Almost surrounded by water it has modern accommodation as well as an old world charm beautifully preserved.

Nice foreshore reserve around from Metung

Lake foreshore near Metung

A fantastic bakery selling all those old fashioned cakes grandma used to make and yummy pies. We were disappointed in the vegetarian pies though as they used canned vegies and were as dry as the Simpson Desert! The caravan park was chocka and a little walk from the water. A nice leafy park, but very compact.

Main street in Metung

Caravan park just outside Metung

Make your way back to the highway and turn right back towards Lakes Entrance. Watch for a sign on the left saying Uncles Road. This takes you on a really nice forest drive of under 39Kms. The highlight is an old trestle railway bridge built in 1916 and it is 19 metres high and still standing. This is clearly marked. A bit of sadness though - the gas line is sited next to it and ruins the setting somewhat.

The turnoff is very easy to miss

One of several still standing in the area

We came across a flock of emus running along the road - the photo was a bit of a miracle as these birds move very quickly indeed. Details of this drive are posted on the laundry wall and the pamphlet is available at the information centre. Believe it or not the road emerges well north of Lakes Entrance. Turn right. If time permits turn left at the Burnt Trestle Bridge sign and do a bit more forest driving in the nearby Lake Tyers State Forest.

An Emu family out on a Sunday walk!

Lakes Entrance itself, despite being really commercialised, is still a charming seaside town. Oddly enough there is no major shopping centre. The biggest shop is a Safeway's. We had a bit of a cold snap and you guessed it - all the winter clothes were back in Brissie! We just popped down to Bairnsdale and found Myers etc. Being a very fishy place seafood possibilities are endless. The best spot we found is Esplanade Seafood. Travelling north it is just before McDonalds on the left. If you pass Ocean Rescue on the right you have passed it. The main claim to fame is the cold platters. These go from $5 to $20 and have all sorts of goodies and oh so fresh. We visited several times!

The footbridge at Lakes Entrance

Lakes Entrance is not on the surf beach. he only way to reach the surf is by crossing a footbridge. An excellent walk once across is to walk all the way to the actual lake entrance. There are no cars at all in this area. Be careful parking if towing. All those waterfront parking bays look so inviting, BUT all have no easy exit. There is a terrific caravan friendly area ideal for lunch and smoko stops, just north of town right on the water and to the south there is a wonderful riverside area just past the information centre. We saw quite a few vans and motorhomes over nighting in both these spots despite the No Camping signs.

The sign posting to Lake Tyers is very good. Just travel north from Lakes Entrance on the Princes Highway and watch for the signs on the right. Lake Tyers Camping and Caravan Park do have a website, but as a picture on the main page is 63K it takes a wee while to come in. The picture by the way is rather good so please take a peek. It was taken outside the park so don't get too excited. The email address is ltc&cp@net-tech.com.au. Another general camping site on the internet at:- www.cav.asn.au/Lakes/Camps/ltyers.html has a fair bit of info as well. The best site for general information on Lake Tyers would have to be Walkabout Australia. You can also contact the park by snail mail or phone and the details are below.

Postal: P.O. Box 129 Lakes Entrance, Victoria, Australia, 3909
Residential: 558 Lake Tyers Beach Road, Lake Tyers Beach, Victoria, Australia, 3909
Phone: (03) 5156 5530 Mobile: 0407 313 570 Fax: (03) 5156 5702

In summing up we absolutely recommend Lake Tyers as it is in idyllic surroundings and has excellent management.

Bob and Chrissy Eustace

Click on the compass for a map of the area