This was published 14 years ago
BIG4 Beacon Resort Holiday Park, Queenscliff review: Park life
Glamping ... modern cabins bring a new level of comfort.
Jane Reddy rediscovers the simple things with a touch of luxe at a coastal holiday resort.
The seniors are in the neighbourhood.
"Stand back," I tell my two young ones as we move aside for a parade of vehicles from the Veteran, Vintage and Classic Car Club, Bendigo.
With a surprising reverence one might reserve for royalty, they silently watch generations of the well-preserved beauties pass by. There's a Packard convertible, a cream 1954 FJ Holden with whitewall tyres and a bronze 1974 LH Torana.
Travelling well within the required "walking pace", here at the BIG4 Beacon Resort Holiday Park in Queenscliff, the cars, together for a rally to celebrate 40 years of the club, swing into their designated sites.
A dinky bondwood caravan triggers my nostalgia and eye-glazed looks from the young ones as I drag them down memory lane. Yes, kids, sleeping on a kitchen table and dashing to the toilets in the cold dawn shall one day be a rite of passage for you, too.
We leave the vintage and classic cars and re-enter the 21st century through the front door of our cabin. It's called the Lonsdale and at just more than 12 months old, it's sleek. There are two bedrooms, two LCD televisions, dining area, kitchen with stone benchtop, a big couch and ottoman and a bathroom with tiles the colour of a strong latte.
It's both pleasing and disconcerting – such modern accoutrements in a seaside park – but we soon adapt to the idea of "camping" with a dishwasher, air-conditioning and no need for the 5am dash to the loo. We also have a deck with barbecue and small screen for privacy. I'm outside often, observing the great leveller of holiday parks worldwide – strangers in their night attire.
On the first morning I get a cheery wave from a woman in burgundy velour, on the second it's a tribe of young girls in their PJs.
Without the city's domestic distractions the young ones have our full attention. They embrace the three-kilometre bike ride along the promenade towards Point Lonsdale to the front beach with nary a whine, play in rock pools and build many sandcastles – all before midday.
But it's the park itself where we are all happiest, along with many other families, it would seem. Last month the park was voted No.7 in the RACV Victoria 101 Best Places to Stay, an online survey of 14,000 voters.
The heated 12-metre indoor pool has a toddler's area and spa, the tennis courts are queue-free and there are playgrounds dotted about the leafy but pristine park.
But it's God's gift to parents of young children, the large inflatable pillow designed for jumping on, that has us plotting our next sojourn to the Bellarine Peninsula.
At sunset, in their pyjamas, the young ones wring out the last of their energy before sliding off and into our arms for deep, deep sleep.
We open wine, phone for pasta from a local restaurant, which delivers 20 minutes later, and settle in for a quiet night – just us and a hundred or so of our new park friends.
Jane Reddy stayed courtesy of BIG4 Holiday Parks.
FAST FACTS
Getting there BIG4 Beacon Resort Holiday Park, 78 Bellarine Highway, Queenscliff, is about 100 kilometres from Melbourne.
Staying there Lonsdale cabins from $155 a night for two people, cabins from $96, camping sites from $35. Phone 1300 738 044, see big4.com.au.
Events BIG4 Holiday Parks will host the charity event Come Camp with a free night of camping at selected parks on November 20.
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