Campervan supplies Geelong: a self-driver stock-up plan

For supermarkets, Geelong campervan shoppers have better luck away from the CBD squeeze. Belmont, Waurn Ponds, Grovedale and Corio generally give you larger open-air car parks than the waterfront end of town, and they put you close to fuel stations Geelong drivers actually use before heading west or down the coast.

Most hire campervans sit around 2.7 to 3.3 metres high, while many undercover car parks are signed at 2.1 metres. That is not a challenge; it is a warning. Park on the outer edge, walk the extra 80 metres, and keep your roof vent, solar panel and bond intact.

• Do: shop mid-morning or mid-afternoon when school and tradie traffic is lighter.
• Do: use a trolley return near the edge bays so you are not dragging a full shop across traffic.
• Do not: enter any car park with a height bar unless you have checked your van height on the rental paperwork.
• Do not: leave the fridge door open while you repack groceries; chill the van, not the suburb.

Geelong is the sensible pantry stop before the scenery starts charging tourist prices. Torquay is only about 22 km away, Lorne about 67 km, and Apollo Bay about 113 km, but that coast road is slow, bendy and not where you want to be hunting for a tin opener, hose fitting or spare loo chemical at 5 pm.

Think in two baskets: the first 24 hours, and the next 300 km. A couple can easily use 20 to 30 litres of water a day for drinking, cooking and basic washing if you are not being heroic. In summer, 35°C days are common enough inland that you should carry more drinking water than your optimism suggests.

• Buy now: drinking water, breakfast food, coffee, easy dinners, olive oil, snacks, rubbish bags, toilet paper marked septic-safe, dish liquid and a lighter.
• Check now: hose adaptor, 15 amp lead if supplied, levelling chocks, grey-water hose and dump-point cassette cap.
• Do: freeze one or two water bottles to help the fridge after a big shop.
• Do not: rely on tiny coastal stores for specialist van supplies during school holidays or long weekends.

An LPG refill Geelong stop is easiest around the bigger servo, hardware and camping-retail strips in Belmont, Grovedale, North Geelong and Corio. Some places swap bottles, some refill them, and some will not touch an out-of-date cylinder. Check the stamp on the gas bottle; in Australia cylinders generally need to be in test within 10 years.

Fuel is not remote here, but it does get less convenient once you are committed to the coast. Fill in Geelong if you are heading to the Great Ocean Road, the Bellarine Peninsula, Ballarat or the western district. A typical campervan range might be 500 to 700 km on a tank, but headwinds, hills and a heavy right foot can make a liar of that number.

• Do: turn off gas appliances and the fridge flame before entering a servo.
• Do: top up before Apollo Bay if you are continuing toward Cape Otway or the Twelve Apostles.
• Do not: assume every servo refills LPG bottles; ring ahead or look for refill signage before parking badly.
• Do not: let the tank drop under a quarter if you are driving late, in bad weather or away from the Princes Highway.

A dump point Geelong mission is not something to leave until the cassette is full and everyone is speaking in short sentences. Public access can change with works, events and council rules, so check a current dump-point app or council listing on the day. If you are staying at a holiday park, use its dump point and potable water tap before checkout.

Potable water is different from a tap that merely looks friendly. Foreshore and park taps may be for handwashing or bottles only, and some are not suitable for filling a van tank. Ask first at your campground or servo, use your own hose, and never block a bowser while you perform a full domestic plumbing ceremony.

• Do: empty the toilet cassette before driving the coast road; bends and full cassettes are a grim partnership.
• Do: carry toilet chemical, disposable gloves and a dedicated rinse bottle.
• Do not: empty grey water into street drains, car parks or bushland; fines and stink both travel.
• Do not: connect a drinking-water hose to a dump-point rinse tap.

A laundromat Geelong stop is useful before you disappear into beach towns where machines are fewer and queues grow teeth in January. Belmont, Newtown, Geelong West and Corio are practical areas to look, especially if you can park on a side street rather than trying to nose a long van into a tight strip-shop bay.

Use the laundry hour properly: recharge phones, sort rubbish, wipe the fridge, repack the rear storage and move wet towels out of the living space. It is not glamorous, but neither is sleeping beside a damp beach towel that has become its own ecosystem.

• Do: keep coins or a card ready; different laundromats use different payment systems.
• Do: separate sandy towels before they sandblast your clothes.
• Do not: hang washing from trees or public railings at a camp; it attracts complaints fast.
• Do not: leave food rubbish overnight in the van if you are parked near gulls, possums or ants.

Geelong is a handy launch pad, not a permission slip to sleep anywhere with a sea view. Foreshore areas, boat ramps and suburban streets may have no-camping or time-limit signs, and councils can fine illegal overnight stays. Read the sign in front of you, not the memory of someone on a forum from 2018.

If you want a stress-free first night, book a powered site, plug in, learn the fridge, test the shower routine and work out which cupboard squeaks. Once the van feels familiar, free camping becomes easier to judge. Check availability online before peak weekends, AFL fixtures and summer holidays, when every second Victorian seems to own a camp chair.

• Do: arrive at your first camp before dark so you can reverse without an audience and a head torch.
• Do: keep noise low after 10 pm and leave no trace, even in paid parks.
• Do not: sleep in signed day-use areas along the waterfront.
• Do not: assume self-contained means exempt from local parking rules.