We chose Mt Franklin as it is a very unique place to camp. It is an old extinct volcano who's crater you camp inside of. I don't know how volcano's typically go for size, but to guess, this one's small. On the approach, the volcano sits high, very ovbious to the landscape, thanks to the conifer trees that grow up the walls.You drive up around the outside from the western wall and enter at the south east face which was breached by lava flow a long time ago. Inside it's a park filled with lots of introduced deciduous trees, and more conifers lining the interior walls. I had hoped that the trees would be full of young leaves but we were about 1-2 weeks ahead of that, being at about 550m, the tree were only just showing signs of waking up.
If you don't pick your weekend, you'll arrive at the same time for the annual pagan festival! To our surprise there was a gathering of old cars on Sunday. One of the great things for us is that we could bring the dog along, and she was over stimulated by the 3 cheeky wondering turkeys (I must find out exactly what they were) and possums during the night. For the first time, we ended up with the dog sleeping inside the tent with us, to keep her subdued.
It's a lovely spot for an easy weekend camping. It's beautifully protected from the weather, has pit toilets and untreated water, fireplaces for BYO wood (though it was quite obvious people were scavenging for wood on site. There's a nice short sweet walk to the summit, which then follows the top of the volcano almost the whole way around. And then the best bit was visiting the Chocolate Mill on the way home, Yum! I fancy coming back here in the autumn when all the leaves are changing colour, and for a bit of snow camping when there's that odd cold front that hits Melbourne seeing snow in the Dandenongs. Recommend a visit if you're ever near Daylesford.
Rare things for us when camping; a fire and the company of pooch.
The get together on Sunday, lots of MG's and other barnds I don't know.
The 3 cheeky turkeys(?) checking out a shiny beauty.
