The winter beach where our cavalier learns to fly

There's a stretch of sand at Aireys Inlet that we keep going back to.

Not because it's the prettiest beach on the Great Ocean Road. And The Twelve Apostles are more famous. But this one, the long curve of sand below Split Point, has become ours, and the reason is a small, ordinarily dignified Cavalier King Charles Spaniel called Louis.

Louis is not a beach dog by nature. He's the kind of cavvie who, in most settings, would be just as happy with a cushion and a quiet afternoon. Slightly aloof. Mildly judgmental. Built for laps rather than landscapes.

But put him on Aireys beach in winter — empty sand, that sharp salt wind, no one else around — and something changes. He'll tear off down the beach at a full sprint until he's almost out of sight, just a small white dot getting smaller. Then he'll turn, and he'll come back at us flat-out, so fast that all four legs leave the ground at once. His ears stream behind him. From a distance he genuinely looks like he's flying.

I have never seen him happier than in that moment. I have never seen any dog happier.

We've made the BIG4 at Aireys our default caravan weekend for a while now. Easy drive from Melbourne, drive-through sites that mean no reversing, ensuite, dog-friendly, ninety minutes door to door. We go in the shoulder seasons mostly — April and May, September and October — when the beach is empty, the toasties at the Lighthouse Tea Rooms are warm, and the dining at À La Grecque is the kind of thing you tell your friends about.

I wrote up the full Aireys Inlet weekend this week, including the walk to Anglesea I am now obliged to warn people about, and the toasties I would frankly drive ninety minutes for on their own.

But honestly? The whole thing comes back to the dog and the beach. That's why we keep going.

Aireys Inlet: The Coastal Caravan Weekend That Just Works

See you next Friday.

— Robert