SUMMER love has turned into a lifelong journey for campers Wendy and Gary Berry.
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The pair from Edenhope have spent the past 60 years holidaying at Surfside Holiday Park since meeting as children aged about 10.
The couple brought their own children to Warrnambool annually, and now aged 72 and 71 respectively, they are joined by their children and their grandchildren.
Daughter Vicki and her husband Greg Gould and their three boys, from Canberra, holiday in Warrnambool.
Their son Troy Berry and his three boys from Horsham are also camping across the road.
Wendy’s sister Denise Wilson, from Geelong, and her son Tracy and wife Sharryn with their three girls also come along and enjoy camping within the one area.
The Berry Christmas lunch was a traditional affair on Thursday with 19 family members sitting down to a hot roast meal cooked in the caravan ovens.
Mr and Mrs Berry stay for a month each summer and enjoy relaxing and spending quality time with the family together in the one spot.
“No matter what the weather is you can go to the beach, you can go snorkelling, you can go shopping. There’s plenty to keep the young ones entertained,” Mrs Berry said.
One of the biggest changes to the foreshore area was the addition of the Promenade which she said was wonderful and they enjoyed walks together.
The friends they’ve made is another reason to return and secure the same site on the main road, near the front gate.
The couple likened it to a community and remembered sharing babysitting duties for nearby friends to have a rare night out to the movies when their children were young.
Mrs Berry also recalled holidaying with her own parents during war times and the old unlined huts occupied by permanent residents and visitors.
“Because (dad) was a builder and could get a bit of fuel for his truck he used to bring the caravan and the truck here,” she said.
“He had a push bike and you didn’t have power either then.
“He’d have a battery hanging from the push bike and would take them (the batteries) up the street and get them charged to run the lights and all the rest of it. There’s a lot of history”.
Warrnambool is a special place for the couple and they have fond memories of times spent in the south-west.
“This is our second home,” Mrs Berry said.
“One year we went to Adelaide and we hated it because we were wondering what everyone else was doing here.”
