Month: May 2016

Day 44: The Outback – Day 3, Kings Canyon / Kata Tjuta

So sleeping in the back of the SUV was ridiculously comfortable! We actually slept in later than we planned, as we figured an alarm wouldn’t be necessary. We were a little worried as the King’s Canyon walking info recommended anyone planning to do the Rim Walk finish no later than 11AM. As we were starting the 3.5hr walk at 8:15AM, we were pushing it a bit. But onward, and upward!

 

Pathway to the North Rim of King’s Canyon

So, King’s Canyon has been called “Australia’s Grand Canyon”. As someone who has actually been to the Grand Canyon (check my FB cover photo) and walked the South Rim down and back up, I can tell you this is NOT anything like the Grand Canyon. First of all, it’s not a canyon it’s a gorge – you don’t walk down into it, you walk up and around it. And the 3.5hr time estimate? Very generous. We were done with the Rim Walk in 2hrs, and we were keeping pace with older tourists and families with kids.

 

Cake walk. Emergency phones not needed (granted, it’s winter right now)

Comparisons aside, it was a very nice morning walk, if a bit crowded (as everyone is starting the hike at the same time, per the park’s recommendations). The full Rim Walk starts from the North Rim, and the entrance is shut down at 9AM to prevent tourists from attempting the walk in the hottest part of the day. The South Rim is open an additional 2 hours, but there is a gate halfway through the walk that only opens from the North side, making it a half-walk. Due to this, the South Rim emptied out by the time we reached it, giving us some nice vistas to ourselves (well, we had to share the views with the bush flies, who started to get really active as we were coming off the canyon).

Starting off the morning with a walk around the canyon

 

View from the canyon edge

The Garden of Eden – a pretty little oasis in the canyon

Checking out the view of “The Lost City” – beehive-shaped domes

 

The crowd of tourists on the South Rim – they all had to turn back halfway through the walk, so the cliff was empty by the time we got there

 

View from the South Rim – done with the walk in record time!

Once we were done with King’s Canyon, we started heading for the Big One – Uluru, AKA Ayers Rock. We stopped along the road at Curtain Springs – a wayside inn where we picked up a lovely hat net for Lindsay (comfort over fashion – I have no shame in looking like a dork).

I’ll wear ANYTHING to keep the flies away! They don’t bite, they just love to fly in your ears

A brief stop in Curtain Springs – a little oasis in the deadly desert

We arrived at the park a few hours before sunset, and realized we had time for a short walk. We decided to leave the grandeur of Uluru for tomorrow, and instead visited Kata Tjuta (AKA, The Olgas) where we hiked the Valley of the Winds walk up to the second vista point, and then drove over to the sunset viewing area for a spectacular view.

 

Exploring the trails of Kata Tjuta, respectfully

 

Gotta stay hydrated while hiking Kata Tjuta

 

Thwarting the bushflies – go humans!

 

Refusing to let the flies ruin another sunset

Kata Tjuta AKA The Olgas at sunset

The sun has fallen from the horizon

Fully satisfied with our day in the Outback, we headed to Yulara – a corporate owned village whose sole purpose is to support tourism to Uluru – to check-in to the campgrounds and buy some snacks & wine for dinner. As it was a Saturday, the campground was completely booked, they offered us the overflow parking lot for only AUD$10. As we were planning to sleep in the car again, we were keen for the surprise discount, and felt better about shelling out AUD$30 for a bottle of sparkling wine (at least is was good quality).

Car picnic! Keeping it classy in the Outback

Day 45: The Outback – Day 2, West MacDonnell Ranges & Mereenie Loop

We woke up pretty tired, as we have a bit of a rough night camping. First of all, Lindsay insisted on buying the 2-person tent the day before, rather than spending an extra AUD$15 for a 3-person tent: big mistake. While the dimensions on the box were accurate in the sense that the air mattress fit while deflated, once inflated our heads and feet didn’t fit inside the tent without hitting the sides of the tent without getting soaked in condensation. Oops. There also seemed to be a movie marathon going on in the staff quarters, which made it hard to fall asleep at the early hour of 8:30PM.

Oh well, it’s a new day, with more things to see! The rest of the Red Center Way drive through the MacDonnell Ranges had recommended stops about every 30min, which kept us very busy all morning.

Driving into the Red Center – unforgiving terrain, as we saw from the multitude of broken & rusting vehicles on the side of the road. We brought 5 gallons of water as a precaution.

 

First stop of the day: Ellery Creek Big Hole. A great spot for swimming in the heat of the day, but the desert was still freezing when we stopped by, so no dip for us.

 

Next stop: Serpentine Gorge. A steep climb lead to a view of a few puddles at the bottom of a deep gorge – guess you can’t be picky about your water sources in the desert.

 

View from the top of Serpentine Gorge

Igor found another dead tree at the top of the gorge to admire

Further down the road, our next attraction is the Ochre Pits – multicolored rock walls that the Aboriginal people used to create body paint for traditional ceremonies

 

Exploring the Ochre Pits for a few minutes until the bush flies chased us away

A water-filled oasis at Ormiston Gorge

 

The day was heating up fast! The water is actually freezing, but will look pretty tempting by the afternoon.

Running out of gas is really dangerous in the Outback, so we were adamant that we would fill up every opportunity possible. We made an obligatory stop at the Glen Helen Resort, which had one circa 1970s gas pump (the last for 200+KM), and purchased our permit for the Mereenie Loop road, which crosses Aboriginal land.

The lone gas pump at Glen Helen

 

Heading out into the wilderness – nothing but snakes waiting for us!

 

Last rest stop on paved road – the Gosses Bluff Crater, created by an asteroid impact 150 million years ago

For anyone interested in driving the Mereenie Loop to Kings Canyon, 4WD is a MUST – the majority of the is not paved, and the “gravel” road is not maintained at all. We literally passed a muffler on the of the road, which must have fallen out of someone’s car due to the extreme rattling. There is only one rest stop along the entire 100KM track, which we couldn’t enjoy due toll the bush flies. If we could do it again, we wouldn’t bother going out of our way for the Mereenie Loop. The only wildlife we saw were horses, a well-endowed donkey, and a few kipara (bush turkeys).

Igor made me pull over to take a picture of the donkey’s schlong. That’s what I get for travelling with a boy.

 

The Mereenie Loop: 100KM of bumpy dirt road – 4×4 is a must

So happy to reach the end of the loop, and paved roads at King’s Canyon

We also had a very upsetting experience once we got off the Mereenie Loop back on to paved road. After hours of zero wildlife, and gleeful that we could once again drive at 110KMPH, we relaxed a bit too much and didn’t notice two kipara eating some bush melons on the side of the road. One of the startled kipara flew into the road as we drove by and got clipped by our rear view mirror – our first (and hopefully last) roadkill. Luckily the bird was too small to damage the car, but it left Lindsay shaken up, and drove poor animal-loving Igor into a sad depression.

 

The delicious bush-melon & our Rav4 – the downfall of the poor bush-turkey

Once we got to Kings Canyon, we checked-in to the camp ground and decided to simply inflate our mattress in the back of the SUV and sleep in the car. Good thing too, because dingos and wild dogs were roaming all over the campground (We can totally see how the infamous case of Azaria Chamberlain happened – who in their right mind would leave a baby laying around when wild dogs are bold enough to steal food out of the back hatch of people’s car? Common sense, people). We tried to enjoy the sunset over King’s Canyon, but once again the bushflies chased us away.

Wild dogs & dingos in the area! Lock up your food & babies!

 

A large gathering for the King’s Canyon sunset – but Lindsay couldn’t handle the flies

 

We snapped a picture as quickly as we could, and ran away from the flies

For dinner, we found out the resort next door had just reopened their restaurant, Carmichaels, which had kangaroos & camel on the menu. Unfortunately, the opening wasn’t running that smoothly yet, and the camel was unavailable (probably a good thing) – still tasty food though. We raised a somber glass to the passing of the poor kipara (who we have now named “Dodo”).

 

A wake for Dodo – the Australian Bustard (AKA bush-turkey)

Before heading to bed, we returned to the sunset viewing platform (now bushfly-free), to enjoy the starry sky in solitude.

 

Finding peace in the Outback

Day 44: The Outback – Day 1, West MacDonnell Ranges

The Outback: the quintessential Aussie frontier, where you can drive for days without seeing another soul, a desert so massive and empty that one could set off an atomic bomb and no one would notice for years. We’ve been looking forward to our exploration of the Real Australia for weeks! We flew into Alice Springs and picked up our 4WD rental car and planned our route. While we were originally planning to copy the itinerary of the various camping tours in the area, Igor convinced Lindsay we had enough time to explore the MacDonnell Ranges and get to Kings Canyon via the Mereenie Loop if we left Alice Springs that afternoon. After inquiring about rental camping gear at the Alice Springs Info Center without any luck, one tour operator suggested we buy something cheap at K-Mart – brilliant idea! AUD$90 later we were fully equipped for our Outback Adventure.

Cheapy, cheap – that’s how we roll, baby! Igor even sprang for two $1 plastic wine glasses.

First stop along the route was Simpson Gap – a short walk to a pretty gorge.

Walk to Simpson’s Gap

Very picturesque in the afternoon light – there was even a group of art students painting the scenery

The sun was starting to set, so we decided to make camp at the next stop – Standley Chasm, which is aboriginal owned and operated. Admission to the chasm is around AUD$10pp, and camping is AUD$18.50pp, so it made sense to just stay the night sine we wanted to see the chasm anyways. After setting up our tent & mattress, we hit the trail to check out the chasm before it got dark.

Standley Chasm is one of the many scenic stops along the 12-20 day Larapinta Trail

Our view was very shady – the best time to view the chasm is at midday when the sun is shining directly down the chasm – it makes the walls glow!

We had a sober picnic dinner in the camp dining area as we had forgotten to buy wine in Alice Springs, and we learned that the majority of the Outback is dry! Tip to anyone making the trip: stock up in Alice, as the only places to buy booze will be resorts and wayside inns (which will charge a premium) – although even if we had remembered to buy wine, it would have been disrespectful to drink it on Aboriginal land, so it all worked out for the best that night.

A meal without wine?! The hardship of the desert!

Once the sun went down, we had our first real glimpse of the unpolluted night sky! We had a waxing half-moon, but the Milky Way was still incredibly vibrant. We started experimenting with our camera settings and discovered that if we set it on the ground with a 10sec timer, the shutter would stay open long enough to capture amazing shots of the starry sky! Desert MAGIC.

All the stars are just for us.

Day 43: Chateau Tanunda, Barossa Valley

After a good night’s rest, Lindsay woke up refreshed and ready for some wine! We headed up to the Barossa Valley to visit one winery – a winery that Lindsay was very familiar with from her former job at Banfi – Chateau Tanunda!

Reading the brochures, watching the PowerPoint & videos, even tasting a fair number of the wines, cannot compare with visiting the Chateau in person. The property is absolutely gorgeous – at one time the largest building in South Australia! – with perfect, manicured gardens (apparently they do weddings) and large cricket pitch. Crazy to think at one point, the Chateau was in danger of being torn down before the Geber Family purchased it in the 1980s – it’s truly a regional landmark.

 

The Chateau!

But enough about the building – we really came here to taste some stellar Australian wines! Sadly, the sparkling wines from Chateau Tanunda are not imported to the USA (blame our silly taxation laws – it prevents a lot of beautiful bubbles from being imported), so Lindsay & Igor were super excited to get a glass each to sip during our VIP tour of the winery.

Bubbles, bubbles, bubbles! I’ll take all the bubbles please.

After the tour, Lindsay & Igor continued tasting through every open bottle of wine that has yet to make it stateside. (In addition to the classic Barossa Shiraz, Cabernet Sauvignon & Riesling available in the USA, Chateau Tanunda has some lovely small production reds and whites from more esoteric varietals: Old Vine Semillon, a “Three Graces” Rhone-style blend of Viognier, Marsanne & Roussanne, plus “the good stuff” including their Everest range which is the pinnacle of their collection.) Once again remembering smart tasting practices, we ordered a cheese plate to accompany our wine tasting.

Touring the winery with bubbles in hand – checking out the former cement tanks which have been converted into tasting rooms

 

So many delicious wines to taste – a bit of cheese gives us the strength to taste more!

By a stroke of luck, Michelle Geber happened to be in town when we were at the Chateau, so we were able to catch up during her wee lunch break (as the General Manager for the company, she is a busy lady!). We had so much to catch up on, the time just flew by – we wish we had another night in the area, maybe we would have remembered to take a group photo.

After a full afternoon at the winery, we headed up to Adelaide for the night. We had time for one last sight-seeing stop – the “Whispering Wall” – a curved dam at the Barossa Reservoir with acoustics so amazing, you can literally hear what someone is whispering from 140m away. Igor was convinced they were just using speakers.

Cloudy view of the Barossa from Mengler Hill & Igor walking 140m to the other side of the Whispering Wall

Once we got into the city, we checked into our hotel and wandered the streets for take away to enjoy with a bottle of Chateau Tanunda bubbly – cheers!

Mexican? Chinese? Everything pairs with bubbles!

Day 42: Escape from Kangaroo Island / Fleurieu Peninsula

While the weather wasn’t perfect, it was good enough for our ferry to run. Since we had most of the morning free before we had to head off, we drove around in an attempt to explore the other conservation parks on Kangaroo Island. Unfortunately, the two closest to Penneshaw didn’t appear to have any walking trails, so we returned to town for some warn scones and muffin as a consolation.

 

A promising sunrise! Enjoying a warm muffin with cream, recommended by Inna from her stay in KI!

 

Scones & jam – a delightful brekky!

We boarded the packed ferry (bypassing a long line of cars, hoping for a no-show spot to open up!), and enjoyed a very rocky trip back to the mainland. Since our accommodations for the night were south of Adelaide, we decided to take it easy, and explore the Fleurieu Peninsula. The only park on the map was Deep Creek Conservation Park, so we decided to check it out. The signposts in the park pointed toward “Blowhole Beach”, which sounded promising, so we drove out, only to find the final 3KM of the road was 4WD only. We calculated that a 3KM walk should only take about 30 minutes, so we parked the car on the side of the road and continued on foot.

Back on mainland Australia – where there are still plenty of kangaroos

Igor has a bit of a fetish for dead trees – there were lots for him to photograph in Deep Cove

I”t’s only 3KM to the beach, let’s walk it!,” says Lindsay

OMG it’s so steep – bad idea bear to walk

 

There’s the beach – but no blowhole! I want to lodge a complaint!!

Unfortunately, by the time we arrived at the Port Willunga RV Park to check into our “wooden tent”, Lindsay was feeling really ill due to some belated sea-sickness from the ferry. Poor Igor had to enjoy the sunset by himself. Too bad, because the wooden tent was actually a really cool little “hotel room”!

Getting late, time to head for our hotel for the night

Sunset from our wooden tent

Day 41: Kangaroo Island – Part II

The morning was rainy, rainy, rainy. We asked for a late check-out, as the weather was too stormy to go sight-seeing anyways. The manager at reception said there was no problem with a late check-out, and by the way, did I know that ALL THE FERRIES HAVE BEEN CANCELLED? We got on the phone with the ferry to rebook for the next day – while the 5:30AM was available, the agent warned us there was a good chance that one would be cancelled too if the winds didn’t dip below 40KM/H, 11AM had two spots left so we decided to play it safe. The ferry operator also found us a new hotel for the night (the YHA Hostel in Penneshaw – 50% discount off their ensuite family room – score!), and our accommodations on the mainland had no problem rescheduling our reservation by one day without charge, so all-in-all the whole thing was a minor inconvenience. Luckily we had a buffer day scheduled in Adelaide (on purpose this time!), so we still had time for visiting the Barossa before our flight to the Red Centre.

So much rain. Why even get out of bed?

We spent the rest of our second afternoon on Kangaroo Island driving around, hoping for a break in the rain. We drove out to Stokes Bay to try and visit a rare-breed animal farm, but the downpour and ginormous waves chased us away.

 

Driving up to Stokes Bay – look at those waves! That’s one walking trail we will definitely skip. 

As we got closer to Penneshaw, the clouds started to lift, so we braved the dirt roads to visit Clifford’s Honey Farm and the Emu Hills Eucalyptus Distillery, where we picked up a bottle of KI bubbles for dinner.

Weather starting to clear up as we head inland

Some interesting sights made us pull off the road: an echidna and a really odd art installation in an empty field

 

A herd of baby llamas grazing just outside Clifford’s Honey Farm

This place got us really interested in bee-keeping when we get back to the US – the farmers here move their bee houses around the island when differ flowers are blooming in order to get different flavors of honey. The hives in KI are the last “pure” breeds of Ligurian Bees in the world, since the wilds bees in Italy have been cross-breeding with other types of bees.

 

Emu Ridge Eucalyptus Distillery (with a resident emu!) – if you want to see the place in production, you have to come in the summer. We still got to watch an informational video, tho.

While the weather still looked to be clearing up as we headed for Penneshaw, we passed warning signs for a storm surge. We arrived at our hostel just before sunset, and grabbed some groceries before running down to the shore to join a nighttime penguin tour. Our tour guide informed us that it wasn’t the best time of year, type of tide, or type of weather to see Little Penguins, but we would go on the “hunt” nonetheless. After walking quietly in the dark for about an hour, we finally saw one penguin standing outside his nest! Our tour guide was so excited to finally see one, she offered to take the group out again to try and find some more – and we did glimpse about 4 more, but they were too quick for a picture.

 

“Hunting” for the Little Penguin – he finally made an appearance just before we gave up!

Feeling satisfied with our unplanned evening in Kangaroos Island, we headed back to the hostel to cook up some homemade Indian food, and enjoy a bottle of bubbles and quality Aussie TV.

Igor raising a glass to Lindsay’s mad cooking skillz in a hostel kitchen

Kicking back in front of the telly with a glass of bubbles – this show had us in stitches: imagine a televised version of NPR’s “Wait Wait Don’t Tell Me” – hilarious!

Day 40: Kangaroo Island – Part I, Finders Chase National Park

We tip-toed out of the hostel as quietly as we could at 7AM in order to make our 9AM ferry at Cape Jervis. Once we were safely checked in to the ferry queue, we had a quick brekky in the car and then boarded the ferry to Kangaroo Island. As we checked in, however, we were warned that a storm was expected the next day, and there was a good chance our return ferry would be cancelled. We decided to risk it – surely they were just being overly cautious, right?

Wise advice from SA safety as we board the ferry to KI

The weather was a bit rainy and windy, but the crossing along the “Backstairs Passage” was relatively gentle. When we landed in Kangaroo Island, the rain was coming down pretty hard, but the forecast promised a break in the weather in the afternoon, so we made our way to the opposite end of the island, to Finder’s Chase National Park. The timing couldn’t be better – the weather cleared up just as we reached Admirals Arch and the Remarkable Rocks.

 

Flinder’s Chase National Park – first stop: the Remarkable Rocks!

These rocks are REMARKABLE

Lindsay has dragged Igor to a lot of rocks on this trip, but even he admits these are cool!

We were like little kids, running around and climbing the rocks! Really fun, and really beautiful spot – it totally lived up to the name.

Admiral’s Arch – where a colony of New Zealand Fur Seals lives

We took advantage of the sunny spell to in get some short hikes as well – first a walk along the Weirs Cove Hike from the Cape Du Couedic Lighthouse to the old store house ruins for a bit of KI history, then we went hunting for wildlife along the platypus path. Unfortunately, the platypuses (platypi?) were not in a social mood, but we did see some more Cape Barren Geese, lazy koalas and grazing kangaroos.

A dramatic view of the Cape du Couedic Lighthouse

Igor admires the lighthouse, and checks to see if it is open (nope)

Hiking along the Weirs Cove Path

Ruins of the old store house for the families who maintained the lighthouse  

Three families lived here to keep the lighthouse running – there was no road to the lighthouse until 1940 – talk about remote!

The weather turning for the better in the park – time to look for some animals!

Searching for the platypus, without any luck. Boo.

At least we found more koalas and Cape Barren Geese

And kangaroos – never a shortage of Kangaroos here!

We headed back to Kingscote (ah hour & a half drive) just before sunset, and suddenly realized we had made two terrible mistakes: first is that it is incredibly dangerous to drive on Kangaroo Island after dark. The name of the island is quite appropriate, as the place is teeming with rather large kangaroos and wallabies – who all seem to decide that dusk is the best time of day to hop across the street! We counted 17 kangaroos/wallabies jump in front of our tiny Toyota Camry (plus 16 possums). We drove 20KM/H below the speed limit, in an attempt to give ourselves braking time. The second terrible mistake we made was not realizing our car rental agreement specifically forbade us from taking our car to Kangaroo island (for reasons obvious to us now)! I share this with you all, now that we have safely returned the car to Avis, without a scratch. Anyone visiting Kangaroo Island – be forewarned and double check your rental agreement!

Day 39: The Limestone Coast

After a HUGE delicious brekky, Stephanie and Craig gave us detailed directions for our trip along the Limestone Coast. We bade a fond farewell to the Victoria House and hit the road.

 

A big brekky by the garden – we are ready to face the day!

Highly recommended for anyone driving the GOR – Victoria House B&B

First stop was Mount Gambier – a little town with two big volcanic craters, both filled with lakes. One of the craters had a small wildlife area were we went looking for koalas – we found them high in the trees, sleeping. We have come to the conclusion that koalas are boring, and entertained ourselves with the local birds instead. The Swamp Hens were very friendly (especially when you feed them pretzels), and the Cape Barren Geese are very feisty (especially when you flap your jacket at them – apparently that is a sign of aggression that they will respond to!).

Blue Lake in Mount Gambier

 

Hanging out with the Swamp Hens on the shores of Valley Lake – inside a crater

Igor being friendly, and then not so friendly, with the Cape Barren Geese

While Mount Gambier has a bunch of caves, we were still a bit caved-out from New Zealand, so we decided pass. Our final stop before hitting the road again was the Umpherston Sinkhole. Not as big as the one we missed in New Zealand, but it had a very pretty garden at the bottom.

 

Such a pretty garden – lovely use of a sinkhole.

We stopped for lunch on the beach in Robe – another quaint village, similar to Port Fairy – and took a quick walk to view their distinctive lighthouse.

Admiring the lighthouse in Robe

 

A mini-London Bridge! The sea is getting stormy – time to hit the road.

The final stretch of the Limestone Coast was the Princes Highway through Coorong National Park – a 130km road of nothingness, with a lonely little gas station halfway through.

A long, long, long stretch of road on the Limestone Coast

The huge lagoon of Coorong National Park

Salty beach in Coorong National Park – reminded us of the lagunas in the Atacama Desert

Once we reached the Fleurieu Peninsula, we hopped a short ferry at Wellington, and arrived at the Port Elliot YHA – a gorgeous beach house that had recently been renovated into a stylish hostel. While Port Elliot doesn’t have many dining options open for dinner, we ordered the Mushroom Madness pizza from the Cockles Café – one of the best pizzas we’ve ever had! Great ending to the day.

Catching the free ferry in Wellington, SA

This pizza was stupid good.

Day 38: The Great Ocean Road – Part II

Today was jam-packed with stops, so we were on the road by 7AM to make the most of the daylight. First stop was a bush walk at Maits Rest.

A misty morning walk in Mait’s Rest

Next stop was another animal attraction: The Great Ocean Road ECO Wildlife Park. No one had recommended this and we can’t imagine why – it was awesome! The owner, Steve, is living our dream: fed up with life in the city (Melbourne in his case) and wanting a more wholesome environment for his kids, he started a farm / animal park about 7 years ago and has a goal of being completely self-sustaining within the next 5. He has a petting area with the usual suspects: kangaroos, emu, deer & alpacas – but for an extra $5pp you get a special interaction…WITH DINGOS.

A regal peacock greets us at the entrance to the Great Ocean Road Wildlife Park – we will never be too old for petting zoos!

Spending time with lazy & itchy kangaroos!

This greedy red deer kept following me around, and eventually took my entire bag of feed out of my hand and ate it in one gulp!

Igor is a sucker for a pretty face – this llama is gorgeous!

 

Falling in love with emus – these giant birds are like little dinosaurs!

 

DINGOS! They are so sweet – they just want love & attention

This fellow is awesome – he marched right up to me and sat in my lap!

The morning flew by at the animal park, so after a quick PB&J lunch (boy do we miss the RV!) we had to get back on the road to visit the most iconic attraction of the GOR – the Twelve Apostles (Marketing again – turns out there are only 9. They used to be called “The Sow and Piglets” but that wasn’t drawing enough visitors), as well as the other rock formations along the coast.

 

Igor is disappointed in the quality of the cuisine – but the warning signs at our next attraction seem to promise something exciting!

The Twelve Apostles

London Bridge

The closest we’ll get to “London Bridge” during this trip

Loch Ard Gorge

After all the rocks, we were in the mood to see some more animals! This time we visited the Tower Hill Animal Sanctuary for more kangaroos, wallabies & emus, this time in their natural habitat.

Tower Hill Animal Sanctuary

More emus! Jut chillin’ by the side of the road – you can’t miss them!

A short walk along the path, and we run into a wallaby!

More kangaroos – best of all was mummy kangaroo with a little joey!

After all the wild life, we hike to the top of Tower Hill

View from the top of Tower Hill

As the sun was starting to set, we made a quick stop to the quaint seaside town of Port Fairy to check out the historic wharf & lighthouse before finishing the day at the Victoria House Bed & Breakfast in Portland.

Igor taking aim at the Port Fairy Lighthouse! Run for cover – argh!

Port Fairy Lighthouse

Sunset in Port Fairy

Our hosts, Stephanie & Craig, were incredibly welcoming and set us up in the Honeymoon Suite (no joke)! Stephanie recommended Lemongrass Thai for dinner, where we could bring our BYO sparkling. After dinner and a hot shower, we settled into the living room to enjoy a sherry nightcap by the fire.

Dinner out at Lemon Grass Thai

Our room at the Victoria House B&B – the Honeymoon Suite

Writing emails by the fire, with a glass of sherry – good evening!

Day 37: The Great Ocean Road – Part I

We knocked on Mama & Bo’s door at 5AM for a quick goodbye hug – Igor & Lindsay are now officially on our own! We flew into the regional Avalon airport outside Melbourne, only to find out that Lindsay accidentally reserved our rental car at the main Melbourne airport – oops! Luckily we hadn’t prepaid, so after confirming there was no fee to cancel, we booked the last car in Avalon and headed out for the Great Ocean Road!

Since Igor’s favorite type of attraction is animals, our first stop was in Angelsea. The local golf course has always had a herd of kangaroos that live on the course (helping to keep the grass short!) – after years of people trespassing to take pictures, they finally started running little tours via golf cart. It was a little hokey, but a very cute stop.

 

Kangaroo tour at the Angelsea Golf Course

Good life for the kangaroos!

So far we have learned that kangaroos like vineyards & golf

We continued West along the coast, stopping whenever we had the interest: Spit PointLighthouse, a fantastic view of the road at Teddy’s Lookout, and our first sighting of koalas at Kenneth River! We could see a group of about a dozen tourists standing under some eucalyptus trees & pointing up, so we pulled off the road to see what the commotion was about. Sure enough – three koalas were eating/sleeping high in the branches.

 

View of the Spit Point Lighthouse

Trip for our first Aussie road trip, on the Great Ocean Road

Short detour to Teddy’s Lookout

Panorama of the GOR from Teddy’s Lookout – totally worth a stop!

Koalas in the trees at Kenneth River!

While that was nice to check off our list, the best part about Kenneth River was the large number of cockatoos, who were very unafraid of tourists! One of the tourist groups had been told to bring biscuits to feed the cockatoos out of your hands – boy did that work! The groups was very friendly, and offered everyone standing around a biscuit as well – there was no shortage of birds, so everyone got a picture of themselves with the wildlife.

 

Lindsay with wild cockatoos

 

Igor with wild cockatoos

 

ALL THE WILD COCKAOOS

Looking at the time, we decided we had just enough time for one more attraction before sundown, so we booked it to the Otway Lighthouse just in time for a quick climb to the top. While the lighthouse complex closed at 5PM, the lighthouse guide told us we could let ourselves out via turnstile whenever we liked, so we stayed around after everyone left the park to watch the sunset in peace.

Tour of the Otway Lighthouse

Enjoying the sunset in peace