Australian Road Trip = Awesome Wildlife & Scenery

 

After visiting three cities, we were excited to get out and start exploring. Our road trip began heading east from Melbourne and will continue going west all the way to Adelaide over 11 days. We are covering a lot of ground!

The first highlight was the Penguin Parade at Phillip Island, home to the largest Little Penguin colony in the world. Every night, the Little Penguins come ashore at sunset. Having heard that this was a “can’t be missed experience,” we selected the tour that allowed us to be on the beach with a park ranger to watch the penguins arrive. We got lucky with the weather – it didn’t rain, which was good because it was already plenty cold waiting on the beach. We were equipped with night vision scopes to help us spot the penguins as it got dark. After seeing some 50+ come ashore, we literally walked among them as we returned to the visitor center and they "marched" to their burrows. We had orange tinted flashlights that allowed for a couple of up-close photos. It was an incredible night. The penguins are super cute.

We visited Wilsons Promontory, a national park that is the southern most point of mainland Australia. The near constant rain prevented us from hiking as much as we wanted, but we did complete a wildlife loop where we saw wild kangaroos and emus. After our hike, one wallaby at the side of the road seemed to want to give us directions.

We have enjoyed seeing the various road signs warning drivers about wildlife – we have seen some animals while driving but luckily none have tried to cross in front of our car.

Before starting the Great Ocean Road that begins west of Melbourne we stopped at the McClelland Sculpture Garden, an art gallery with more than 50 outdoor sculptures:

The Great Ocean Road stretches along the Victorian coastline and is incredibly scenic with many opportunities to stop and explore. We saw surfing beaches, rushing rivers, waterfalls, and incredible rock formations. It is stunning, although the rain continued to provide less than ideal conditions.

The “12 Apostles” are rock formations that are beautiful, although there are not 12, nor are they apostles. That’s just good marketing – and it works based on the number of tourists. We thought this zone was very similar to the southern coast of Portugal. And we found the Great Ocean Road to be like the Pacific Coast Highway in California -- just as mesmerizing.

We had an aboriginal guide lead us on a bush walk through Tower Hill Wildlife Reserve, which is set in a volcanic zone. She showed us plants we could eat, found 10 wild koalas among the trees, and taught us a lot about how indigenous people lived, and in some cases still live. It was fascinating. Koalas are tough to spot, so her assistance was crucial. Did you know that when koalas fall out of trees they bounce like a ball? She's seen it happen. Apparently the noises they make while mating are scary sounding.

We also took a hike out to see a seal colony. Photographing wildlife with a phone leaves something to be desired, but hopefully you can see the koala in the tree and the group of fur seals frolicking in the waves.

In Mount Gambier we made stops at the Umpherston Sinkhole, a sunken garden created in 1886 set inside a sinkhole and the Blue Lake, which is set inside a volcanic crater. Both are beautiful.

Over the past 7 nights we’ve stayed in 5 different places. We’re ready to settle in for four nights on Kangaroo Island. It’s time to slow down a bit. Good news -- we finally have encountered the sun and can put the jackets away! 

Ciao,

Shana & Jeff