Up early again, ready to explore!
Cockatoo in flight
Woke at 5.30am & rushed out to get the nature cam bringing it back to the camper with anticipation... on viewing the 3 stills that it had captured in the night, it appeared that Mr or Mrs Wombat had indeed paid a visit but unfortunately had practically sat on top of the camera so that only a fuzzy blob of fur and a few whiskers were visible
Wombat whiskers!
Breakfast with the ducks :)
Had breakfast with the ducks but someone else must've smelt it too...
This ant was an inch long - made yesterday's look tiny!
Walkabout near Tidal River on Wilsons Promontary
Words really can't describe how breathtakingly beautiful this place is but if I ever had a vision in my mind of Paradise or the Garden of Eden this would be as close as it gets. As it's name describes, Tidal River campsite is right next to the river which has its own stunning beach leading to a larger beach of soft sand where it meets the Bass Straight between Australia & Tasmania.
The reserve of Wilsons Promontary is vast and has many different sites and walks spread out within the peninsula but at no point does it seem crowded, in fact it's just the opposite, in places you feel like you're the only person around for miles.
the Climate here is cooler than most other parts of Australia due to its location (although the temperature can hit 30c at its peak) but it's actually quite refreshing to escape the scorching summer temperatures found in other parts of this huge country.
The walk we did was 5km & although not easy if you aren't used to walking as there were steep & slippy paths, it was note extreme & offered stunning vistas round every corner. The only negative was the large number of flies constantly in your face but as long as you just accept it and see the funny side it's fine & when the breeze picked up they went away (for a short while!)
I have taken lots of photos from our walkabout & hope you enjoy looking at them as much as I enjoyed taking them :)
When we set off it was cool but I think Lee wished he'd worn his shorts by the end!
Wombat burrow on the way down to the river
The river beach where the nearby trees are filled with squawking cockatoos and other birds!
River beach
Panorama where the river meets the Bass Strait
Where the river meets the Bass Strait
Cockatoos!
The Tidal river
Beautiful wetlands
Happy man!
View up the river
Us!
Moi!
Footbridge over the river
Fly path!
Wombat territory :)
Hill views
Smiling through the flies!
Interesting trees :)
A cool spot!
What a beauty :)
Time to say goodby to Wilsons Prom and move on with our journey, the place names are keeping us amused on the way, picturing how they came by them :) There are so many memorable ones that I've missed here because they flew past so quickly but their names include Black Spider Creek, Fat Cow Creek, Poor Old Man The Creek.. brilliant!
Creeks!
Such a dramatic change of scenery again, this could almost be England (in summer!)
Driving!
Melbourne traffic
I did it!
The reason I've been quiet for a while is that basically we've been driving since we left Wilsons Prom to try & make a bit of time. We took it in turns and it just so happened that my turn coincided with driving through the middle of Melbourne which to be honest filled me with a slight feeling of horror but with Lees excellent navigation skills I sailed through incident free :) The city is absolutely HUGE, I had no idea of the scale as when I think of Melbourne I think of the shady suburb in 'Neighbours' and didn't really give much thought to the city itself :)
No Ramsey Street!
Escaping the city!
Having survived the perils of a huge foreign city driving experience, it was a relief to get out the other end and back on the quieter roads especially as about 10 miles out of Melbourne the Great Ocean Road starts, & this was one of the main things we were looking forward to experiencing! Time was moving on but we managed to find a pull in next to the beach just as the sun was setting and it was stunning :)
A bit of selfie beach posing has to be done!
There was one cloud on the horizon though; the question of where to stay, as contrary to our romantic vision and the general consensus of a few, you cannot just pull over in any side road/gateway/lay by for the night, you need to book into an official park preferably in advance or drop by a site and just park up and wait until morning to pay. Unfortunately by 9.30pm the places I phoned or we called in at were either unavailable or had barriers up into the park :( The only choice was to keep driving until we found somewhere.
I think if we were up on the north coast or even north of the east or west coast, finding a quiet spot to park for the night wouldn't be a problem but down south its much more popular and they are very savvy about making money which is fair enough I suppose, but a bit disappointing :(
This is the first time either of us have driven in the dark and it is slightly unnerving as due to most of them being active at night, there is a high possibility in Oz that an animal could decide to throw itself under our wheels, so the least driving we do in the dark the better! Luckily after another half an hours driving and a few more snatched shots out of the window, we came across a beachside park with no barrier, so in minutes we were parked up chilling with a cuppa & a glass of red!
Looking forward to tomorrow's Great Ocean Road experience :)
Last shot of the night :)
