Picking up after the koala sightings, we continued our drive with spectacular scenery, finishing up the day on our own private beach. Sunset, wine, and reading. What better way to end to a day?
The next day was geared up to be the highlight of the drive per our guide LP (Lonely Planet for you non-travelers). Port Campbell National Park is chock-a-block full with rock formations the most famous of which is the Twelve Apostles the second is London Bridge. There was also a blow-hole cave the Noah found quite disappointing.
We finished up the Great Ocean Road that day and slept in the quiet town of Port Fairy. We then headed inland to Tower Hill Reserve, where we heard was a good place to spot kangaroos. The park seemed to be pretty full of emus, but no kangaroos were found on either of the two hikes we did, although we did spot a koala in the parking lot. As we drove out of the park we joked that we would probably be more likely to hit a kangaroo with our car than spot one in the open. JUST then a kangaroo came leaping down the slope and jumped right in front of our car! Unfortunately my reflexes were slow so no picture, but luckily Noah's reflexes were not, so the kangaroo was unharmed.
Here is a picture of the second (and third) kangaroos we spotted inland at the Grampians National Park the next day. Of course they were spotted chilling out at the visitor center :)
At the Grampians we did a 10k hike to get to the top of one of the mountains. It did not disappoint, both on the way up, and the great views from the top. Although I did worry about Noah's proximity to the cliff edge...
After all that hiking, we were a bit tired the rest of the day, so we drove around checking out the look-outs and doing another short hike to McKenzie Waterfalls. We were concerned that there would be barely a trickle since all the streams we had passed were dry, but as we drove up, we could hear the water flow from the nearby Broken Falls. A good sign.
After a yummy breakfast the next morning, we were on our way back to Melbourne to catch our flight to Chrsitchurch. We were a little sad to part with our campervan, mostly because it meant back to 8-bed dorms for a few more nights.
That camper van looks like a pretty sweet setup!
ReplyDeleteIt was really sweet. We had a super comfortable bed in there with curtains on all the windows (including between the drivers seat area) so we could sleep in a bit. We also had a two burner stove and a sink! I kind of miss our van, especially on days when we are sharing a dorm with 8 other people!
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