The past 5 days have been nothing short of a whirlwind. I'll try and condense it for an enjoyable read and share some of the knowledge I've learned along the way (some tidbits are more useful than others).
Our first trip was down the Great Ocean Road, a coastal road south of Melbourne. We went with a tour guide named Todd who owns Ride Tours - it was a fantastic tour and he was hilarious.
Ali getting ready for our adventure.
Our first stop was Logan's beach for whale watching. Sadly, there were no whales for us to see.
Our next stop was at Tower Hill State Game Reserve for lunch in a crater. There was hardly people around, but plenty of animals.
There are wild emus, kangaroos, koalas, and echidnas all around. We ate lunch with these emus. They were harmless but certainly interested in our lunch.
What's this little guy next to the bus? It's a kangaroo just hanging out!
We were told there was a koala near by so we went looking. Turns out he was eye-level in a tree on the path - fantastic photo opportunity. Now I know all of you are wondering if I pet it, picked it up, or carried it home. Absolutely no to all of the above. This koala is in the wild and not just a pet to pick up and carry around. They have exceptionally sharp claws and have been known to do some damage when provoked. I just enjoyed watching him eat and then fall asleep. Because I won't be paying to hold any koalas in the zoo, I think this counts as the first goal on the list. I also count that kangaroo above as number 18.
Here's a cool video showing how close we were. Also, this is when we learned one of those fun tid-bits I mentioned. As Todd, our tour guide, put it "koalas eat shit for the first 12 months." Essentially, baby koalas don't eat leaves until about 1 year of age. Until then, they rely on their mother's milk and, well, poop for obtaining nutrients. Lovely.
We then headed up the coast. The coast down there is all limestone and eroding quickly. As you will see in future pictures, it is very dangerous to go near the edge of the cliff as large (and I mean LARGE) sections fall off all the time.
Oh yea, it was FREEZING for much of our trip. We're talking in the 40s and really really windy.
Don't believe me?Take a look at this video.
That night we stayed in a hostel in Port Campbell. There were 10 beds and 5 of us but Ali and I jumped at the opportunity to sleep on a top bunk again.
The next day, we made more stops along the coast. Sometimes we could go down to the beach.
These signs were everywhere. Basically, you are quite likely to fall off if you step out onto the ledge.
Our trip then took a turn inland and we visited a rain forest. As cold as I had been I could not wait for a rain forest Turns out, it was a cool temperate rain forest and actually got COLDER as we went in deeper. It was still quite lush and beautiful. There were many of these Mountain Ash trees. They are the largest flowering trees in the world, second largest overall after the Redwoods (which I have seen as well!). The hollowing of the tree is actually a sign of its decay, they rot from the inside out.
We then made it to the 'original great ocean road' and the limestone rock gave way to these amazing rolling green hills. Fun fact - the Great Ocean Road was constructed by Australian servicemen after WWI. They essentially created it by hand and it took them almost 13 years!
From the bus we spotted a few more koalas - see her baby?
The ride also included several rainbows. The first one was cool, the first double rainbow was also cool, the third through fifth were less cool.
Still cool enough to take a picture.
Then, we saw a few more kangaroos just hanging out. Guess where they were...
On the golf course! Apparently these kangaroos got pushed out of their natural habit by brush fires a few years back and have been on the golf course ever since. Makes for an interesting game I'm sure.
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