KOALAS AT KENNETT RIVER

Cute as a Button



The leaves always look greener on the next tree




Well there you have it – koalas at Kennett River. This is an absolute haven for wild-life. Every so often we find a place which really strikes a chord with us and which we really wish to share with everyone. This is one of those places. We would recommend it to anyone, so long as you don’t expect plush surroundings. The camp is, admittedly, a little rustic, but well worth the effort. Before I wax lyrical about this place though, first, to other issues; Due partly to the type of road we are dealing with, and due in part too, to how much we like this place, we have extended our stay here until Wednesday 13th at which time we will hitch up and drive directly to Werribee. We will stay at Werribee until boarding the ferry on the 17th. We won’t drag the van along the remainder of the Ocean Road, but instead leave it at Lorne and head up through Winchelsea.

Beautiful old building at Queenscliff

Yesterday we took a big long drive to the end of The Great Ocean Road to make sure we had a good look at everything along the way. So much easier for DD when he isn’t towing the van! Even without the van behind us tho’ the road is still pretty scary. The road continued to hug the coastline along very precarious and high roads clinging to the cliff sides up to Lorne where it eased off and ran alongside the beach for a while. We drove through Lorne, Aireys Inlet, Anglesea, Torquay, Barwon Heads and out to the historic town of Queenscliff. It was all very pretty and we were blown away by the number of Victorians who come out to play on weekends. Despite fairly average weather by WA standards, the beaches were packed. All the little towns we passed were well populated by folk sitting in cafes, strolling the streets and playing in the parks. The world and his mate all seemed to be out on The Great Ocean Road, many on motorbikes and almost as many again in jazzy little sports cars. It was interesting to see that it seemed the majority of the sports car drivers were young women. In addition to this, there were copious numbers of Lycra clad cyclists risking their very lives along with a number of joggers and walkers all joining the throngs of adrenalin junkies along the Drive. Speaking of adrenalin junkies, the waves were liberally decorated with surfers. We drove down to Bells Beach but the waves there were not happening. Other spots along the way had some reasonable waves tho’ and they were certainly being enjoyed by the masses.

Surf Carnival along the way



Hotels and cafes at Lorne


The traffic along the way made us very glad indeed we didn’t have the van behind us. Mind you, we didn’t see anyone taking any undue risks and most people seemed to be doing the right thing. There were just so many people. After being out of the mainstream of things for the last couple of months it was all a bit of a culture shock for us.

Another beautiful old lady at Queenscliff

I think we have been so spoiled for beauty, most of what we saw yesterday seemed a bit commonplace. The little towns were very pretty and we would have happily settled in most of them I guess, but it did all seem a bit ho hum. As I said, we have been spoiled of late.

My little shoot and click camera has died, and whilst DD has assured me I will get new one before we embark for Tasmania, he has pushed me to learn how to use his much more sophisticated beast. After some hesitation on my part, due largely to the size of his camera (makes my hands and wrists sore) and just good old resistance to something new, I did start to use his camera. This meant that all the way back from Queenscliff, when we had the ocean on the left hand side of the car, yours truly, the one that is not comfortable with heights, was head out of the car along the preci-pusses – camera strapped around neck, door firmly locked, and click-happy all the way home. DD is one of those people, who won’t leave well enough alone. He had me outside this morning too, practising with different lenses. All well and good, but it interrupts my doing very littleness. Anyway, what I am getting around to is that the quality of the photos may just suffer a bit while I learn the proverbial ropes.

Head out of the window

Car door securely locked

Now, back to Kennett River – roughly half way between Apollo Bay and Lorne right on the Great Ocean Road. The down side is that the water pressure here is almost non- existent and the water is drawn from the Kennett River. We were warned by fellow campers of the dubious quality, despite the fact there is an ultra-violet treatment plant utilised here. The unusually low rainfall this summer has people a little worried. Regardless of that however, we do have our own water on board (from Mt Gambier) and use it for drinking. We cope with the low water pressure for our other needs. Showering in the van is a bit challenging, if I put the high pulse head on the shower I get exactly four jets – believe it or not, it will do. Very good for water conservation! The park is not pet friendly so you cannot come in here with pooches. When you see the number of koalas and parrots in the park the reason is self-evident. The ablution block is OK and there is a small sell-anything shop next to the park.


Western Rosella



Kings making themselves at home

The positives far outweigh the negatives here. Just for a start, the park abounds with koalas. They can be seen in the numerous trees, sleeping in the forks of the gums or on occasion, stretching out to nibble some tender young shoots. One very young koala is so tentative in her movements in the high branches you have your heart in your mouth the whole time she is moving around. These docile and charming creatures come alive at night and you just wouldn’t believe the amazing noises they make. Loud grunts, groans, growls and coughs right outside your window – DD thought they sounded like Bunyips!

We have noticed a great many dead eucalyptus in the vicinity and have been told they are due to too many koalas. It seems the population of some 2000 in this area is just too much for the local flora – they are literally eating themselves out of a home. The same sort of thing happened on Kangaroo Island. There is some talk of ‘doing something’ about it – but just what is a bit vague. The logical thing would seem to be a relocation program to those areas where the koala populations are waning. Just one of the down-sides for the koalas is that they are destroying the canopy and in the process exposing themselves to the heat and destructive rays of the sun. As I mentioned earlier, the rainfall in Victoria generally is well down this year too, this doesn’t help the recovery rate of the trees.

Aside from the koalas, the place is alive with brightly coloured parrots. Blue and Red Western Rosellas combine with bright red and green King Parrots to colour the park. All the parrots love black sunflower seeds, and whilst they are not really very good for them, DD, bless his little cotton socks, bought a bag of these treats. I have walked outside a couple of times with hands full of seeds and have found myself pretty well covered with parrots. They perch on head, shoulder and arms to peck the seeds from your hands. As I am reasonably well endowed, they also find a perch along my ‘front veranda’. They are actually reasonably gentle and so not a real problem. I did have one of them taste two of my fingers yesterday, not in any vicious manner but a definite taste nevertheless. Once she realised they didn’t taste very good, she went back to the seeds.


Pretty little Fairy Wren strutting his stuff



Daisy has moved into our water bowl

The park also has a myriad of fairy wrens, ducks and maggies. There are some very beautiful songbirds here too – not too sure what they are, but their song in the morning is truly beautiful.

The park is part of the Otway ranges and the tall hills slope down onto the shoreline here. I admit to being at a loss to do the beauty here justice, so will once again have to rely on the photos. This time I will show you mainly the beasties and the birdies.

Until next time, let nature be your salve. Steph



Early morning bird seeking the worm



Are You Lookin' at Me Mate?