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?

OH MY GOODNESS

Looking down at the Rain Forrest on the Right Hand



And down across the hills on the Left




Well, it finally happened. On the run from Port Campbell to Kennett River I ran out of superlatives. Over the past 24 hours I must have used the term ‘Oh My Goodness’ at least 100 times. Surely Tassie can’t be any better than this! In fact we have met up with a couple of Victorians along the way who have assured us Victoria is better in many ways. Time, will I guess, tell the story.


Out of the Forrest and along the Ocean



Enough to Drive You Around the Bend!

Once again, I won’t bore you with my rhetoric but let the photos tell the story. In short, we left Port Campbell around 9am yesterday morning, travelling alongside the Apostles until the road left the ocean. Almost imperceptibly we climbed, and very suddenly we found ourselves deep into The Otway National Park and lush rain forest. We soon discovered what all the road warnings had been about as the road twisted, turned, climbed and plummeted amongst the towering trees and fronded tree ferns. It was truly amazing and I really felt for my Daring Douglas as he towed Jezzy on that roller-coaster. He seemed un-fazed and in fact I think he enjoyed the challenge. My ears popped and un-popped constantly as we climbed up and down that range.

Igneous Rock and Stunning Ocean

Looking Down on Top of Gian Tree Ferns

We were very fortunate with the traffic, most of which was going against us, meaning we didn’t have to pull over more than once or twice to allow faster traffic to overtake. We did have one scary moment when a large semi coming the other way decided he wanted more than his share of the road. The road incidentally is only two lanes all the way – almost entirely double white lines. We did encounter some places where the road is delineated with one continuous white line – we have never encountered this before and are not really sure that it means. The powers that be have done quite well placing little ‘pull-outs’ at strategic places. These are just small bays, just barely big enough for us, where the vans and trucks can pull over briefly to allow for passing traffic. Apart from a lack of prior notice, they work quite well.

Across the tops to the sea

When we hit Apollo Bay we heaved a sigh of relief as we seemingly left the precarious winding roads of the forest behind us. Too soon we relaxed as the road, when it left Apollo Bay, clung tenaciously to the very steep cliffs and hills that dropped dramatically into the turquoise ocean on our left. I have never been very good with heights and found myself clenching pretty much everything as we swung along that road. The views were stunning of course, and once again DD was amazing in his calm approach. The ocean was interesting with pretty sandy beaches interspersed with black igneous rocky coastline along the way. It would appear that this region was extremely volcanic in the dim distant past as much of the coastline is lined with the debris of ancient eruptions.


Asleep in the tree next to the van




You woke me for what?


Eventually we pulled into the pretty little seaside hamlet of Kennett River. This is our sort of park – a tad rustic and just full of God’s creatures. When we backed into our bay we discovered the gum tree right behind our van was occupied by a large Koala. He was not a particularly active type and had much to contend with as DD and the blokes parked behind us directed tourist after tourist to have a gander at our special mate. It seems he and his friends kept our neighbours awake most of the previous night and our neighbour had decided it was pay- back time, disturbing our furry friend as much as possible. Needless to say, this morning our Koala had moved to a quieter tree. I am really looking forward to our stay here. Until next time be quietly confident - Steph



Comin' at ya!




Hm, per'aps not.



THE APOSTLES

Apostles, sunning in the early morning light

"Mists rolling in from the sea"

Hooray! Today for the first time in quite a little while, we awoke to clear blue skies. The down-side however, was that the temperature plummeted and the little river behind the van decorated herself with drifts of white mist, which swirled in the early morning breeze. Last night we were lulled to sleep by the roaring of the enormous surf pounding on the rocky breakwaters. The day promised sunny splendour and spectacular surf.


A very watery Princetown


We were not disappointed. We headed out early again, eastward this time to the very watery village of Princetown. The Gellibrand River flows through this pretty little hamlet and the place abounds with water-fowl. The early morning sun captured the crests of the golden hills and provided mysterious dark gullies and vales. Brave and cold sheep grazed contentedly along the way and the maggies fossicked along the road-side for the proverbial early morning worms.


Lace Fringed Waves



L

White fluffy mist cuddled into the valleys and a wafted in from the sea. Glimpses of deep turquoise ocean fringed with abundant white lace delighted the eye as we drove towards our goal. Pretty little wallabies leapt into the thick scrub by the roadside and those rascally rabbits hopped around in all innocence of their bad press.

Loch Ard - site of a tragic ship-wreck & 2 valient survivors

All in all, it was a picture perfect morning. The ‘12’ Apostles were of course amazing as the photos will tell, but in fact after yesterdays bonanza of incredible coastal sculptures, we were probably less impressed that one might have expected. I think that after a little while we get spoilt with all the splendour. It is I think, a little like having crayfish every night for tea – after a while it becomes almost passé. Please don’t think we are complaining; far from it in fact. We are now doing what we love most. Our own special form of exploring, cruising along the roads and by-ways in Zed, slipping off down obscure little roads and tracks, chatting to everyone and anyone, and just generally enjoying this amazing world we live in.

Amazing Colours of the Coast at Port Campbell

Incidentally, I had a little brainstorm – yes, that is what people with little brains have – and thought that we should incorporate some words from Doug in each blog. The lad was very enthusiastic about this idea, but actually getting any words from the boy, now that is something else. When I asked him for his input today, his response was “Ahhh, I think I’ve OD’d on Apostles”. While I waited with worm on tongue (baited breath) and fingers poised above the keyboard, waiting for the next gem, a resounding “Zzzzzz” emanated from the bed onto which he had just laid his weary body. When you think about it, I guess that is wisdom personified. DD is full of wonderful little witticisms, just the other day he asked me what sort of bird we were looking at, and being told it was a Plover, burst into song – you guessed it – “Plovers in the air...............” No wonder I love him so much. DD’s capacity to make me laugh is one of his most endearing accomplishments.

Looking down on our campsite

Anyway, enough of this waffle. Enjoy the photos and get plenty of sleep; talk to you next time. Steph

Just us and the Apostles

GREAT OCEAN ROAD



Bay of Islands




Amazing Natural Sculptures


I could not possibly describe this any better – this is the GREAT Ocean Road. I could have labelled this THE HAND OF GOD I suppose, as His touch is very evident here. I know all my good mates out there, the Thomas’s of this world are smirking to themselves right now, congratulating themselves at their superior thinking and laughing at my gullibility but you know what, I just don’t care. I will pray for you my friends. One glimpse of this coastline would have been enough to convince me of His powers. Mind you, it is known here as the ‘Shipwreck Coast’ and I suppose it could be argued that another agent of a less loving nature could have had a hand in this. Certainly I would not have liked to be one of those poor souls who encountered the pure savagery of this coastline in a sailing ship.

Magical - The Grotto

London Bridge

Anyway, we are in the pretty little coastal town of Port Campbell, the first of our stops on the Great Ocean Road. Once again we have been super lucky as we have, we believe, the best site in the camp, our site running down to a pretty little river, habituated by water fowl and fairy wrens. We do seem to have more than our fair share of these wonderful bays.


Our Own Little Water Park Behind the Van



Surreal Moon-Scape at The Arch

All is good in our world, and for once, I am going to shut up and just let the photos talk for themselves. Rather than doing one single blog for this area, I intend to post several posts which will comprise mainly of photos.

Enjoy!!! Steph.

Sign we spotted at picturesque Peterborough - DD's Comment - "Being an 'ex'-golfer I really know the feeling!"

Painted by Nature!