Another month has gone by as we watch the sun rise higher with each passing day. Spring has turned into summer and as the winter grass dries, puddles shrink and fledglings leave the nest, we have been zigzagging our way across Victoria on the way to Melbourne. Right from the word go Victoria has been wooing us with its magnificent natural beauty, starting with Lower Glenelg National Park where the impressive Glenelg River slowly winds its way toward the ocean. Here we found some lovely grassy camp sites on the banks of the river where we spent most of our time captivated by all the animals which called the surrounding bush land home. There were Echidnas and Lizards rustling in the leaf litter, Red-necked and Swamp Wallabies bounding through the scrub, the distinctive ‘creaking’ of Gang Gang Cockatoos in the trees and Superb Fairy Wrens absolutely everywhere. It was utter bliss! One creature which did elude us though was the common wombat. With signs of them everywhere in the form of burrows and scats we knew they were around but unfortunately they all must have been hiding when we looked for them. I’m sure we will see them somewhere in our travels though. We pulled into Portland on a lovely sunny Saturday morning and it seemed like all the locals were taking full advantage of the weather. We decided to join them and cooked lunch on the foreshore overlooking the huge port which dominated the horizon. Usually the sight of something so industrious would have us looking for somewhere else to enjoy lunch but the sky was blue and the sun was out, somehow I think we just ignored the port all together as if we were in our own little bubble of sunshine bliss! With full bellies we explored the coastline beyond the imposing port and found something quite wondrous as the cliffs came to a point. From afar it looked as if the rocks had been painted white but on closer inspection we found the end of this point, along with some nearby islands, was densely packed with Australasian Gannets! Never before have we seen so many birds in one place, it was truly remarkable. As the day came to a close we found ourselves in a cute little beach town by the name of Cape Bridgewater and made camp there for the night. The next morning we took a lovely walk along the nearby towering cliffs to check out the resident seal populations. The base of these cliffs were special due to the fact they were home to both New Zealand and Australian Fur Seals, something which doesn’t often happen in the one spot. We then took the scenic route back to Portland to resupply and broke away from the coast to head to the Grampians. A place which we, to be honest, had no idea what to expect from apart from a few glossy pictures of a towing mountain tops we had seen in tourist brochures. But once we saw the Serra Range appear on the horizon we knew making the detour inland was the right choice. Like an island of green towering amongst a sea of brown open farm land, the Grampians seem to appear from nowhere, it was quite a surprise really. We had also lined up a few days’ worth of volunteering nearby so we thought it would be a good idea to spend a good chunk of time in the area and really take in the surroundings. This also meant it was worthwhile setting up our full camp, which doesn’t happen too often, to make one hell of a gypsy taj mahal. Over the next few days we helped out with a project collecting native seed from a ‘Land For Wildlife’ property on the edge of the Grampians for future revegetation projects in the area. All in all it wasn’t very exciting but we gained satisfaction in the thought that our hard work will eventually turn into something great. After all ‘from little things big things grow’ as the saying goes. When we weren’t volunteering we had plenty of time to explore the ins and outs of the park. One thing I especially enjoyed was simply driving along the many rugged 4wd tracks which wound their way around the steep terrain. Time after time these tracks took us past jaw dropping lookouts overlooking valleys, waterfalls, towering mountain peaks and vast flat open country. The roads were also quite thrilling to drive as often the tight corners were combined with extremely steep terrain which dropped away almost immediately at the roads edge. You certainly had to have your wits about you or be prepared to meet your maker at the bottom of the mountain. But I think my favourite drive was the one which took us up and into the clouds where seeing anything over ten metres away became impossible as all was blanketed in eerie dense white cloud. The spectacular walks and breathtaking waterfalls and rivers, such as McKenzie’s Falls, where also quite memorable but I think the little hidden spots we found and had all to ourselves will be the parts of the Grampians we will remember the longest. The park is quite heavily visited but I loved that it still had plenty of places to escape the crowds and take in the absolute bliss that comes with being all alone in a wild setting. After a quick stopover at Little Desert National Park, to the north, and we headed back toward the coast. On the way we slotted in another day of volunteering, this time helping out with some maintenance at one of the last strong holds for Eastern Barred Bandicoots on mainland Australia nearby a little town called Hamilton. The reason Bandicoots still survive here is in no small way thanks to an electrified fence which keeps a healthy population of these funny little critters out of reach from ferals like the fox and cat. Again there was nothing glamorous about the jobs we were doing but this didn’t bother us, we were just happy to be helping out in any way we could. From here we had another stop over at the very volcanic, Eccles NP where we saw the weird and wonderful land formations left behind when the molten inner core of the earth comes to the surface. There were caves formed by lava tubes, valleys carved by molten rivers and lakes where volcanos had torn the ground apart. It was surreal seeing such recent volcano activity compared to the ancient landscapes we are used to seeing throughout Australia. You certainly didn’t have to use your imagination nearly as much as usual when trying to envision how the landscape was formed. Finally we made it to the sea and found ourselves at the beginning of the iconic Great Ocean Road which we were pretty damn excited about. Although we weren’t quite sure what we would find apart from the famous Twelve Apostles which, along with the other various cliff formations with creative names, were the first things we come across. Unfortunately the weather was not so photogenic with thick grey clouds blanketing the sky but despite this, the Apostles were quite a sight to behold as they stood out in the water stubborn not to become victim to the ever eroding southern ocean. As we set up camp that night we wondered what else The Great Ocean Road had in store from us. Little did we know it was only getting warmed up and the best stuff was still to come starting the very next morning with us experiencing the wonders of rainforests for the first time in Otway National Park. Saying that the rainforest absolutely blew our minds is severely underestimating our first impression of the place. The trees were staggeringly tall, the streams were tranquil and clear, everything was covered in delicate mosses, ferns or fungi and above all, the intense green of the forest was like nothing we had experienced ever before. That afternoon we pulled in to a wondrous little camp site nestled right amongst the thick rainforest at the bottom of a valley by a stunning river. After setting up camp we spent what felt like hours wandering through the lush green vegetation finding something new to gawk at in amazement behind every tree. As the sun set we went for a quick drive to a known hotspot for glow worms which, just as we were getting our heads around the idea of rainforests, took things to a whole new level. With yet another first under our belt which topped off an absolutely perfect day, we felt all warm and fuzzy with excitement with grins from ear to ear. Its days like this one that makes all the work which made our trip possible pay off with experiences we would of never had at home in a hundred years. It certainly wasn’t all downhill from there though as the road to Melbourne still had plenty of wow moments in store for us kicking off the very next day with Triplet Falls which stretched on for so long that is was impossible to see the falls as a whole without massive trees and thick vegetation obscuring your view. From there the Great Ocean Road took us to the banks of the Aires River where we found ourselves camped for a couple of nights. This camp was quite unique, especially so for a free camp, because it had thick luscious green Lawn which appeared to be just growing there on its own accord. I think we spent a good few hours simply sitting on this marvellous grass just soaking up the fantastically sunny weather we were having while watching charismatic Superb Fairy Wrens hopping around our camp twittering merrily. Another spectacular feature of this camp were the resident Koalas who were just chilling out in trees surrounding the campsite especially the mother Koala with its adorable baby clinging to its back only meters from our tent, an experience I think you would be hard pressed to beat in any zoo or wildlife park. Although we could of easily spent far longer than the two nights we had on the grass we thought we better see what else we could find and again headed east. What we found was a bustling little beach town by the name of Apollo Bay. It was peak tourist season here and people had come from all over the place to soak up the sun and hit the beach. But despite the crowds the place had a pretty relaxed feel about it, after all everyone here was on holiday so there was no need for rushing about. However we liked the idea of bush camping away from everyone so, after a bit of a look around, we headed inland up the hills to another grassy spot close to a little river. The next morning started off amazingly as blueberry pancakes made using some fresh blueberries were on the menu for breakfast. Although insanely delicious we worked up quite a sweat making them, mainly due to the sun beating down on us combined with a complete lack of even a breath of wind to cool us down. Dipping our feet in the freezing waters of the river helped somewhat but mostly made our feet numb. It was then and there when it was decided that we must get to the beach, and fast! We quickly packed our things and sped off back toward Apollo Bay where we thought a spot of surfing would be fun. So after hiring one of those great big Malabo soft boards we found a suitably stunning beach and cooled off in the chilly southern waters which were quite a lot colder than the water we were used to back in Western Australia. I can safely say we both are truly hopeless at surfing but we sure had fun trying anyway. I did get a few ok waves but for the most part it ended in a wipe-out which Ashlyn got some hilarious shots of. As the sea breeze started to kick up and cool things down somewhat we sat back and enjoyed lunch at a little café on the main drag in town before heading back into the hills and secluded bliss. In the now relatively cool afternoon, a leisurely stroll upstream of the river rewarded us with what would be the most wondrous water fall in the Otways, Stevensons Falls. Here we quietly sat in the waterfalls presence and took in the undisturbed beauty that comes when you get a special spot like this all to ourselves. After returning to camp after what was already a perfect day we perhaps pushed our luck somewhat when we decided to try and catch a glimpse of platypus at nearby Lake Elizabeth in which I think is a story better left for another time. All I will say for now is it was quite the adventure that didn’t quite turn out as we had hoped and ended up being quite a late night, nothing a hot shower and a good night’s sleep couldn’t fix. From there, apart from a very lazy day, cooped up in our tent hiding from the rain, the rest of the trip to Melbourne went past pretty quickly. We passed more cruisey little holiday towns, sandy white beaches and waterfalls, most notable the beautiful Erskine Falls. As we got closer and closer to Melbourne the one thing that became increasingly clear was the sharp rise in people. The school holidays had commenced and everyone was starting to get out for some well-deserved R&R over the Christmas period. This made camping anywhere leading up to Melbourne such as Geelong, Queenscliff or Torquay either impossible due to spots being booked out or insanely expensive with us being quoted $50 to stay in one caravan park. We instead ended up staying at a pretty dodgy caravan park on the edge of Melbourne which was quite the experience. In an attempt to beat the peak hour rush we got up quite early to head through Melbourne the next day. We keyed in our destination on the GPS selecting the option to avoid toll ways. Apart from the obvious saving we would have by not paying the tolls we thought it would make our drive through a little more interesting rather than boring expressways. This did however take us almost straight through the middle of the city which had me quite worried at first, but keeping a cool head and supressing the temptation to panic all worked out great with the drive through going off without a hitch even in the crazy Christmas Eve rush. Just like Adelaide, Melbourne gave us a huge rush of excitement! The massive buildings, bridges and highways along with the masses of shops just seem to have a certain appeal to us for some reason but this time it was on a much bigger scale. After a few stopovers and what seemed like hundreds of traffic lights we eventually made it to our final destination by the afternoon in the eastern suburbs. The origins of where we would be staying dated back when we were Broome. It was here we met a young guy named Ollie who seemed to have so much in common with us. He mentioned we should catch up when get to Melbourne, his home town, so we called him as we crossed the Great Ocean Road. Straight away he offered to accommodate us at his place while we were in town which took us by surprise, we had only shared company for a few hours after all, so we gladly accepted his offer which sounded far better than the caravan park we had planned to stay at. Then next day was Christmas day and to date, it was the quietest one we had ever experienced. There were no gift exchanges or massive feasts, just a day full of relaxation as we took in the simple delights of staying in a house for the first time in months which was like a Christmas present in itself. With Boxing Day coming next we decided to check out what all the fuss behind the Boxing Day sales was about and what better place to do it then the southern hemisphere’s largest shopping complex, Chadstone. Here we discovered some people are insane as we experienced mass consumerism at its height. We certainly didn’t fit in with the crowd of bargain hunters lined up out the front of some of the big brand named chains. We were quite glad to be out of there when left to say the least. That afternoon was much more relaxed as we joined in some Christmas festivities with Ollie’s family who were just as friendly and inviting as he was. It was quite nice to meet some new friendly people and share some food together. We had way more fun than we thought we would have had and rounded out a very enjoyable day. For the next couple of days after that we tried to experience as much of Melbourne as we could by catching the train into the city a couple of times and wandering through the maze of laneways and through the towing buildings while trying our best not to get lost. Again our favourite thing about the city was the epic choice of vegan food that was available to us and one place we found ourselves ordering from time after time was Lord Of The Fries who offered greasy fast food style burger perfection. Before we knew it though our time in Melbourne was up, it was New Year’s Eve and time to board the ferry to Tasmania. Our week in the big smoke has been good fun and it was all thanks to Ollie and his lovely mum Magda. This also brings us to the end of 2013 which has been by far the best year of our lives. Every day there has been something new over the horizon to challenge, excite and inspire us. The travel bug has certainly bitten hard and at the moment it’s hard to imagine doing anything else. Luckily our travels are far from over and at this point in time being almost 9 months in we haven’t even reached the half-way point. I still have to pinch myself when I think about that. As it’s often the case, the end of one thing triggers the beginning of another and I’m super exited to see what 2014 has in store for us. With it starting off with a couple of months cruising around Tasmania it’s sure to be something epic! 2013… What a year! Cheers, Ben & Ashlyn
Posted on: Sat, 01 Feb 2014 04:52:22 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015