April 22nd - Warrnambool to Mt. Gambier

With the skies breaking into blue in patches we elected to back track to the Bay of Islands and the Bay of Martrys. Oh what a good decision!  The sun came out in earnest and we were treated to spectacular views with virtually no tourists in sight!  We got to go down on the beaches in between the spectacular lime stone formations.  It felt like you were in Narnia when they came back the second time.  I swear Asland was in the bush whispering to me!  We hung out in the By of Islands until about 11:45 then shot for Warrnambool for lunch. 

After lunch we headed to Tower Hill to see what typically Australian animals including emu and koala bears.  We walked and were rewarded with emu, little birds, and butterflies.

Traveling from Tower Hill to Mount Gambier is filled with green rolling hills, cows, sheep, wind turbines...it's very peaceful. It like I think Montana is...big skies and long distances.  Oddly, the ocean is just over the ridge. 

The light is beautiful today.  At 4 PM we left the ocean and headed into the hills toward Mount Gambier.  Sad to leave the ocean, but the adventure must continue.  

We've been trying to catch the parrots since we got here.  We've seen many blue and reds as well as green and reds.  Finally scored them!  Then 5 o'clock came...the golden hour and when all the nocturnal animals start coming out.  It's like being on an African safari. Kangaroos on the left, emus on the right!  Spot, spot, spot!

Dinner was divine!!!  Local cows, local farm, local wine - yahoo!

The milky way was bright and we shot it!

Emu

Enjoy! John & Cheri

April 21st - The Great Ocean Road Continued! - Lorne to Warrnambool

A 3 for 1 day- 3fer! 

  Sunrise! - we awoke to cloudy, rolling skies.  Bonus!  That's what spectacular sunrises are made from.  We quickly hopped onto the road and got to the ocean and wow!!  We saw the angels singing the day in...check this out and see if you agree!

We then shot back to the lighthouse at split rock to see if it might brighten up.  By the time we finished it was nearly 8 am and the breakfast places were opening.  After a yummy breakfast where we learned why food is so expensive....the minimum wage is $22/hr!  We headed off Apollo Bay toward the zip lines.  Along the way there were lots of photo ops!  We stopped in at Kennett River and saw Koala bears in their natural setting.  It was day time so of course they were sleeping. 

We then headed into the hills to the Zip lining.  We had never done this before and boy was it fun!!  There were 8 zip stations and two bridges to traverse.  All along the way they told us about the rain forest.  Will definitely do this again!!

By now it 3:15 with sunset at 6 and hours to go .... 12 Apostles...we ran for it and made it.  Luckily it was overcast and the light was uniform and built for taking our kind of pictures!  We shot and shot and went from pull off to pull off until it was dark!  Boy were we hungry when we got to Warrnambool! 

The MidCity hotel was great!  Comfortable bed and amazing rain forest shower!  Not much was open for dinner since it was a holiday so we headed for the pub and were very pleasantly surprised!  Extensive menu, good food and of course Guinness on tap!  Happy Cheri!

It rained torrentially, thundered and lightning through the night.  We slept till nearly 8 and the storm was breaking up and the blue sky reappearing!  Love it when it rains at night!

Angels sing the day into being

split rock lighthouse

our first koala

12 Apostles

ziplining!

Enjoy! 

Cheri & John

April 20th - Easter Sunday!

After a wonderful nights sleep, which was extraordinary having changed +15 hours!  John had found some walks near St. Leonard's.  this was great because it took us off the Beaten Track.  On the way we saw some very cool birds including black swans and others we haven't identified as of yet :-).

We got some great surf shots where just the locals were enjoying the day.  We transited through Torquay, a town made famous by the movie Point Break where Boody surfs off into the 100 year storm and meets his maker. 

Before we knew it, we had made it to the Great Ocean Road; one of the must see's in Australia.  Having been on it, we now understand why!  The ocean is big and spectacular with tons of surfers and waves!  The surf is green and the rocks are limestone and carved into all different arches and formations.  Something you just don't get tired of looking at!

We saw our first kangaroo!  They are nocturnal and come out around 4:30 to 5 PM.  This one was dining on someone's lawn!

We pulled onto Lorne at 5:30 on time for our 6 PM Easter dinner reservations at Maple Tree.  Fever tree, Hendricks and cucumbers were on their menu....yum!  Cheri had local prawns, sea trout and barramundi over linguini. John had lamb.  It was yummy!

Enjoy!

Cheri