Sunday, 8 April 2012

Prom Country - Victoria


Nothing can describe the beauty, charm and character of Wilson’s Promontory. Within the first few minutes of driving into the park we had spotted emus, kangaroos, birds of every colour and sweeping views of coastlines, islands and meadows of untouched nature. The camping area was massive! With a whopping 484 sites, it took a little while to figure out where to stop. We eventually set up near what we jokingly called a wombat trail, however no sooner had we sat down that a wombat appeared on the trail and walked by camp. Too good to be true! The park was also the first we have been to that had flushing toilets and hot showers. We thought we were in heaven. That night we saw a couple of possums and several wombats.



The next day we decided to be a little ambitious and go for a 10km hike. We went over mountains, down and up some steep hills and along headlands, it was epic but absolutely worth it. Wilson’s Prom delivered many site-seeing goods. We said goodbye to the park and left the next day. Although more expensive than the camp sites outside the prom, it was well worth it for the wildlife and atmosphere, and still no night driving on country roads yet.



We headed to Cape Liptrap (Bear Gully Campground) and ended up staying for 5 nights to wait out the Easter break. We took off the camper to remind us what acceleration and 100 km/hr feels like, and to do a couple of day trips – most importantly to a winery and to the movies! The camp area filled up very quickly because of Easter. There was plenty of nice people around (as well as “special” people who created their own camp grounds on revegetation areas and bushland). One fellow across the way took  it upon himself to look after us, he pointed out a skippy and helped us with some additions to the car so he was our kind of alright – wished he would stop talking about how good turbos are… Again we were sad to leave, but this time it was because of all our wonderful neighbours. After several hugs and handshakes goodbye we headed to Phillip Island to see Koalas and the famous Penguin Parade.

Despite it being a rather chilly day, Phillip Island was everything we wanted and more. We had potentially the yummiest burger ever invented (potentially also the biggest), then went to a koala sanctuary. We spotted koalas sleeping, eating, adventuring around the railings and having a bit of a biff – so all in all very fun stuff! We then headed to the parade, where potentially every person on the island also went. The place was full to the brim, but that didn’t stop the little penguins from waddling up the beach. A spectacular sight. Then we headed to the board walk to see the penguins socialising and finding their burrows. We were joking about how it looked like a few were trying to make a run for it, but when we were in the car park we saw at least one little penguin was bound for bigger things (he’d made it to the car park and looked like he was trying to hitch-hike).



We slept in a rest area and adventured onto the Dandenong’s the next morning. We saw lots of quaint villages, beautiful views and even the Easter Bunny. Currently we’re staying at Ferntree Gully with some family friends, then heading to Eaglemont to visit another friend. Were planning to adventure around Melbourne then fly home for my graduation. Hopefully good times ahead.



This weeks lesson is provided by the many campers and parents around Bear Gully Campground – Don’t have kids until you’re good and ready, because once you’ve got ‘em you can’t give them back!

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