We re on the road!
Picked up our car (which joh i think was hoping to look much more like an outback jeep..instead it says 'apex australia car rentals' clearly readable to all on the back), got everything, including pram, scooter and the two littlens in, and off we went towards B 100, otherwise known as the great ocean road.
What do we expect? Nature, including the fabulous ocean and lots of wildlife.
As soon as we get to Anglesea there it is- the sea, green and strong with fantastic stretches of deserted beaches, cliffs and an amazing tide. Ok, its again not exactly beach weather (13 cold degrees and very windy) but the views are phenomenal. After lunch when we re stopping at a small village cafe with the by now customary babycinos, coffees and some great burritos, sandwiches and salad, we re having our first kangaroo encounter. Sadly they are behind the fences of the local golfcourse, so we cant get very near them. But we see them bounce, which is fun. On we go via windy cliffs along the great ocean road and just have to stop a few times to climb down onto the beach to feel the ocean. We check out bells beach- famous for point break with patrick swayze and keanu reeves and many infamous surfing competitions, stock up on groceries on the way and arrive late at "beach break house" in apollo bay. we have rented a spacious 2 bedroom house on the great ocean road, opposite the sea. We love the place immediately but soon realise that with the outside temperature having dropped considerably and with no heating the place is freeeeeezing! Thank god we have a fireplace and a reverse aircon- with these 2 on full power the place slowly heats up and gets bearable...but i do admit saying to joh that we should cancel all our plans for victoria and catch a flight to cairns....
The next day is even colder and rainier than the ones before, a high of 11 degrees, probably lower for most of the day. We venture out in our rain gear and wollies to the great otways, a rainforest area with an elevated tree top walk... And on the way we stop to see our first koalas! Sitting in the trees, lazily but oh-so-furry, they are just wonderful creatures!
The rainforest and tree top walk are unusual. there are ferns of up to 10 metres in height and the trees are up to 100 metres! I get a bit scared of heights on the tree top walk as it is very high and we re not even above the top of the trees. plus am getting wet and having to carry trist around like a koala baby in the baby bjoern.
So far so good- weather was rubbish but the scenery still beautiful!
We re kind of happy with our 3 koala sightings but then we pump into a few tourists from sydney who tell us that they have seen 2 dozens, so we are back on the chase the next day!
What is nice is that we can prepare our own meals/take aways and dont always have to go out for dinner...makes a nice change!
Oh..and one more thing! I was promised a pair of ugg boots for free with our booking of this place..and they even had them in my size when i called to make the reservation. We get here and they are emus and not uggs. Am not into the ugg fashion really but i need to ask my fashion friendly lady friends: can i actually leave the house back home in emus? Never mind, they did wonders for my feet as slippers during the initial freeze, so am very glad to have them.
One thing Simone has forgotten to mention: auf einem der vielen "Natur-Hinweis-Schilder" haben wir einen Namensvetter von unserem RTO gefunden: Rufous bristlebird (siehe Bilder). Leider blieb uns das Original verborgen..
Heute sind wir zum lighthouse am cape otway (second most southern point of australia) aufgebrochen. Das mit dem Linksverkehr läuft immer besser, auch wen ich ob der arktischen Temperaturen manchmal den Eindruck habe, mich verfahren zu haben und zu weit südlich gelandet zu sein...
Auf der kurvigen Straße ( Stella: curly road) zum Leuchtturm entdecken wir gleich den ersten der avisierten Koalas. Faul hängt er eingeklemmt auf einer Astgabel. Der Turm ansich gibt ausser einem windigen Erlebnis auf dem Rundgang um die Turmspitze nicht viel her. Dafür erwarten uns auf dem Rückweg weitere Koalas - diesmal sprichwörtlich zum Greifen nahe. Sehr sehr eindrucksvoll! Und nachdem wir aus der Ferne noch 2 kangaroos gesehen haben, lassen wir den Tag mit take away vom Mexikaner zu Hause vorm Kamin (der 20 kg Sack Brennholz vom Vortag ist zum Glück noch nicht vollständig aufgebraucht...) ausklingen. Morgen gehts weiter entlang der GOR nach Warrnambool. Vorsichtshalber haben wir uns noch einen late check out zusichern lassen. Tristy ist zwar zunehmend im gewohnten Rhythmus und weckt uns gerne schon gegen halb acht, aber Stella nutzt die schulfreie Zeit und bleibt meist bis nach 10 im Bett...
Vielen Dank nochmal an Laura, die sich regelmäßig die Mühe macht und unsere Bilder hochläd, für alle von euch, die lieber Bilder schauen als lesen: thank you, Laura!