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Published: March 26th 2013
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Friday 22nd
While we slept well, the gusty winds which had reaped havoc on on Melbourne overnight, also rocked the boat at Wye River, but not as severely. The rain continued overnight, but not as heavy, and by morning we had sprinkles of drizzle. What we have found is that as we go south and west, the combined effect of daylight saving and location has the sun rise at 7.30 am, good for photographers who sleep in! So around that time I wandered down onto the Wye River foreshore and took a couple of happy snaps. I walked the 50 meters back to the MH and called out to the others that there was an interesting sunrise to photograph. One member of the team was heard to say that they were having breakfast. The response was – ‘That’s fine, but the sunrise doesn’t wait for anyone.’
Once we were packed up, we proceeded south to Apollo Bay and filled the larder ready for 4 days away from shops and other services, close to Cape Otway Lighthouse. The intermittent drizzle continued and unfortunately spoiled Apollo Bay. But we got some great snaps from Cape Patton which are representative of the
coast.
The road down the coast is slow and twisting, but easy driving. Some steep sections, a little overdue for pot hole repairs. Once we got to the Otway Lighthouse turnoff, the road narrowed but was still easy driving except for tourists! There are koalas in the trees that overarch the road, so tourists just stop, get out of their cars and take photos. Speeding here is not advisable! The final leg into the park was a gravel road in rutted condition for about 1 k. Tom Tom was suspended today, and Marg Marg navigated without any ‘Off route, Recalculating’ messages arriving at Bimbi in time for a late lunch..
When we phoned to make a booking, Katrina said to just rock up, plenty of spare sites, and that is what we found when we arrived. Tonight though, the park is almost chocker with room for maybe 3 or 4 more vans. Plenty of tenting accommodation left, but with 6 C predicted tonight, we are grateful for power and the solid walls of Bushbaby. (our MH’s name)
We are staying at Bimbi Park which is well down into the Otway National Park, but here it is a
private enterprise. The owners have taken an old park, rejuvenated the facilities, but maintained the concept of a bush camp. We love it. Bimbi park is also well known for the wild life. Within minutes of setting up camp we spotted numerous koalas in the trees, and both heard and saw birds unknown to us. As it happened late in the afternoon, there was an unusual scratchy squawk above the MH, so out we got. It was a family of Gang Gang cockatoos. This bird is found on the southern NSW and Victorian coast line, and becoming more rare as habitat is lost to development or fire. After some very quick negotiations with their manager, they allowed us to photograph them including Mum feeding junior male. Marg took some as well, and between us we have quite an interesting collection of snaps.
On returning from a walk, I found that a small critter with dark ears had taken up residence inside Bushbaby. In today’s blog you will see the cosy nest Marg made. See if you can guess what type of critter would look like this.
Koalas are easier to spot and photograph, but much harder to get them to
look into the camera – they do not respond to ‘Cheese’ at all well, preferring to sleep the day away. This is an area where the koalas are prolific, and unfortunately they are out eating the forest growth. There is a management plan closing trees to the koalas, planting more trees etc. These will help, but slowly, like years not months.
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Mum & Dad
non-member comment
Good report and pix
Good to see you up and running again. Like the comment and views. See email to Margaret re developments here Cheers Us2@136