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Published: June 17th 2017
01 Koala
The first koala we spotted on our morning walk.Geo: -38.7912, 143.542
This morning we got up quite early and went for a walk at a quarter to seven. We walked around the caravan park and into the adjacent national park by following the Bird Trail signs. It was an amazing walk because we saw so many koalas. They weren't high up in the trees and it was so easy to spot and view them. An amusing sight was when we saw two koalas on a branch and then one tried to get close to the other as if it wanted a cuddle. The other koala wasn't interested, climbed over the koala and climbed up a small branch to get away. We also heard many birds chirping away.
An hour later we arrived back at our caravan, showered and made breakfast. We then got in the car and drove towards the Cape Otway Lighthouse. We stopped the car very soon after turning onto Otway Lighthouse Rd because there were koalas everywhere! Here we walked through a forest and took so many photos of koalas. Most of the koalas were busy sleeping on branches in the trees. We spent nearly an hour here being amazed by the great sighting of so many
02 Bird Trail
The gate we walked through on our morning walk. koalas. Most trees we walked to had a koala sitting or sleeping in it. The best thing about koalas is that unlike most other animals and birds, they move very slowly and therefore many photographic opportunities.
We continued driving towards the lighthouse but soon stopped again. This time at Blanket Bay. The tide was out and we walked over the rocks. Being a cloudy, overcast day the view was not as great as it could have been. There were some rock pools that we had a little look into, but there wasn't much to see. We didn't stay here for very long. On the road that led to the main road we noticed a beautiful coloured wallaby. The wallaby was sitting close to the road and looking at us. I really liked its orange fur.
It wasn't long before we had to stop again. This time it was on the main road to the lighthouse and because of a koala crossing the road! To me this was such a novelty to see, as all the koalas we have seen so far had been up trees. We watched it as it walked across the tarred road and then along the road.
03 Sitting
A koala sitting on a branch. I parked and we got out and slowly we followed it. It was so cute! The koala sat for a minute and then continued walking. It then choose a tree and began to climb up the tree. It didn't climb very high up in the tree and this gave us a chance to take a photo of us and the koala.
The koala then surprised us by leaping to another tree. Here it sat for a while and after a few more photos we continued on our journey. By now we have had enough of koalas for one day, and it was only 11:30am!
We arrived at the lighthouse only to find that the entrance was too expensive and we were not that interested in it. So we turned around and drove to the Great Ocean Rd for our next stop at Mait's Rest. Here we did the very short 800m walk through the cool temperate rainforest. Part of the walk was on a wooden boardwalk to protect the forest floor from tourists destroying it through erosion. It was very green, cool and peaceful in here.
We walked through fern gardens and old eucalyptus trees covered in moss. An interesting
04 Pair
A pair of koalas. sighting here was a huge hollow at the base of a very old tree. The space was big enough for quite a few people to sit in. It was now time to hit the road again, as we had a busy agenda, there is so much to see in this small area.
Our next stop for the day was The Redwoods. It is a forest full of Californian Redwood trees. These trees were planted in the 1930's and have never been logged and are now protected. From the carpark it didn't look like anything special, but this opinion changes once you walk into the forest. This was an amazing, enchanting and silent place. We were the only ones here and because of this at times it was a little bit creepy and spooky. This dark forest would be the best place to play hide and seek.
Paul and I took many photos here. Dividing the Californian Redwoods and the eucalyptus forest was the small flowing Aire River. On the other side of the river there were also many ferns. The Redwood trees in here were tall, straight and thin. They didn't have many branches, only a few short, thin ones at
05 Cuddles
A koala is trying to cuddle the other. the top of the tree. The damp forest floor was an amazing reddish-brown colour due to all the pine needles and was soft to walk on. Most of the trees are planted in straight lines. One of the trees had fallen down and someone has cut the trunk with a saw. Now the red wood was visible! We also found a few varieties of fungi growing on moss covered fallen trees.
We were here for about an hour and wished we could have stayed longer. Hopefully next time I will be lucky enough to experience some sunlight come through the trees, which would look amazing as it lights up the forest.
A kilometre down the road we stopped again. We were now at Hopetoun Falls. It was a very short walk of only 20 metres from the carpark to the first viewing platform. From here we could see a great view of the falls. It was only a short walk to the base, so we decided to go down there. There were 198 steps down and it wasn't going to be fun coming back up!
We were surrounded by ferns and moss covered trees. It was a nice view from
06 Not Keen
The other koala wasn't keen and is escaping up a branch. the base, in some ways I think I preferred the view from the first viewing platform at the top. The Aire River flows over the Hopetoun Falls and this area of Victoria has one of the highest rainfalls in the state. It was a slow hike back up the 198 steps to the car, but it was a great way to warm up on this cool day.
Our next little drive in the car lasted about 20 minutes. We had now arrived at Triplet Falls. Here we completed the 2km loop walk that would take us to a great view of the falls. Unfortunately this walked included steep steps. The scenery was quite similar to the other waterfalls. Plenty of old eucalyptus trees, moss and ferns. As we walked along we could hear the flowing water and then the creek came into view. Youngs Creek cascades into the Triplet Falls.
Then a few minutes later we arrived at Triplet Falls. They got their name due to the three streams of water that cascade over the large rocks. The falls are surrounded by ferns. On the way back up to the carpark we passed some remains of the old saw mill. There
07 Koala
Another koala sitting in a tree. was a steam boiler that operated the saw on this mill site back in the day.
It was now nearly four o'clock and there wasn't much daylight left for the day. We were staying at the same place as last night. We drove directly to Bimbi Park and only made one stop at Glenaire for a view of the ocean as the sun set. The view here wasn't great as it was still a pretty dull and grey day. After a few photos we got back in the car and continued driving.
Once again we enjoyed our dinner on the deck and had a few possums visit us. When it got too cold to be outside we went into our caravan and planned our activities for tomorrow.
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