Next morning, we were joined by Ron and Ann and we spent a very hot afternoon on Woolamai Beach on the island. The surf was very rough with a very strong undertow but we enjoyed a refreshing swim and some 'boogie' boarding. We witnessed the iconic Aussie lifesavers going into action as they rescued about eight people who had drifted out with their 'boogie' boards beyond the large breakers. The life savers had a daunting task because their inflatable dinghy was in danger of being swamped by the huge waves.Next day, Peter and I visited the Koala Sanctuary for the Aah factor! We saw quite a few, most of them asleep of course and perched very precariously in forked branches on the trees. Some obligingly lifted their heads, shifted position and settled down again – well it was too warm a day to do much else anyway. We went into Cowes (named so because someone thought the island was rather like the Isle of Wight) and after lunch spent some quality time on Smiths beach. Got to keep the suntan topped up! In the evening we went along to the Penguin Parade. Fairy Penguins swim out to sea to catch fish for about five days and then come back to shore after sunset to regurgitate their catch for their chicks. These penguins are only about 30 cms tall and have quite a problem exiting the surf on to the beach especially when they are faced by an army of menacing seagulls and Japanese tourists with forbidden cameras!
The following day we visited Churchill Island where there was a Heritage Site with a Colonial Homestead preserved for present day tourists. We spent another afternoon on Woolamai Beach.
Next morning we drove around Western Port down to Wilsons Promontory which was once, long ago, connected to Tasmania by a land bridge. The Prom, as it is affectionately known, is a National Park and very busy over the School holiday periods, but a section of the campground is reserved for overseas travellers. We camped at Tidal River, a very picturesque spot near Norman Bay, battled again with the determined kookaburras for our dinner, but then had the delight of a wombat coming out on to the path for its evening feed and we got very close to it. We took an evening stroll down the river bed to the beach to watch (and photograph) a glorious sunset. We had had thunder showers in the afternoon, but the evening was very pleasant (at least until the mosquitoes arrived and we headed into the van!).Next morning we dropped down to Squeaky Beach and Whisky Beach, two beautiful rocky Cornish style coves, then we drove up to Telegraph Saddle part way up Mt Oberon, but didn't have time to make the arduous climb – shame!
So we are back in Melbourne once again. We are currently staying with Ron (our best man) and Ann. We took 'Vicky' the campervan back to its home in Ringwood, and went to the Healesville Animal Sanctuary to see more of Australia's fauna. We have revisited some other favourite zaunts such as Maroondah Dam , (only 20% full), Puffing Billy the steam engine and the villages in the Dandenong Mountains culminating in a farewell lunch at The Cuckoo Restaurant in Olinda. This is an Austrian themed restaurant we remembered from the 70s. It was just the same and we were joined by Malcolm and Louise and the six of us had a lovely meal just like in the old days. Afterwards we strolled through the Sherbrook Forest and fed the crimson rosella birds. Tomorrow we will have a final look around the city of Melbourne and on Wednesday, we fly to Hong Kong for 5 nights. Then it will be back home with lots to look forward to: seeing the family again, the wedding and of course the arrival of grandchild no.3 in May and getting my honorary degree in July.
So the last blog for this trip will be from Hong Kong. Hope you have enjoyed keeping up with us so far.
Bye for now, Sheila and Peter.
No comments:
Post a Comment