Phillip Island and The Great Ocean Road

 I’d like to preface this post with an ode to Australian animals. Yes, we all know they have kangaroos and koalas (I saw both on my Great Ocean Road trip), but did you know they also have penguins? Not just any ordinary penguins, they’re fairy penguins. Penguins are already cute, but shrink them down to about a foot tall and you’ve got something that rivals the cuteness of Nani and Jake...and I think they're pretty darn cute.

To sum it up…Australian animals > American animals

While we were in Melbourne we took a day trip out to Phillip Island, home of the world famous Penguin Parade. Every night, around sunset, these little fairy penguins come back to their homes after spending all day out at sea. They live in nests that are up the hill from the beach, so you get to see them waddle their way home. The little guys were mere feet away from me. You could hear them too. Who knew such a loud noise could come from such a tiny bird?

If you don't think this is cute, something must be wrong with you.

I know I’ve already mentioned it in this post, but the wildlife in Australia is phenomenal. I can’t think of anywhere else in the world where you can be close enough to a wild penguin to pet it…except maybe Antarctica. The natural environment here never ceases to amaze me.

A stretch of coastline at Phillip Island.

Phillip Island is also famous for an outcropping of rocks called The Nobbies. 

Australians typically pick very simple names for things, like The Nobbies.

Another thing that I found interesting was that the entire park is self-sufficient. They don’t take any money from the government, which is kind of a novel idea when it comes to natural parks. It was a really well maintained park, so they must be doing something right.

Now, for the Great Ocean Road.

The morning of the 26^th, Amanda, Jacob and myself went on a Great Ocean Road tour. The Great Ocean Road was a government project, created so that returning soldiers from the war would have work to do. The road winds along cliffs and of course, the ocean.

 I actually helped with the construction of the road too.

Our first stop was in Torquay (pronounced tore-key) where the world famous Bells Beach is. This is where the Ripcurl Pro surf competition is held, and is also the town where surf companies Ripcurl and Quiksilver were founded.

  Bells Beach, actually kind of dangerous to surf there because of all the rocks.

We then traveled through the towns of Anglesea and Airey where we saw a house that was in Mad Max (they really like that movie here) and this house that was built on a pole to prevent wildfires from damaging it.

This one bedroom, one bath house just sold for 3.2 million.

Fun Story: Next was the town of Lorne where they have an annual Pier to Pub race. People run down the pier, jump off, swim to shore then run to the pub and finish a pint of beer. That’s Australia for you.

In Kennett River we saw wild koalas in the eucalyptus trees, parrots that would eat out of your hand, and a kookaburra. This was the first time I saw a koala while I was in Australia, and the fact that it was in the wild and not in a zoo is awesome. Oh, I also forgot to mention that we saw wild kangaroos that morning too.

 

Cute little guy, just sitting up there eating.

 

 I was a little nervous when it landed on my head, hence the awkward pose.

 

 I'm not sure if he is sitting in an old gum tree or if he is laughing. (Anyone remember that song?)

 

We stopped at Cape Patton lookout and I got some great pictures there.

 

The water is so blue!

Wish we had views like this in Indiana...

Lunch was at the Cape Otway lighthouse, and I’m fairly certain that the winds there were 100 miles an hour…or should I say kilometers. Either way, it was windy and cold. I did get this spectacular shot though.

 Here's the lighthouse.

 Here's the view.

Our last two stops were the 12 Apostles and Loch Ard Gorge. You know the expression, “It took my breath away?” Well, when I rounded the corner and first saw the 12 Apostles, I finally understood why people say that. All three of us just stood there, awestruck at how amazing the scene before us was.  It’s one of those things that I’ll probably remember for the rest of my life.

 There's actually only 9 Apostles...12 just sounds better.

Loch Ard Gorge was just as spectacular and it was a great way to end the tour. I’ll just let the pictures speak for themselves.

Fun Story: We saw a double rainbow at Loch Ard Gorge. If you're not familiar with the Double Rainbow Youtube video, I suggest you look it up, and then you'll realize why we got a kick out of this.

Double Rainbow all the way! (You can kind of see it. It's to the right of the first one.)

I know I’m behind in my posts, so I hope all of these pictures help make up for that fact. I promise to update you on my first week in Sydney as soon as I can. We just finished up a project for class, so I should have a lot more time on my hands. I’m going to a rugby game tonight to celebrate the 4^th of July…one of the teams is red, white and blue so hopefully I’ll feel a little at home.

-Haley

P.S. By the way, I just discovered that you can click on the pictures to make them bigger. I highly suggest doing this...because they look 10 times better. And you can actually see the double rainbow.