Day 19 - Hall’s Gap to Johanna
To the Great Ocean Road! Off we went early from Hall’s Gap, right into … fog?!? Through a pretty eerie scenery (with some more ‘roos and some deer on the road) we drove straight south towards the coast.Stopped off at Tower Hill National Park to look for more animals. Saw some Emus and even Koalas (now we seem to have collected the whole set: Emu, Roo, Koala. Wait, the Croc is still missing).
Later that day the fog rolled back in from the sea. So the first look at the Great Ocean Route was again pretty foggy. We are hoping for better weather tomorrow.
Ended up in a place called “Boomerang retreat”. We have a ‘modest’ place of ~ 100 square meters with a great view over hills towards the sea (still foggy, though). If only they had broadband, I might just move in here.
australia great ocean road johanna the grampians travelDay 18 - The Grampians
Today was our hiking day. Set out early because once the heat is up, hiking is not much fun anymore. Went to Mc Kenzie falls and the Balconies and had some great views of the country and the falls. Wearing our hats (bought in Noosa) and fly nets (bought at the Uluru), I did feel like a tourist and in Germany we probably would have gotten any number of snide comments but here, most people considered our masquerade “a smart hat” or “I want to have one of those”.Skipped the hot mid-day in favour of an evening walk “where you can see animals”. Yeah, sure. More ‘roos. Also saw an impressive deer standing in a clearing. Heard a number of far away thunders and in the evening we acually had our very first rainy day. Hall’s Gap had its very first rain day for more than two weeks and after an hour we had water running in the streets. Some more ‘roo for dinner (medium-rare… Yummy).
australia halls gap the grampians travelDay 17 - To the Grampians
Left Kingston early this morning for the Grampians, where we finally hope to see serious numbers of ‘roos and other animals. Drove through Connawarra valley and did some wine testing (the first really good white wine that I had in Australia), however due to self-driving we could not drink as much as we wanted to.Came into Halls Gap in the middle of the evening and right in front of the reception at the lodge were the first kangaroos sitting. Twenty minutes later, another ‘roo didn’t even stir us any longer. Didn’t do much else today.
australia halls gap kingston s.e. the grampians travel