Phillip Island…

Tags

Australia, Bells Beach, Bells Beach Backpackers, Kangaroo, Kangaroos, Koala, Litte pinguin, Little pinguins, Phillip Island, Pinguin, Pinguins, Porcupine, Wallabee, Wild Life Park, Windsor, Windsor hotel

Woke up at 06.50. Snoozed for a while and then jumped out of bed. Twelve people and one toilet. Hurried into the toilet to do all the morning stuff, did not want to be the last of 12 in there. But that would not have happened because many of them were already up, way before me. I was ready right in time for breakfast. We had some gluten-free cereals with milk and jam. There were juice and coffee and fruit. The others had bread and pancakes but they were all loaded with gluten so that was nothing for us.

Took off the sheets and left them in the reception and then we hit the road again. We stopped at so many places during this trip and since I am blogging a few days after this actual trip took place (I am at home now and it is January 6th) it is hard to remember all the stops. So I just write about the once I remember. 😀

Happy moment! The only thing that could make her happier, is if she actually could have carried one around.

OMG, I an surrounded by kangaroos

Jossan, the happy feeder

Me and Jossan waiting for the penguins

So cute little penguins on Phillip Island

Phillip Island
At 11.30 we took the ferry over to Phillip Island. There the plan were to see the Little penguins but we saw a lot of other animals there as well.

Visiting Kangaroos and Koalas
We stopped for about an hour at a wild animal park, I think it was this park, and there we could feed and cuddle with the kangaroos. They are fantastic animals and they come up really close to you. We also visited the Kakadoos in their cage and I get so fascinated so I can just stand there forever, looking at them eating. So amazing that we have seen both Kangaroos, Kakadoos AND Kokaburra, both in the wild and in the park. Cool.

I bought a wool knit cap there, a red one with a pattern of sheep on it. Aussie memory. I plan to wear it during my lunch walks at work. 🙂

Little pinguins
When we got closer to the penguin place there were a LOT of Wallabees there, all over the place. So cute to see them in their right surroundings. We also saw a porcupine (piggsvin). It looked like a big hedgehog. And a lot of large birds, some kind of goose, I think. It was grey.

Our guide instructed us exactly where to take a seat and off we went. We came to the beach and sat down and then we had to wait for 1h 45m. The pinguins, called Little pinguines, come in every evening at sunset. And every evening a huge amount of people gather there to see The Pinguin Parade. It was super windy but luckaly we had brought our bathing towels down there. So there we sat, in our towels, waiting. And then, exactly at the sunset, they started to come in. They came in small groups, stood for a while at the water edge, and it seemed like they were thinking/discussing: What do you think? SHould we go now? Maybe wait one more minute? Or? No, let’s go. And then off they went, the whole group, working their way up the beach. We had the best seats ever. They passed right by us, less than a meter from us. And they were sooooooo cute. OMG!

Back to the Windsor Hotel
Tara, our guide, had the very best taste in music. Her Spotify list was close to a copy of mine. At least 80% was the very same songs. So we had really great music in the bus.

Came to the hotel at 00.05. We checked in again and this time we got room number 303, the very same room as before, only one floor down. AND the portiere told us a complementary breakfast was included. We had no idea about that. NICE!

I took a shower and then jumped to bed! Zzzzzzzzzzzzzz

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Great Ocean Road…

Tags

Australia, Bella, Bells Beach, Bells Beach Hostel, Great Ocean Road, Hostel, Labrador, London Bridge, Poorest salad ever, Twelve apostles

Today is the beginning of our last Australia adventure. We will go on a 2 days tour on the Great Ocean Road. There are huge fires raging along the Ocean Road so I hope it will not get ot exciting. From what we heard, one road that we should have travelled is closed so we have to do a detour.

Jumped, well, well, up early and at 07.15 the tour bus, autopiatours.com, picked us up.

Apparently Pia has started a tour company! 😉

The twelve apostles
Even though the day was cloudy, the view of the twelve apostles were stunning.

The twelve apostles

Light lunch
Then it was time for lunch and we all got out of the bus and all the others had large sandwiches to eat and Jörgen and me, the gluten people, got this tiny salad, consisting of salad, cucumber and tomates and then two!! slices of thin ham. No dressing and no bread.

The poorest salad ever

Well, the most positive words I can say about that meal is that at least you will not get fat on a lunch like that. Might have contained about 100 calories. At he most! 😦

London Bridge
The London Bridge apparently was a part of the main land before. Tara told us a story about when it got separated from the main land in 1990. When it happened there was actually two persons that got stuck out there and they had to be rescued by helicopter. The story goes that it was a couple that had a secret love affair but the truth is that it just was a man and his niece. 🙂

The Great Ocean Road, London Bridge

Lockhard Gorge
We had a LOT of stops along the road so we really got to see a lot of Great Ocean Road, even though we had to take a detour because of the large fire they had going on there. There were so many beautiful places along that road. If you are planning on going to Melbourne, take the time to join a tour and go see it. It is fantastic.

Lockhart Gorge

Bells Beach Backpackers

Tara, our guide on the Great Ocean Tour

Bella, the hostel labrador

Jörgen is attacked by a parasol

This night we slept in a hostel, Bells Beach Backpackers. Two in our group had to go into a separate room and then the rest of us slept in one big room with 12 beds. It felt a bit like joining the military but the beds were already made so at least we did not have to do that. 🙂 The owner of the hostel had a labrador named Bella. So cool dog but we got strict orders from the owner not the feed her. He wanted to keep her in the good shape she was right now.

In the evening Tara made us a barbecue of sausage, lamb chops, chicken, potatoes and onions and we helped with the salad. We sat at the same table as a nice couple from US, close to Chicago.

The attack
We went on a little stroll in the evening, to the store and bought some fruit and some gluten free cheese crackers. might come in handy for breakfast. 😉 Then we went to a small restaurant and had some wine. We sat outside and it was kind of windy. All of a sudden we heard a bang and the parasol next to us had taken wind and crasched right next to Jörgen. Luckily he did not get hit, but it was kind of close. The staff came out and checked if we were alright. And luckily we were!

We went back to the hostel (they were close to neighbors with the restaurant) and took an early night, around 21.00. I and Jossan had the lower beds and Jörgen had the top bed, above me. I was tired and fell asleep close to the second I put my head on the pillow.