Echidna Walkabout, 3 Day Great Ocean Road

Great Ocean Road

The Great Ocean Road is an Australian National Heritage listed 243 kilometres stretch of road along the south-eastern coast of Australia between the Victorian cities of Torquay and Allansford. Built by returned soldiers between 1919 and 1932 and dedicated to soldiers killed during World War I, the road is the world's largest war memorial.

Winding through varying terrain along the coast and providing access to several prominent landmarks, including the Twelve Apostles limestone stack formations, the road is an important tourist attraction in the region.

Never use any service Echidna Walkabout or Southern World Australia has to offer!

Echidna Walkabout, 3 Day Great Ocean Road
Echidna Walkabout, 3 Day Great Ocean Road


Day 2- See some of the world's most spectacular coastal scenery. Follow the Great Ocean Road to the surging surf coast, and walk in the magnificent rainforests of the Otway National Park. The Wildlife Guide will explain the formation of these mighty forests.

Travel through Port Campbell National Park, looking out for echidnas, wallabies, lizards and colourful birds which make their home in the coastal heathlands.

Linger a while to take in some of nature's handiwork at the Twelve Apostles and the Loch Ard Gorge. Hear stories about the terrible shipwrecks of the past.

Dinner and accommodation tonight are at our 4.5 star boutique property near Loch Ard Gorge.

Great Ocean Road

Well, I will be alone so we wil go pretty much where I want to go, so let's see how this ends up.
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Wednesday 3rd of August 2016 and my alarm went off at 7 o'clock and I was in the shower when they knocked on my door at 7 thirty. When they say breakfast at 7 thirty it is at 7 thirty and when I came out there was a plate with cold bacon, egg and 2 slices of toast.

I thought it would be starting at 7 thirty, never mind, I had not expected very much from Little River Bed & Breakfast. We were soon on our way and I hope we will get on the Great Ocean Road today.

And we had been on the way for 30 minutes or so when I saw a road sign saying “Great Ocean Road” So yes, it looks like we're going to make it today.

Echidna Walkabout, 3 Day Great Ocean Road
Yes, it looks like we're going to make it today

We were soon on the Great Ocean Road, finally. We entered Anglesea and we crossed the Anglesea River and we turned right in to the Coogoorah Park. We parked the car and we had not come out of the car before we discovered a Royal spoonbill. A bird I had high up on my wish list after the Yellow Water Billabong adventure in Kakadu national park.

I followed the Royal spoonbill as he took off when we approached and I saw where he landed. I got a few pictures and I continued on the walk path around the ponds. There were bridges to cross the water and it was a really nice place.

There were many birds and I spotted two birds that I had never seen before. The Purple swamphen, now called Australasian swamphen. And there was a very beautiful White-faced heron.

Coogoorah Park on Great Ocean Road
Coogoorah Park

Anglesea River on Great Ocean Road
Anglesea River

Coogoorah Park on Great Ocean Road
Coogoorah Park

Royal spoonbill, Platalea regia, Black-billed spoonbill

White-faced heron, White-fronted heron, Egretta novaehollandiae

Australasian swamphen, Porphyrio melanotus

Great Ocean Road
Leaving Anglesea behind

Great Ocean Road
Leaving Anglesea behind

Great Ocean Road
Approaching Aireys Inlet and we pass an Echidna warning sign

Great Ocean Road
We see the Aireys Inlet Lighthouse

We continued along the Great Ocean Road and next stop was a pond at Aireys Inlet. We reached Allen Noble Sanctuary just before the Aireys Inlet Lighthouse. We turned off Great Ocean Road and we parked the car and we went to explore the pond.

It was a beautiful place and it looked like a black swan was sitting on eggs on a nest in the middle of the pond. We left Aireys Inlet and Allen Noble Sanctuary. We drove along a beautiful road with gorgeous views. We passed a group of Sooty Oystercatchers and we stopped the van.

I got out of the van and I walked down to the beach and I got a few pictures of the beautiful Sooty Oystercatcher. We remember that I saw the birds in Kingscote the first time. But the bird was a little too far away. Now I came up close to the birds.

We were soon on our way again and when we passed through Lorne. Well, almost, we left Great Ocean Road and we drove up the mountain to Teddy's Lookout.

We had been driving up the mountain for a minute when our Guide spotted a Laughing Kookaburra. We stopped and I went out to take a few pictures.

Great Ocean Road
Leaving Aireys Inlet behind working our way south on Great Ocean Road

Great Ocean Road
Leaving Aireys Inlet behind working our way south on Great Ocean Road

Sooty Oystercatcher - Haematopus fuliginosus

Great Ocean Road
Leaving Aireys Inlet behind working our way south on Great Ocean Road

Laughing Kookaburra, Laughing jackass, Giant kingfisher, Nagaburra, Dacelo novaeguineae

Great Ocean Road - Teddy's Lookout
At Teddy's Lookout and now we're above the Koala looking down at her

Great Ocean Road - Teddy's Lookout
At Teddy's Lookout and now we're above the Koala looking down at her

Great Ocean Road - Teddy's Lookout
A rainbow at Teddy's Lookout

Great Ocean Road - Teddy's Lookout
Gloom and grey for long as we can see from Teddy's Lookout

Scarlet Robin , Common Australasian Robin , Petroica boodang

Great Ocean Road - Grand Pacific Hotel Lorne
Approaching Grand Pacific Hotel Lorne on Great Ocean Road

Great Ocean Road - Grand Pacific Hotel Lorne
Grand Pacific Hotel Lorne on Great Ocean Road when we leave Lorne behind

We got out of the car at Teddy's lookout and our Guide discovered a Kola in a tree top. And the tree was below us so we could study the koala from above. It was a beautiful view from Teddy's lookout, but as soon as we got out of the car the wind and rain came roaring in from the ocean.

So we were in a hurry to get back in to the car. But I got delayed by a Scarlet Robin . A beautiful bird we had seen before. But I was not satisfied with my pictures so I got delayed in the rain taking more pictures.

It was a strange weather, sunshine for 5 minutes, rain for 5 minutes and gloom and grey for 10 minutes and it continued like this during the day. But it was OK, actually, I never thought about it as there was so much to see. So never mind the weather.

They had booked our lunch in Lorne, but I told them to drop me at Kennett River and they could pick me up after lunch. So we drove towards Kennett River. We drove along a beautiful road with Great Ocean Road - Whale watchingthe sea crashing in on the shore line.
- Was that a whale? The Guide asked from behind the wheel
- Nah, it is a rock
- No, it looks like a whale
- Nah

AND YES! IT WAS A WHALE! Maybe 100 meters from the shore and the Southern Right whale was resting. We stopped and went out and we were soon to discover that the mother whale had a small baby next to her.

I have heard about whale watching on the Great Ocean Road but I had been looking for cruises. But they are doing it from shore as they also do in Cape Town, South Africa

And as I had done many whale watching trips on boats were you come up close and personal this have never been anything I have wanted to try. But this two whales were very close and we had a good look of the whales.

Great Ocean Road - Whale watching

Great Ocean Road - Whale watching

Great Ocean Road - Whale watching

Great Ocean Road - Whale watching

Great Ocean Road - Whale watching

Great Ocean Road - Whale watching

Great Ocean Road - Whale watching
Looks like the baby have the head on mommy's back

Great Ocean Road - Whale watching
We can see how small the baby is

Great Ocean Road
We continue towards Kennett River

Great Ocean Road
We continue towards Kennett River

Great Ocean Road

Great Ocean Road

Great Ocean Road
Road work

Great Ocean Road
Road work

Kennett River is the reason for me to be in Australia, well, not Australia, but on the Great Ocean Road. I had been search on where to find koalas in Australia. Kennett River came up and this is how I learned about the Great Ocean Road. Now I was finally here, the goal for my trip.

The first thing I see is a Laughing Kookaburra at the hamburger restaurant. And he was used to people so he was not scared. I was going up the hill, the “koala walk” and there were plenty birds begging for food from the tourists. Many beautiful parrots. The Australian king parrot, Crimson Rosella and the Sulphur-crested cockatoo.

And there were so many of them it was hard to pass them on the small road. I had walked for 20 minutes when I saw the first koala.

Laughing Kookaburra, Laughing jackass, Giant kingfisher, Nagaburra, Dacelo novaeguineae

Great Ocean Road - Koala in Kennet River
My first koala on Great Ocean Road

Great Ocean Road
My first koala on Great Ocean Road

Superb Fairywren, Superb Blue-wren, Blue Wren, Malurus cyaneus
Also known as the superb blue-wren or colloquially as the blue wren

Great Ocean Road
Can you see the koala in the top of the tree?

Great Ocean Road
I leave to road and I see this beauty. Nothing covering the koala
and I think this is my best koala picture so far in Australia

Great Ocean Road
View from Kennett River koala walk

Great Ocean Road
View from Kennett River koala walk

Sulphur-crested cockatoo, Cacatua galerita

Australian king parrot, Alisterus scapularis

Pied Currawong, Strepera graculina

Crimson Rosella - Platycercus elegans

Great Ocean Road
I'm back down from the koala walk
A lot of birds waiting for a snacks from the tourists

Koala at Great Ocean Road

Yes, I was happy to be here even though it was the “worst” place for seeing koalas and wild life. The birds were performing tricks for the tourists in order to get a snack. And no, it was not any one charging you for having a picture with the parrots. They were more or less attacking you to get a chance to sit on you.

Kennet River is the “compulsory” stop at the Great Ocean Road for the day tours. And they were all walking up the Koala walk and I never saw any one leaving the road. I was on the top of the road looking out over the ocean enjoying the views and that I had reached the goal for my trip.

The busses stopped for a few minutes and then they were off again. So they only had time for a short stop and they turned around 25 meters up the hill. And they were of course very happy to see the two koalas covered by leafs and branches.

I decided to help them and I took them off road to show them the best koala and they were all very happy to see “my” uncovered koala. And the ones that had been there during my stay were all giving me the thumbs up and a smile when they left in their busses

We continued along the Great Ocean Road and what a fantastic day it was. We reached Apollo Bay and we turned inland. We made a stop at a beautiful rain forest at Great Otway National Park and we did the Aire walk, 45 minutes’ walk in a beautiful forest. The battery in my camera was flat and I usually have a back-up battery in my pocket. But now I had forgot the battery in my back pack. Never mind, as I told my Guides, a picture will never give this place any justice.

Great Ocean Road
I gorgeous koala

Great Ocean Road
I gorgeous koala

Great Ocean Road
There is a second koala

Great Ocean Road
There is a second koala

Great Ocean Road

Great Ocean Road

Great Ocean Road

Great Ocean Road

Great Ocean Road

Great Ocean Road

Great Ocean Road

Great Ocean Road

Great Ocean Road

Great Ocean Road

Great Ocean Road

Great Ocean Road

Great Ocean Road

Great Ocean Road

Great Ocean Road

Great Ocean Road

Great Ocean Road

Great Ocean Road

Great Ocean Road

Great Ocean Road

Great Ocean Road

Great Ocean Road
We are on the way again

We were soon on our way again leaving the beautiful rainforest behind. We stopped to watch a koala, and it was like YAWN, yet another koala. But we were soon to discover that this was something quite unique to see.

We have seen millions of sleeping koalas but this one, there were two. One sitting, but the second koala was climbing around looking for the leafs. I was hanging in the smallest branches and we thought that he would fall down.

We even saw him jump between two branches. A on meter leap and as soon as the Guide told us that he was about to jump. I stopped to take pictures because this was something you wanted to see. And you didn't wanted to see it through the camera lens.

It was a FANTASTIC experience. This day have turned out just as I had expected the great Ocean Road to be. Just gorgeous, whales, koalas and beautiful views. This is what I paid 2500$ for, 3 days, now I will only get one day. Imagine if I could have had 3 days here!

We are approaching the 12 Apostles where I will stay overnight at the Loch Ard Bed & Breakfast.

Great Ocean Road
We had to measure the water depth before crossing the water

Great Ocean Road
We had to measure the water depth before crossing the water

Great Ocean Road
We had to measure the water depth before crossing the water

We drove along a river that was flooding and we saw plenty birds along the way. We also stopped to walk through some wet lands on a wooden walk path. The day was coming to an end and we would make one stop at the 12 Apostles for a quick view before going to the Loch Ard Bed & Breakfast where we will have dinner at 19:00. And as my Guide said, they are farmers so 19:00 is 19:00. Yes, like Sweden used to be, I said.

I was very happy with the day, as always when you have had a beautiful experience in the nature. A stop at the 12 Apostles was remaining and we will start tomorrow at the 12 Apostles.

But it was a good idea to stop at this spot of the 12 Apostles today. If we would have come here in the morning we would have had the sun against us. Now we were between the sun and the 12 Apostles, perfect. We were soon on our way to the Loch Ard Bed & Breakfast and we could see the farm from the 12 Apostles.

Great Ocean Road - 12 Apostles
Sun is setting over the 12 Apostles

Great Ocean Road - 12 Apostles
Sun is setting over the 12 Apostles

Great Ocean Road - 12 Apostles
12 Apostles

Great Ocean Road - 12 Apostles
12 Apostles

Great Ocean Road - 12 Apostles
12 Apostles

I had a beautiful room at the farm. I could see the 12 Apostles from my windows. But never mind the 12 Apostles, there were kangaroos on the field and they came closer to the house the darker it got. I decided to wake up early to go have a look around in the morning.

We had a good dinner at 7 and there was also an old couple from Tasmania living at Loch Ard Bed & Breakfast. And my Guides had their dinner there as well so we were plenty people for dinner.

Well, a beautiful day had come to an end and you just need to click HERE to find out about tomorrow's adventure. It promise to be good.

Sverigedemokraterna


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OK, it has come to my knowledge that we have senior citizens visiting my web page. How hard can it be? So it's not very easy for them to see the blue coloured links to the next page.
Jiffy (also jiff)

noun [in SING.] informal a moment: we'll be back in a jiffy.

ORIGIN late 18th cent.: of unknown origin.

So as you understand, in a jiff pretty much depends on your internet.
So I put a “Next” button here and I hope that there isn't any problem to understand how to use that one. So just CLICK the “Next” button on your left hand side and you will be on the next page in a jiff!

Marunong ka mag-tagalog? Walang problema! Magpunta sa kabilang pahina pindutin ang “NEXT” button sa itaas

Faites vous parlez le français? Pas de problème! Pour arriver à la page suivante faites s'il vous plaît un déclic le bouton “Next” ci-dessus!

Haga usted dice el español? No hay problema! Ver la siguiente página sólo hacer clic el botón “Next” encima!

Farla parla l'italiano? Non problemi! Per vedere la prossima pagina lo scatto per favore giusto Il bottone “Next” sopra

Sprechen sie Deutsch! Kein problem! Wenn Sie die folgende Seite sehen wollen gerade klicken der Knopf “Next” oben!

คุณพูดภาษาไทยได้ไหม ไม่มีปัญหา ถ้าคุณต้องการไปหน้าถัดไป ให้กดปุ่ม “Next” ข้างบนนี้

Вы говорите по-русски? NJET PROBLEMA! Просто нажмите синюю кнопку "Next" с левой стороны и Вы моментально переместитесь на следующую страницу!

E ni Svenskar och inte förstår Engelska så ska ni skämmas. J och Björn, med det menar jag inte att alla mina stavfel ska ältas varje gång vi träffas.

Flag of Skåne / Skånska flaggan Well, the flag of Skåne, just a BONUS flag.



                                       

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