We’re relieved that Lorraine has recovered so well following our car accident, and we have returned to a busy touring schedule.
No trip to Australia would be complete without a trip to a wildlife sanctuary, and we travelled to the Healesville Sanctuary to seek out some of Australia’s finest. It took us just over an hour to drive out to Healesville, and we enjoyed the relaxing drive through the beautiful countryside scenery en route to the sanctuary. Healesville is located in the Yarra Valley outside of Melbourne, and is renowned for its vineyards, orchards and farming communities. The temperature reached 35 degrees on the day that we were exploring the sanctuary. Although we were able to witness a spectacular wild bird of prey demonstration earlier in the day, we found that a lot of the animals (kangaroos included) were hiding in the shade to escape the heat. The koala pictured above was enjoying a leisurely afternoon nap on the tree as they and their animal friends were sprayed occasionally by mist machines located strategically throughout the sanctuary.
On pancake Tuesday (February 13th) temperatures soared even higher to 38 degrees, and we were invited to lunch at cousin Glenda and Geoff’s place in Ringwood. We were challenged to a game of scrabble, and as we played, a massive thunderstorm broke out. Darren, Glenda’s son, walked over to the corner store while we were playing scrabble (prior to the storm), but returned completely soaked from the rain. When we returned to our apartment in Burwood the power was out so, unfortunately, we were unable to cook our pancakes as we normally do on pancake Tuesday (we had to wait until Thursday). Luckily, we carry emergency lighting with us when we travel because the power did not come on again until 5:30 the next morning.
When we travelled up to Yarra Junction and the village of Noojee (also in the Yarra Valley) the following day, we learned that the power was still out in those communities. In fact, it took over a week for the people in those communities to regain their electricity. Ouch! A trip to the Sanders apple orchard and a picnic lunch in the quaint village of Noojee were highlights that we experienced on our second trip to the Yarra Valley.
Australia is renowned for its beaches and most of the people of Australia live within easy driving distance of a beach. In the city of Melbourne, St. Kilda’s beach is a favourite spot frequented by the locals. We enjoyed exploring the esplanade running beside St. Kilda beach, but we did not appreciate the crazy rush hour traffic that we encountered on our trip back home to our apartment.
The Great Ocean Road is a route that we included on our “must do” list for our trip to the Melbourne area. The road from Torquay to Port Campbell features breathtaking scenery as millions of tourists (and a multitude of tour busses and vans) follow this popular route. The drive reminds us very much of the Cabot Trail on Cape Breton Island, because the road winds directly beside the ocean with many sharp curves and steep cliffs. The road also passes through a heavily forested region of Ottway National Park. One could easily spend an entire week exploring the area surrounding the Great Ocean Road, but we chose to travel the road in one day. We left our apartment at 9:00 in the morning and did not return until 10:30 that evening. Fortunately, we were blessed with fabulous weather for the entire drive, and were able to take lots of photos.
Time continues to pass very quickly for us on this trip, and we look forward to experiencing as much of the rural and urban highlights of the Melbourne region before we travel to Queensland next month.
Photos:
1. Surgical Team Operates on a Bunny at the Healesville Sanctuary
No. 6-10: The Great Ocean Road
6. Near the Village of Lorne
