And that’s just day four of our mini trip!

So, there was no time for lazying when we woke up after a good night of sleep! We had a good breakfast and packed up to hit the Great Ocean Road again!

I don’t know why, but a lot of people here in Québec seem to think that Australia is a dangerous country. When we left Canada to visit Oz, I thought that all these warnings from family and friends were just because they were jealous of us.

But to my surprise, signs like the following were not a rare sight:

 

 

”Unfortunately”, I didn’t have to face any danger during my three weeks of traveling. Nothing worse than a hungry flock of cockatoos! I wonder if I’ve just been lucky, or if Australians heard about foreigners’ fears, and decided to play along.

Anyway… We still had a couple of stops along the coast, mainly to see the Twelve Apostles. The famous rock formations standing in the water, not far from the shore were much more impressive than I would have imagined. And the greyish weather just made their orange color stand out over the turquoise water…

Just like the day before, every place we stopped were pretty much tourist-free, and we enjoyed the walks as if we were the only ones enjoying the beautiful views.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We took a quick break in an interpretation center that was selling different goods from local producers… I wanted to get a little sweet something for Miriam, to thank her and Doug for the wonderful time we were having.

Turns out, our hosts had planned to take us to the very place where our treats had been made. So, since we all had a taste in the car, decision was made to skip the stop at the chocolate factory.

 

I don’t have a sweet tooth, but the ginger chocolates were to die for!

 

Instead, we headed straight to (drumroll please) Apostle Whey Cheese Factory!

The profound love for cheese (any and all kinds of cheese) is something I didn’t know I share with Miriam, and we were like 6 years old girls stepping in a candy store.

 

Look at the grin on Miriam’s face… Someone’s just waiting to get a taste!!

 

I swear, the only reason the room is so empty is the ”just before covid-19 crisis” timing. 

 

 

Like me, you’ve probably heard about fine Australian wines. But I had never read about Aussie cheese makers… And believe me, they make heavenly cheese! We had the chance to have a private tasting, and got to rate our favorites. (it was hard, but the blue cheese won, in my opinion)

The next picture was taken in Apostle Whey Cheese’s bathroom. I won’t lie, I had good giggles while washing my hands. For a North-American, the sign is just absurd, but I was told (when I managed to catch my breath) that tourists from some Asian countries actually did climb on the toilet to do what they had to do. And broke toilet seats…

 

It’s still funny to me!

 

Next, we drove straight to… The rainforest, nothing less! (I think at this point, I started thinking that Miriam would eventually make me run out of amazement. She was about to break my ability to get amazed!) Rainforest had always rhymed with South America to me. I didn’t expect to experience a walk in the middle of such luxuriant flora… And I want to appologize, I could never do justice to the place with a couple of pictures, but I tried!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Miriam, is this a ”When are these clowns going back to Canada, again?” look? LOL

 

And it was time to find our home for the night… Kenneth River Holiday Park

 

 

Now, I have to say that the thing at the very top of my ”to do” list for this mini trip, was to see a wild koala. I knew I’d get to see some of the furry grey balls in zoos, or reserves. But I had to see at least one, in the wild.

A couple days back (the same place where the magpies had teamed up to steal my sandwich) Doug had spotted one for me. But I was still waiting to spot one on my own… And just after taking the above picture, I told our hosts that I was planning on doing just that, as they were walking to the check-in desk.

And guess what! In the tree just next to the entry of the park, a big koala sat on a branch, doing what it does best (nothing at all). I went crazyyyyyyy! My age took a trip down the elevator again, and when Doug and Miriam came out again, I was happy dancing like a kid.

 

OMG! Isn’t this little guy the cutest???

 

But!! It’s not the end of the story… As I was snapping as many pictures I could, Mr. Koala decided to get down from his tree.

 

 

I’m sorry for the shaking picture, I was sooooooooooo excited. What you can’t see on the video (because I stopped filming just in time) is that the little guy just walked by me, and I got to pat its back gently as it crossed the road. Miriam, I know you have a video of this… Please send it to me, I’d love to add it to this post, if you don’t mind, of course!!

Giving a wild koala a pat, check!!

It was time for dinner, and after our stop at the cheese factory, it just seemed fair that we did justice to all the local products we had gathered along the way. You are allowed to drewl. I am, thinking about that à la bonne franquette feast.

 

Quince past… Oh yeah, baby!!

 

We were told, while setting our little camp, that there were a couple of koalas in the area. In the area? We found out they were all in the trees above our camping site. And since Australia had obviously decided to give me the total experience, we got to witness a Mr Koala wanting to get busy with a cute Miss Koala. (and let’s just say that only by the vocal response, I think she wasn’t feeling the same way)

 

 

After a while, she decided to use her day’s worth of energy to flee the scene…

 

 

After eating more than our share of fine cheese and fresh bread, we needed a little walk.

 

It wouldn’t have been a good walk without birdies tagging along.

 

The famous kookaburra (or laughing jackass)

 

 

 

 

Look at that smile… Wouldn’t you follow it blindly too?

 

 

 

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You can catch up with the beginning of our camping trip by visiting the following links:

Don’t bite the hand…

Mackenzie Falls…

The great Great Ocean Road…