Taylors in Oz, Part 2

My parents really like to travel. They are also retired, so they have ample time to travel. This past month they came down to Australia for the second time. They were here last March for three weeks and spent the entire time in Victoria. This trip they were in Australia for about three weeks again, but I had a huge report due in the middle of their visit, so they went to Tasmania, rented a campervan and drove around for ten days.  They had a fabulous time and I really wish Ross and I could have tagged along for that part of their trip but work got in the way (like always).  That being said we did have some good weekend adventures on either side of their Tassie adventure.

Flying Fox at Yarra Bend Park, Melbourne

The first weekend that my parents were in Melbourne was Labour Day weekend, so I had a three-day weekend. We didn't do a whole lot as my parents were still getting over jet-lag but we did take advantage of the nice weather. Following Quaker meeting on Sunday, we spent a very pleasant afternoon walking around the St. Kilda Botanical Garden. As it is late summer here, the roses were all blooming and the gardens were gorgeous.

On Monday, we took a tram a ways north and then walked along the Yarra River to Abbotsford Convent. It is an art center rather than an active convent at this point but the grounds are gorgeous and there are some good cafes. From there we caught a train back into the CBD (aka - downtown) and then walked over to and around the Royal Botanical Garden for a bit.

On Tuesday it was back to work for me and off to Tassie for my parents.  In the next week and a half, I spent way too many hours at work but we got our report out when we needed to, so there's that at least, plus my parents had a fabulous time in Tassie.

My parents arrived back in Melbourne on a Friday evening. Ross and I met them at the airport and picked up a rental car. I had taken the following Monday and Tuesday off, so we were off on adventures in eastern Victoria. On Saturday morning, we started off with a stop at the Flying Fox colony along the Yarra, which hosts 30,000-50,000 bats during the summer. I don't think that there were that many when we visited but it was still quite impressive. It had been raining a bit that morning so the flying foxes were all awake and squeaking.

My mom had requested to get into the mountains a bit, so from the flying foxes, we headed to Mt. Buller, which is the closest ski resort to Melbourne. My co-workers had mentioned that there was really good hiking in the area, so I had mistakenly assumed that meant that Mt. Buller was somewhat remote and not over-developed. While there were very good views from the ski resort, it was significantly more developed than we had been expecting so we didn't hang around for too long.

Pied Currawong

We spent a very pleasant evening in Jamieson, a small rural town in a scenic valley. It was so quiet and the stars were incredible. Plus we woke up to the sound of kookaburras in the trees. You don't get much more Australian than that.

Sulfur-crested Cockatoo in Jamieson

King Parrot in Jamieson

From there we were heading to Wilson's Promontory National Park. We stopped at a petrol station to fill up and I started talking to the proprietor. He gave us directions for a more scenic route to Wilson's Prom. We all clearly misunderstood his directions because we ended up driving about 50 km down a dirt road that ended up turning into a 4-wheel drive track. Once we were headed in the correct direction again, we ended up spending most of the day in the car on route to Wilson's Prom. We finally arrived and were very pleasantly surprised to find that the cabin we had rented for the evening was stunningly gorgeous. Definitely the best park housing that I have ever stayed in.

Common Wombat at Wilson's Prom

Swamp Wallaby at Wilson's Prom

Crimson Rosella at Wilson's Prom

Ross admiring the view from our cabin in Wilson's Prom

Sunset from Tidal River, Wilson's Prom

Sunset from Tidal River, Wilson's Prom

The next day (Monday) we checked in at the visitor centre (it had been closed when we arrived) to see if we could stay another night but unfortunately the cabins were all booked for that night. It was incredibly windy and threatening rain so Ross and I walked out to Squeaky Beach while my parents hung out at the general store with cups of coffee. Ross and I managed to make it back to the general store before the pouring rain and hail started. So, following lunch, we headed back to Melbourne and got my parents settled into their AirBnB.

On Tuesday we drove east of Melbourne into the Dandenong Mountain Range and went to the Dandenong Ranges Botanic Garden. The garden is best known for its rhododendrons which we were about 6 months too early to see (they peak in October here) but the autumn flowers were gorgeous. There were also some trees that were starting to turn colours for autumn. Ross and I will definitely have to go back in October for all of the spring flowers.

From the botanic garden we headed back to Melbourne with a stop at Costco for good measure. It was our first Australia Costco experience and it was rather surreal. You would be walking down as aisle, surrounded by items you would find in any US Costco and then there would be a giant tub of Vegemite or Tim Tams or coffins (not even kidding on this one).  Good times, good times.

We were finally able to get my parents out to the St. Kilda penguin colony this year. Last year we had tried a couple times, but it was a lot warmer and there were still a lot of tourists around so we always ended up turning back. This year we went on a blustery day when there were very few tourists but tons of penguins.

After a couple more dinners with my parents, it was time to send them on their way back to Kansas. It was fabulous to see them both, explore some new parts of Australia and just catch up. All of the best until next time.

Holy Spider, Batman!

Last Saturday (26 January) was Australia Day.  It recognizes the day that the First Fleet (aka - boats full of British convicts) landed at Port Jackson in New South Wales and raised the flag of Great Britain in 1788. It is celebrated in a similar manner to the 4th of July in the US - barbecues, fireworks, general frivolity, etc. It's also a national holiday and if it happens to fall on the weekend, we get the following Monday off. There is also some controversy around celebrating it on January 26th, as most of the First Nations people view that as the day that the British invaded Australia. So in that regard, it is similar to the controversy surrounding Columbus Day in the US. Rather than delve into the politics of it all, I'll tell you how Ross and I spent the three-day weekend.

Mount Buffalo National Park

We both wanted to get out of Melbourne for the long weekend so we rented a car and went to Mount Buffalo National Park, which is located about 4 hours northeast of Melbourne in the Australian Alps. It was the first time that either of us had been to that mountain range and we were both blown away by how beautiful it was. Plus we really lucked out with our timing of this trip because there were so many wildflowers. We're already trying to figure out when we can go back. Plus there is cross-country skiing and snowshoeing in the winter, so we will definitely have to get up there this winter for some snow play.

On Saturday it had been almost 100 F on the valley floor but by the time drove up to the park (1,200 meters higher in elevation), it had cooled down to a much more pleasant 80 F. We hiked into the remote campsite at Mount Mcloed, dropped our packs and then hiked up Mount Mcloed. The hike to the campsite was through the forest with no overlooks, so we really appreciated the 360 degree views from Mount Mcloed.  After soaking in the views, we hiked back down, set up our trusty tent and made dinner.

White-eared Honeyeater

On top of Mt Mcleod

It ended up raining a bunch over the night which was fine by me because 1) it become significantly cooler (approx. 60 degrees) and 2) the eucalyptus forest that we were hiking through smelled amazing.  It rained off and on for our whole hike back to the car but we saw a ton of birds and generally enjoyed the cooler weather. 

Crimson Rosellas - the green ones are females and the red and purple blur is a male.

Superb Lyrebird

Once we made it back to the trailhead, we drove down to Lake Catani and set up our tent in the campground there.  We decided to have lunch at the campground and realized that we had picked up a hitchhiker at some point. Ross had opened the back hatch and was digging some stuff out of his bag when he suddenly jumped backwards from the car. I came over to see what was up.  There was a small (by Aussie standards, huge by anyone else's standards) Huntsman on the inside of the hatch, about 6 inches from where Ross's head had been. 

Scuttling along...

After getting some pictures, we both agreed that we had to get it out of the car. Can you imagine driving along and finding that it your lap?!? We managed to get it out with minimal squealing and running away from the car when it hit the ground and scuttled underneath it. In my defense, I was not the only one running away...

After that we drove to the south end of the park and hiked up the Horn.  It was socked in but still had great views. We decided that, if it wasn't cloudy on Monday, we needed to come back.

Looking south from the Horn

Looking north from the Horn

Once we made it back to the campground we walked around the lake, had dinner and then enjoyed a fabulous sunset.

Female (L) and male (R) Crimson Rosellas 

Lake Catani

Sunset on Lake Catani

On Monday we had been planning on doing a 12 km hike but we slept in a bit later than we had intended to and decided to just do a couple short hikes instead - we did still have a 4-hour drive back to Melbourne after all.  We started off by going back up the Horn again. To say that it was a totally different view than we'd had on Sunday would be putting it mildly.

After spending a lot of time up on the Horn, we hiked out to the Dicksons Falls lookout.  It was a nice, flat walk but there were so many flies. So many flies. And, after the Horn, the lookout was not super impressive.

Following a quick lunch at Dingo Dell, we drove back to Melbourne. After the cooler temperatures in the mountains, I was not super thrilled to go back to the high 90s F in Melbourne but it was nice to have escaped to the mountains for the weekend.  As I said, we both want to go back and explore the alpine area more so watch for more mountain adventures!

Random Australian fun fact: Melbourne was founded by John Batman in 1835, though he wanted to call it Batmania (you're welcome for that nugget of knowledge). There is a Batman Park in downtown Melbourne and I always kind of chuckle when I go by it on the tram.