Back on the Mainland

When we got back to the mainland after Tassie and picked up our van rental for the second time we ended up with the exact same van - Bluey. Well, almost exact as she was now missing a rear bumper.  Apparently the previous renters had a spot of trouble.  We headed up the famous Great Ocean Road which had been reopened after the terrible Christmas Day fires when 120 homes were lost.   Here the fire made it right to the beach - it would have been scary.

This is the third time we have driven this highway and it really is one of the world's beautiful drives.  However we were definitely spoiled by the pristine beaches and views of Tasmania and it didn't have quite the same impact.  Still, it really is stunning.

And we finally saw kangaroos in the wild!  From the deck area of the campsite we watched a mob of between 80 - 100 out in a field.  No pics to prove it as they were too far off in the distance.  However the next campsite had very cute visitors hanging out in the trees.  I had a sore neck from looking up! 

Mom and Babe  - great way to start a day seeing these two. 

Next stop was in the heart of the Coonawarra Wine region and several stops to taste the vino.  The region is also home to a World Heritage site -  the Naracoorte Fossil Mammal Caves.  The stalagmites and 'tites shone like crystal and created a cathedral like atmosphere. That impressed me. For the kids on the tour they were entralled by the fossil skeletons some of which are 500,000 years old.  They've discovered tens of thousands of specimens and over 120 vertebrate species.  

We had a great campsite and the local white cockatoos also thought it was a good home and hung out in all the trees.  Yup- they can be extremely loud but are still an exotic novelty to us.  

We've had some fantastic campsites and the amenities are usually wonderful.  But we found not all sites are created equal and this one was utterly charmless and depressing.  We'd taken the high online ratings at face value and booked for two nights. Left after one night and ironically it has been the most expensive site to date.  Live and learn. 

Camping hell!

Next stop is McLaren Vale and more researching of the red grape.