Australia Day

It is summertime at our house but the 4th of July is nowhere to be found... The next best thing? An Australia Day barbie with the locals! Australia Day is Australia's National Holiday that celebrates the landing of the First Fleet and England claiming Australia as its own. In reality, it feels a lot like the 4th of July - Friends, food and fun all under the hot, summer sun! Today we had a few families over to celebrate in true Aussie style. Ironically, we had a good mix of Americans (we do have the largest family), Brits and Aussies. We had a great time!

Fun in the pool. Great to have friends enjoying our pool with us on this very hot day.
My little Aussie in training LOVED her Pavlova for dessert (she even licked the plate). After all, we could not have an Aussie celebration without a true Aussie dessert. Yum Yum!

It has been a long day with lots of fun and activity. When I walked inside to check where most of the kids had gone and found this,I knew the end of our fun was coming near...

Happy Australia Day!

The end of the Road - Warnambool

At the end of the week we reached Warnambool. It is a great town. A lot bigger than the other towns along the GOR - more of a city really. Our hotel was right near the beach and a fabulous park. We settled in to the apartment which was thankfully dry and warm! When we woke up, there were dry skies - even a little sunshine! Hurray! After breakfast we headed to Flagstaff Hill Maritime Village. We had such a great time. The Village was a wonderful historic village modeled after a typical 1870's village along the coast. They had a fun treasure hunt for the kids where they had to go to the different shops and solve riddles, etc. to get the next clue. They learned a lot about the "shipwreck coast" as this area in called. In fact, after dark, we returned for their laser show which was all about one of the ship that crashed here. What a fun time. I was really glad we made a stop here.


Before dinner, we took a little walk to the beach just by the hotel. There was an island that you could cross over too with walking trails. For the first time on this trip, we really saw the stunning beauty of the area. The color of the water was amazing - it really was picture perfect! A great way to end our vacation.

The Great Ocean Road, Part 3

Our time in Apollo Bay was done and it was time to drive the second half of the road which includes the most famous scenery. On our list was the 12 Apostles, the London Bridge, the Grotto and more. The weather remained uncooperative but we made the best of it. We took turns getting out to look at some points while we all ventured out in the rain at a few. A disappointment for sure but at least we still were able to see something. And in the end, the fog and the rain added its own eery beauty to the coast.

Gideon's steps

The Twelve Apostles

London Bridge (has fallen down)
The Grotto

At last we reached our end to the Great Foggy Ocean Road and landed in Warrnambool. Again the rain thwarted our plans of exploring the extinct volcano and exploring some bushwalks at Temple Hill. Nevertheless, we where now at the centre of the Shipwreck Coast. Ahead, a visit to Flaggstaff Historic Maritime Village and a chance to explore Warnambool before heading home.

The Great Ocean Road, Part 2

Day two along the Great Ocean Road found us in Apollo Bay. Our plan was to take advantage of the beautiful walks in the rainforest and to check out the Cape Otway lighthouse. It was raining so hard when we woke up that getting to breakfast turned out to be feat #1 for the day. After that we went back to the hotel and played games in the room for a while because the rain was coming down so hard. Finally it eased a bit and we decided to venture out to the lighthouse. We started our drive....


Somewhere along the way, the fog once again began to lift. As we turned off the highway towards Cape Otway, we had been told to look for koalas. We hit the jackpot! We counted 71 koalas in about a 1 K section of road. What a treat. After our previous koala hunt that was mostly thwarted by the fog, the kids were thrilled. Even W was able to spot them and enjoy the great Koala hunt.


Once we reached the lightstation, the rain had stopped altogether and we were able to enjoy the old telegraph station, climbing the lighthouse, and the beautiful grounds around them. There was a bit of walk between the different buildings and we really noticed how much W has grown. She walked the whole way and did not need to go in the carrier once. It turned out to be a lovely excursion!

The Great Ocean Road, Part 1

After leaving Phillip Island, we headed towards Torquay to the start of the famous Great Ocean Road (GOR). And then it started to rain.... and rain... and rain. While parts of Australia North of us were completely underwater, we were getting drenched down South as well. It certainly changed the mood of our trip. We were looking forward to stopping and sticking our toes in the sand at as many beaches as possible. Instead, we just did our best to stay warm and dry.

We stayed one night in Torquay and fortunately the hotel had a lovely (heated) pool. The kids got in lots of swimming in the afternoon and again in the evening. We saw very little of Torquay but we had fun.

The next morning we started our drive. Our first stop in the rain was the famous Bells Beach. A well known surfing beach and the site of the Bells Beach Surf Classic each year, it was a pretty beach with nice big waves. I did make the kids put down their itouches and get out to take in the view. They were none too happy at first but warmed up to it all as they started watching the surfers. Good thing too because as the fog thickened up, it was the last water we saw for a while!

Our next stop was Angelsea Golf Course to see the famous kangaroos that roam the course.

After Angelsea we drove through to Lorne for lunch and then carried on to Apollo Bay. Sadly some of the notorious look out points were so thick with fog that we could not see much at all. We did stop for a quick look at the Split Point Lighthouse.

There were lots of signs along the way that I could not help but snap photos of as we drove. These are a couple that made me chuckle.

Here in Australia, cutting down or damaging trees in any way is taken very seriously. Still, this sign made us laugh.


The GOR is clearly a tourist attraction world wide. Lest you forget where you are, these signs are posted regularly all along the highway.

I snapped this photo as we dove into one of the main sections of the road. You can see how the fog is starting to thicken by the haze in the picture.


As we rounded one bend, the fog lifted a bit and we caught a glimpse of the water.

Our last stop before hitting the hotel in Apollo Bay was the Kennett River. This is a road through the forest that is meant to be great for spotting koalas. The conditions were not great for a koala hunt on this day!

Again, we found a few spots where the fog was not as thick and we were able to spot a few. If you look closely in this picture, you will see a momma koala with a baby on her back.

It was a wet foggy day but we made it to Apollo Bay in the end. We were hopeful that the rest of the trip would prove to be a bit better...

Vacation in Victoria

We just returned from a vacation down South in Victoria. We flew into Melbourne's Avalon airport and headed straight to Phillip Island to our hotel. We spent the next day exploring Churchill Island and the Nobbies back on Phillip Island. We finished off the evening watching the amazing penguin parade.

Churchill Island

This is a historic working farm. The kids enjoyed walking through the buildings from the 1800's and then checking out all the farm animals.

The farm also had hands-on farm demonstrations. The kids tested their hands at milking cows and had plenty of pats with the horses, sheep and goats. They also had lots of fun just running through the grass and playing!

The Nobbies

A lovely walk down to the water in an area with lots of rocks where seals can sometimes be found. We did not see any but we were still able to enjoy the view.

The Penguin Parade

We were not allowed to take pictures so these are a few I found online. The penguins were amazing. First we watched them come out of the water and waddle up the beach. Suddenly there were hundreds of penguins surrounding us. They then started to work their way up the beach to find their crying babies in their burrows. It was such a neat thing to watch!

You can see the platform here where we were seated. The penguins came through here exactly as they did in the picture. What a great view for these cute little animals.


Our time on Phillip Island was one of the highlights of our trip. We had fine weather and were able to really enjoy the things we saw. Now - on to drive The Great Ocean Road.