Back to Melbourne via the Great Ocean Road

The next day we visited Rohan's sister in Warrnambool. Warrnambool is a lovely small town on the water. It is situated on the south-west coast of Victoria, near the western end of the Great Ocean Road. It is known for whale watching from June to September. Southern Right whales swim only a hundred meters from the beach. You can also see seals and dolphins. We went for a walk to see the beautiful coastline.

We drove through the Great Ocean Road quite quickly and didn't stop to see everything this time. The road was as winding as I remembered. The first stop was the Bay of Islands that really takes your breath away. Pictures don't really do justice, and that is why I have a video for you people (below)!

Loch Ard Gorge is my favourite place on the Great Ocean Road. It was named after one of the most infamous shipwrecks in the area. 52 people were killed and only two miraculously survived. Tom was washed into the Loch Ard Gorge and saved Eva, who couldn't swim. The story is tragic but really fascinating.

The 12 Apostles was as packed with tourists as usual. 

The Great Ocean Road is one of the things you shouldn't miss when you travel to Melbourne. But one or two days on the road is not enough. I've been there twice now but still there are places that I haven't seen and would like to go back to. Rainforests, beaches, holiday towns, wildlife, not to mention the stunning coastline. 

The same day we were back in Melbourne. After two months on the road it felt really strange to be home, although I did enjoy the relative warmth of my apartment. Melbourne was getting ready for winter and I had to start preparing for leaving Australia, my second home.

Anna in Wonderland - The Grampians part II

We spent two days in the Grampians. Spectacular cliffs, weird rock formations, lots of wildlife, waterfalls, lakes, forests, beautiful walks...

The second day we did the Wonderland walk around the Pinnacle lookout (below). The walk was long, around 10 km but the views over Halls Gap were absolutely breathtaking!

It was sunny but the weather was really chilly so I had to borrow Rohan's clothes to stay warm. After all, I had only packed tiny clothes for the tropical weather of Queensland! The next night I was shivering from cold the whole night despite wearing 5 LAYERS of clothes!

The morning before we left we saw a pack of kangaroos and emus by a lake. One of the kangaroos had a baby joey in her pouch.

Katso kenguru loikkii... Did you know that kangaroos use their tails as an extra leg? And they can't move backwards!

The Grampians were impressive and I could have spent more time there, at least if I had had some warm clothes with me. But it was time to move on, back to Melbourne via the Great Ocean Road!