Snorkeling in the Great Barrier Reef

Sunday was Tom's birthday (and Valentine's Day).  We were also going to go snorkeling on the Great Barrier Reef, something we were all looking forward to.  We started the day with breakfast in bed for Tom (a family tradition).  Then we were off to board our boat for snorkeling.  The boat was much bigger than I expected.  It held several hundred people.  We had originally planned on going to Australia over Christmas, but Tom had to work.  I thought Chinese New Year would be better because Christmas, being in the middle of its summer, is a huge travel time for Australians.  I hadn't thought about the fact that over CNY, Australia would be full of Chinese tourists.  Our boat had 3 levels, with the top deck having by far the least inside seating.  About an hour into our trip, they made an announcement they were going to do demonstrations on how to use the snorkeling equipment, with Chinese explanations on the first 2 decks and English on the top deck.  A few people came up to the top deck, there were only about 30 non-Chinese customers total.  It took us about 2.5 hours to get out to the area of the Moore Reef where we were snorkeling.  The kids were very excited to get started.  Charlotte was nervous about using her snorkeling gear, but they both figured out how to breathe quickly.  

The morning boat leaving the snorkeling site

All ready to go

Tom and Charlotte head off

Break for lunch

We had a great time!  The fish and coral were amazing.  Unfortunately, we weren't able to get good pictures of what we saw, but it was beautiful.  We saw many different kinds of fish, including clown fish, black and white striped fish, and huge green and purple fish.  It was also amazing how at the edge of the reef the coral would just drop off 50 feet straight down in the ocean like a cliff.  We took a break for lunch, then took a ride in a glass bottomed boat, and took one more turn snorkeling.  We had 5 hours at the reef, but it went quickly.  We had a wonderful time!

Otway Treetop Walk and Triplet Falls

We spent the next day driving back to Melbourne.  Instead of driving back along the Great Ocean Road and seeing the same things again, we took an inland route that is faster and straighter.  We made a detour in the morning to visit Otway Treetop Adventure Park.  It is located in the rainforests of Otway National Park.  There is a path that winds through the rainforest floor and then there is a treetop walk where you walk on an elevated walkway through the forest.  They have a tower you can climb to get to the top of the canopy.  It was a lot of stairs, and a long way down.  The kids thought it was great fun, but my heart was definitely beating a little faster at the top.  They also had a cantilever walkway, which means it is only anchored at one end.  It moved a little too much for my liking and was a little unsettling knowing there was nothing supporting it from underneath.

Huge trees!

Tower to the canopy

Cantilever-no support on the end

After we left Otway, we drove to the nearby Triplet Falls.  Tom had noticed a sign when we arrived and wanted to check it out.  There was a short hike to several different lookout spots to see the falls.  The area was experiencing a drought.  We actually saw many areas on the Great Ocean Road that had fallen victim to forest fire.  I had read that the fires had closed parts of the road over the Christmas holidays.  I imagine the waterfall is normally more plentiful, but it was still pretty and very calming listening to the rushing water.

This tree is probably about 300 years old

Checking to see if the Berenstain Bears are inside

In front of Triplet Falls. 

Then we headed back to Melbourne to spend the night.

Great Ocean Road

I wanted to spend at least a day or two driving the Great Ocean Road.  Tom volunteered to drive it (instead of going on a tour bus) so we could go at our own pace and do the things that were most interesting to our family.

We started our day at Bells Beach in Torquay.  Bells Beach is a well known surfers beach and hosts the Rip Curl surfing competition each year.  We quickly saw why the beach was popular with surfers.  It had very strong waves and a strong undercurrent.  The kids took turns getting drenched by the waves while Tom held onto them very tightly.  They also had fun playing in the sand.

Bells Beach

Tom and Charlotte splash in the waves while Tommy plays in the sand.  

Then we drove to the town of Anglesea where we stopped for lunch and went to the golf course.  The golf course is famous because there are several mobs of kangaroos that have made their home there.  At any time, there are around 350 kangaroos living on the golf course.  They spend most of their day lounging around under the trees.  The kangaroos are free to come and go as they like, but probably because of the safety of the course (there are a few busy roads nearby) they choose to live there.  Several of the kangaroos had tags on their ears.  The local university has been studying the kangaroos there for years trying to learn more about their habits.  Each mob has 1 dominant male kangaroo, the lifespan of the males is shorter than the females, mainly because of fighting for that top ranking.  We saw a couple joeys, but none that were still little enough to be in their momma's pouch. Overall, they were pretty cute and it was neat to occasionally see one of them hopping away.

lunch

checking out the kangaroos

 

After Anglesea, it was a long drive to our final destination, Port Campbell.  The Great Ocean Road is beautiful, but it sure is curvy.  We would see multiple road signs that would have a picture of a curvy road and say next 38 km or next 25 km.  We also saw signs constantly that reminded you that in Australia they drive on the left.  We didn't see these very often on other roads in Australia.  Also, the Great Ocean Road is primarily two lanes.  Every once in a while there would be passing areas, where the slower driver was to pull over to the left and let faster cars behind them pass.  Before the passing lane, there would be multiple signs saying "Be considerate of other drivers".  I thought it was interesting the system was set up for the slower driver to be the one to concede instead of in the US where a passing lane would be set up for the passing driver to make their move.  Overall, we found the people in Australia very polite.

Sign reminding you to drive on the left

 The road had many lookout areas to pull over and admire the view.  We took advantage of these to get a good look as well as to give Tom a break from the stress of driving on the opposite side of a curvy road.  One place we stopped had hundreds and hundreds of rock piles.  I have no idea how the tradition started, but it was kind of fun thing to stop and see and, of course, we had to add one of our own.

Beautiful views

Hundreds of rock piles along the beach

Tom had to add one of his own

Tommy and Charlotte added their own finishing touches

Finally we reached Port Campbell, our final destination (The GOR continues all the way to Adelaide, but we didn't have time (or the desire) to go that far.  In Port Campbell, we stopped to see the 12 Apostles.  The 12 Apostles are huge limestone rocks that protrude out of the ocean.  They have been formed by erosion over time.  There are actually only 8 of them, the 9th collapsed in 2005.  There were only ever 9, but were named the 12 Apostles for touristy reasons anyway.  They were beautiful to see, especially in the late afternoon sun.

Tommy and Charlotte in front of some of the 12 Apostles

Finally, we checked into our hotel and went into town to get some dinner.  Tom decided he was going to order kangaroo steak to honor our visit to the golf course earlier.  The kangaroo was a little chewy, very similar to a low quality beef steak.  Overall it was a great day.

Koalas, racing, and farm

After the penguins, we spent the night on Phillip Island.  There are quite a few other attractions on the island so we thought we would make a day of it.  First thing we did was go to the koala conservation center.  They have koalas living in 2 separate groups. (The males have to be separated).  I knew they lived in trees, but it was amazing to see a koala sound asleep in the crook of a tree 20 feet off the ground.  Koalas sleep up to 20 hours a day, so most of them were asleep, but we were lucky to see 2 of them awake, eating, and moving around.  There are rangers at the conservation center that go around every hour and move special signs to where the koalas are located.  This makes them much easier to find.

Ready to see the koalas

Hanging out in the trees

Koala eating lunch

There was a whole group of wallabies living in the koala center

After we left the koala center, we went to the Grand Prix Circuit.  Tom had noticed it on the map right away and really wanted to make a visit.  You can hear the race cars from all over the island.  Phillip Island hosts racing events and there are drivers practicing on a regular basis.  They also have a go-cart track, but the kids weren't tall enough to do it.  We had a good time sitting and watching the racers until they stopped for lunch.  We decided it was time for us to leave and get lunch as well.  

Future race car driver?

Practicing his game face

Watching the racers

The turnstiles were from the 1956 Olympics in Melbourne

After lunch, we went to Churchill Island Heritage Farm, a historic working farm.  We got to watch a cow getting milked and both the kids got to have a go.  We also saw them shear a sheep.  I had never seen that before and was surprised and how roughly they handled the sheep (although it makes sense, they probably aren't very cooperative).  We also saw a horse whip demonstration and looked at the historic house.  We also made a brief stop at the Chocolate Factory (we decided to skip the tour and just buy some chocolate at the store) before leaving Phillip Island.  

Charlotte milking a cow

Tommy's turn

Sheep shearing

We had a couple hour drive to Geelong to spend the night which is near the start of the Great Ocean Road.  We ordered a pizza when we got to our hotel.  I had ordered a meat pizza and was surprised when it arrived loaded with meat and almost no cheese.  We saw this shredded ham at several pizza places on our trip, but never a pizza with this much meat.  Overall, it was a fun but very long day.

Flight to Melbourne and Phillip Island

Tuesday morning we flew to Melbourne.  Then we rented a car and drove 2 hours south to Phillip Island.  It was Tom's first time really driving on the left hand side of the road.  He did really well, but said it was definitely a lot more stressful (and tiring) than driving on the right.  We also got a good cleaning of our windshield every time he wanted to change lanes.  They have many roundabouts in Australia.  They use those at intersections instead of 4-way stops. They only have traffic lights at major intersections.  It took us a few tries to figure out what lane we needed to be in, but by the end he was negotiating them like a pro.

Travelling through the Qantas walkway at the Sydney airport.

We checked into our hotel.  The kids were excited to see how big our place was.  In Sydney, we had done Airbnb because I had a hard time finding a reasonably priced hotel that would fit our whole family.  Everywhere else, I had no problems finding places with plenty of room.  My search would always either give me a 2 bedroom suite or a 1 bedroom suite with the kids on a pullout sofa.  Australia is an easy place to travel for families.  Then we drove down to the esplanade to get some dinner and see the beach.  They had a very family friendly beach with calm waters which was great for the kids.  Charlotte had a great time practicing her swimming (it was a little cold for me) and Tommy, of course, spent a lot of time playing in the sand.

The kids were excited to have their own room

We had a good sized living area as well.  

The kids loved the outdoor space

Fun at the beach

Phillip Island is where you can watch the penguin parade of the little penguins.  Every night the little penguins, the smallest specie of penguin with an average height of 13 inches, gather in groups to make their trek across the beach to their nests in the sand.  They wait until nightfall and move in groups to help protect themselves against predators, namely large birds that could easily swoop down and pick one of them up.  They are not going to their nests to sleep.  They catch quick catnaps throughout the day and night and do not have a solid block of sleep.  Instead, they return to their nests to mate and socialize.  They also leave their penguin chicks there until they are old enough to join them in the ocean.  The mothers return at night with a belly full of fish to feed their young.  We weren't allowed to take pictures of the penguins, but they were cute.  The walkway to enter and leave the area is elevated above their nests so you can have a good view of them as you are leaving in the evenings.  We had a great time seeing the penguins. It was one of the highlights of our trip.

We also saw some wallabies that live near the penguins

Waiting for the penguin parade

The little penguins are still way out in the ocean

You can see the size of the little penguin in the middle