With reluctance, today we woke up and checked out of our hotel in Robe to start our drive to Warrnambool. Robe is a really cute small town, and it is definitely one of those places where I feel like I could spend more time. We had breakfast at a bakery in town, and I had one of the best açaí bowls of my life. I added some of my honey from KI to it, and it was just perfect! We also picked up some of the local Mike’s Beef Jerky, made right there in Robe and Mike has become quite a success story with his beef jerky. It was a “must try” on the travel site I used. LeBeau verdict: pretty good. Didn’t LOVE it, but we will finish what we bought. ⭐️⭐️⭐️/5

Not so… Humpalicious?

After breakfast we headed out to one of my more unusual finds in my research. It seems there is (was 😭) a camel farm just outside of Robe called the (VERY Aussie-named) Humpalicious Camel Farm. Their website says they sell “camel’s milk gelato”, which seemed the perfect line between awesome and possibly nauseating, so of course I wanted to try some. Sadly, the camel farm was closed when we arrived, so we will have to save this … delicacy… for another day.

Given the number of bush flies that attacked us just while we were taking these pictures, being closed seemed like a good administrative call.

Naracoorte Caves National Park

Our next stop of the day took us up and over the mountains to Naracoorte Caves National Park. They have a really nice cave system, and on this hot, fly-filled day, going underground sounded great. They had several caves and tours to choose from. We decided to do the self-guided tour of the (interestingly named) Stick-Tomato Cave, which also included a tour of their fossil collection area. Very cool, both in temperature and in interesting sights!

General Tomfoolery

Any day we are in the car together involves stops – both planned and unplanned – for general tomfoolery. Here are a few highlights from today’s unplanned/novelty sights:

Father Woods Park: roadside park dedicated to Father Julian Edmund Tenison Woods full of interesting wood carvings.

The Big Mantids of Mt. Gambier: giant sculptures of two praying mantids alongside an old train track converted into a walking path. No real explanation given for their presence. 😂

Mount Gambier: Blue Lake/Warwar

We got to see South Australia’s version of one of our favorite sights in the USA (Oregon’s Crater Lake), with SA’s lake being called Blue Lake (these Aussies really go out on a limb with their names). Like Crater Lake, Blue Lake is a giant body of water that fills a volcanic crater. There is a walking path around the rim, and the water ranges from blue to gray during the year. We lucked out and hit a beautiful blue water day.

Mount Gambier: Umpherston Sinkhole

Take note, Floridians! We have much to learn from the Australians! The US state where we are from (Florida) has many sinkholes, and if one were to look in them, they generally feature “sights” such as swallowed palm trees, half of someone’s condo, a few Toyota Corollas, and a dozen or so power poles. Australia, on the other hand, has upped their sinkhole game and actually created a gorgeous city park GARDEN inside their Mount Gambier sinkhole. “How?!” you may ask. “Don’t they worry about the garden sinking?” And to this I say “Don’t shoot the messenger! My Google is crap out here in the farmlands, so I have no idea why this exists. Just note that prettier sinkholes are a thing!” Enjoy, Floridians, and all who have never before seen a spiffy sinkhole! Side note: this was my favorite stop of the day!

Port Fairy

Our dinner stop tonight was the little town of Port Fairy, voted “The World’s Most Livable Small Community.” They are also a water front town, with great beaches, a nice harbor, and a penguin nesting island that they built a walking path to for locals. It was too early for the penguins when we were there, so we just took some nice sunset beach photos.

Warrnambool and Bunny Bonanza

We have crossed back into the state of Victoria, Australia, which required one of those weird half hour time changes. In this case, we lost a half hour, so we finally arrived at our hotel destination in Warrnambool around 8:45 tonight. Luckily no roos out, but we did see a ton of bunnies!!

Our hotel has a hot springs area that we have a reservation for tomorrow morning, so we are excited!

Tomorrow will also bring the official start of our Great Ocean Road drive, and end in our final Australia destination- Melbourne. We leave Australia exactly two weeks from today! Unbelievable how quickly the time has passed.

Here is a short video of the Australian Magpie chatting up a storm. Magpies are found throughout Australia and have various black and white markings, even on their beaks. They have a wide range of vocalizations and are wonderful songbirds. They spend a lot of time on the ground, often walking (instead of hopping) and are curious around people.

Thanks for adventuring with us!