We were planning to get up early today, but not quite as early as the cockatoo on our porch decided was wake-up time (6:00 a.m.). He (or she) landed right outside our bedroom window and had many important topics to discuss with us, quite loudly and insistently. It was quite the alarm clock!

So in lieu of mentioning just how awful they were at each venue below, I’m going to mention here that the freaking bush flies were truly revolting today, like Uluru-level bad. At least in the desert the flies seemed to make sense. But here and in Melbourne, it has been in the 50s and 60s and windy, yet they are EVERYWHERE and on EVERYTHING. Arghhhh. I sincerely hope we return to Oz one day, but if we do, be assured that I will not be attending during bush fly season. Thank you for reading my rant.

Angelsea Golf

Around the same time as our pre-trip research introduced us to the Puffing Billy, we also learned of a public golf course along the Great Ocean Road that was known for having troops of kangaroos living on it. In fact, in addition to golf, they also offer kangaroo tours to meet their beloved locals. We decided back then that kangaroo golfing was a must-do for us when we got to Australia. Since arriving here, we have actually learned that most golf courses have kangaroos on them (welcomed or unwelcomed!), but we decided to stick with our plan of visiting this course that embraces their ‘roos.

We had a fun morning golfing nine holes with the kangaroos mostly lounging in the background. I thought we played pretty well (Rob is a harsher critic than I), but my idea of “pretty well” means I left the course with a few golf balls remaining in the bag. Bonus: no kangaroos were harmed in this quasi-athletic pursuit!

Torquay Beach and the Great Ocean Road

When we did our driving tour of the Great Ocean Road (GOR) a few weeks ago, we didn’t quite make it to the end before the sunset, so we decided to go back and pick up the areas we didn’t make it to the first time around. Our after-golf lunch stop was the cute little town of Torquay Beach along the GOR. We went to the overlook, and had lunch at the very Aussie-named Fisho’s. 😂

Bells Beach and Winkipop

After lunch we headed to one of Australia’s most famous surfing beaches, Bells Beach, home of the world’s longest continuously running pro surfing competition – now known as the Rip Curl Pro Bells Beach. It also contains a beach area with my favorite Australian name of the day: Winkipop. So much fun to say! Not too many surfers out today, but we enjoyed the views.

Point Addis

Our next stop on the GOR was the lovely Point Addis Marine National Park overlook. Bells Beach is a part of this marine park, and the beautiful limestone cliffs and crashing waves makes it a great spot to stop and take a deep breath. Unless the bush flies are about. 😬

Urquhart Bluff Lookout

A quick stop at this scenic lookout named for the land surveyor in the 1800s who set the first land boundaries in this area.

Aireys Beach and Split Point Lighthouse

The still-working Split Point Lighthouse was built in 1891 to guide ships around Victoria’s “Shipwreck Coast.” It is nicknamed the White Queen, and remains famous after being filmed as the setting for a children’s tv show called “Round the Twist.” We didn’t go up inside, but it made for a scenic stop!

GOR Archway

We missed our chance to get a photo of this marker in the daylight the last time we went through, so we made a point of stopping there this visit! The Memorial Arch is a historic timber and stone gateway built by WWI returned soldiers to commemorate the 3,000 servicemen who built the Great Ocean Road.

Lorne and Erskine Falls

Despite never having heard of it before, I think I fell a little bit in love with the adorable town of Lorne as we drove through today. We stopped here for dinner and to see Erskine Falls, and I found the town to be charming and beautiful, with a great beach. Hope to spend more time here someday!

Kennett River

Our final stop for the day (which we timed to do around sunset) was the town of Kennett River. Kennett River is a small coastal town set within the Great Otway National Park. It is famous for its abundant wildlife, especially koalas, so we hoped going at dusk might improve our wildlife spotting chances. While we did not end up seeing any koalas today, we did really enjoy the Kennett River nature walk, and we saw tons of birds and kangaroos of all sizes out grazing at dusk. It was really nice!!

After dinner at a yummy Italian place in Lorne, we were finally back on the road and arrived in Melbourne around 12:30 a.m. Luckily we don’t have any early plans for Christmas Eve Day, so we can start our day later. We are really going to miss Australia as we leave on Thursday!

Thanks for adventuring with us!