December 2017 – Tara Treks the Globe

Holding orphan red kangaroo, Charlie, at the Kangaroo Sanctuary in Alice Springs

November 2017 – I traveled to Australia for two weeks in November 2017 to explore The Great Ocean Road, the Outback and the Great Barrier Reef areas.

Great Ocean Road

I started my trip flying into Melbourne and renting car so I could explore the Great Ocean Road at my own pace. I had never driven on the left side of the road before but it didn’t take long to adapt. Unfortunately I found out the hard way, upon my return to the U.S., that they take speeding very seriously and have speed radar cameras everywhere. I received an email from my car rental company that I received a ticket as soon as I left the airport for exceeding the speed limit by less than 10 km/hr (that is only 6 mi/hr or less over). I am not sure if Australia will pursue the ticket with me since I live in another country, but I still have to pay a fee to the rental agency. Lesson learned.

My first stop along the Great Ocean Road was the small surf town of Torquay. It is home to the famous surf beach, Bells Beach, as well as the founding location of surf brands Rip Curl and Quiksilver. There are lots of great restaurants and shops in town and I found that Australia people are very friendly and welcoming.

One of my missions of this leg of the trip was to find some koalas and gray kangaroos in the wild. I found some gray kangaroos hanging out at a golf course in Anglesea and lots of koalas next to the Kennett River and along the road to the Cape Otway Lightstation. I was pleasantly surprised to find so much beautiful bird life in Australia, especially along the Great Ocean Road. There were cockatoos, parrots, rosellas and other colorful birds everywhere I turned.

My base along the Great Ocean Road was the small town of Apollo Bay. If you stay here or pass through I would recommend eating at Chris’ Beacon Restaurant. It has a beautiful view of the ocean from atop a hill, surrounded by Eucalyptus trees, and the food was my best meal of the trip. Further west of Apollo Bay is the famous Twelve Apostles and London Bridge rock formations in the ocean, as well as beautiful rain forests, where I spent some time hiking. As a lover of the outdoors, there was never a shortage of things to explore in Australia.

Sleeping koala next to the Kennett River

Superb fairy-wren next to the Kennett River

Hiking through the rain forest at Maits Rest in Great Otway National Park

Koala along the road to Cape Otway Lightstation. This is the best place to observe koalas in the wild. Pick a place to pull over and just look around.

Gray kangaroos at a golf course in Anglesea

Fairy penguins, also known as little penguins, at the St. Kilda Pier in Melbourne. They are the smallest penguins in the world.

The Outback

After the Great Ocean Road I flew to Alice Springs to explore the outback or red centre of Australia. The highlight of this part of the trip, if not the entire trip, was visiting the Kangaroo Sanctuary. It is a sanctuary for orphaned or injured kangaroos. I have followed the founder, Brolga, on Instagram for a couple of years where he shares videos of the kangaroos daily. Visiting his sanctuary, which he runs alone and maintains through donations, far exceeded my expectations. I was able to hold orphaned joeys, bottle feed and interact with the kangaroos here.

The famous Uluru (Ayers Rock) is about four hours drive from Alice Springs but I felt I must see it since I came all this way. So I found a great day tour that picked me up from the hostel and drove down to Uluru with other interesting stops along the way. The tour included guided hikes, meals/snacks for the day and a sunset barbecue and drinks at Uluru. It started raining near sunset and we all thought the end of the day would be anti-climatic. But then the rain stopped and a double rainbow formed, landing right on top of Uluru. It was an unusual and amazing experience.

Red kangaroo mother with joey in pouch and older joey

Charlie and Roman, orphan red kangaroos at the Kangaroo Sanctuary. Their mothers were hit on the road and killed, but they survived in the pouch.

Holding baby Charlie in his pillowcase pouch

Brolga, the Kangaroo Sanctuary founder, with the alpha male kangaroo, Monty. Alpha males like to kickbox any perceived threats and can be very dangerous so they were in a separate fenced off area away from the tour.

The kangaroos at this sanctuary are very friendly. The ones shown in these pictures needed so much care and attention when they first came to the sanctuary that they cannot be released back into the wild. However, many of their rescues are kept separate, away from people, and released back into the wild when possible.

Petting the famous Roger, former alpha male. He is twelve years old now, so he is now “retired”.

Great Barrier Reef & Whitsunday Islands

The final leg of my trip was to the Whitsunday Islands and the Great Barrier Reef. I knew wanted to experience the Great Barrier Reef while in Australia, but I also wanted to get in some beach time. There are many beach towns along the coast that you can get to the reef from, but I decided on Airlie Beach at the southern point of the Reef. This is right next to the Whitsunday Islands, home to Whitehaven Beach, known for its white sands made of 98% silica and often listed as one of the best beaches in the world.

I am not a scuba diver and the ocean intimidates me, so I chose to experience the Great Barrier Reef from the sky by flying over in a small plane. This was such a great experience and allowed me to see the true magnitude of the Reef.

Whitehaven Beach is on Whitsunday Island and only accessible by boat, seaplane or helicopter (the island is uninhabited). I found a boat day trip that included a hike up the Hill Inlet of Whitsunday Island to get a spectacular view of Whitehaven Beach, lunch and a couple of hours on Whitehaven Beach, followed by snorkeling along a reef.