Hiking in the Shire

Day 69 | Wilsons Promontory | 29.10.2018

Heyho my dearest,

On this Monday morning we were greeted by thick, gray clouds in the sky of 'Port Albert' around 7.00 am. But on our pitch right by the water, we had a great view of the sea and the little harbor. It was calm in the early morning. Janina and I brushed our teeth and drove off without showering, as there was no shower on the site, towards 'Wilsons Promontory National Park' at the southernmost tip of Australia, which is located on a peninsula in the state of 'Victoria'.

Driving straight ahead for what felt like hours, through eucalyptus forests, we passed countless sheep, horses, and especially cows, kilometer after kilometer. We wondered how many thousands of cows we had seen on our vacation on the red continent. There were definitely a lot of cattle and dairy cows. When I stopped the car to the left for a herd of about 30 cattle, we stopped. The herbivores curiously approached and stood in a semicircle in front of the fence. I took some grass in my hand and wanted to attract some of them to us, but apparently, the animals were not quite comfortable with it. Now they all stood in a row and stared at us for minutes without moving much. We laughed our heads off, got back in the van, and zoomed off.

At around 10 am, we reached the huge area of 'Wilsons Promontory National Park'. Just under 20 kilometers and always heading south, we arrived at the tourist information and a large parking lot. The park is very popular with many tourists and locals due to its great and numerous hiking trails. We had breakfast on one of the many benches and looked forward to another day of hiking. In the information center, with the hiking map of the area in hand, we discussed which track we wanted to take and initially decided on the 'Lilly Pilly Circuit Walk', which was supposed to take about 3.5 hours. Since Janina woke up this morning with a slight sore throat, we wanted to take a less strenuous path. We packed sandwiches, water, and granola bars and off we went! Right at the beginning, at a small bridge that led over a lake, we stopped and marveled. The water was reddish-brown, the meadows lush-green, and we felt like we were standing directly in the Shire with the Hobbits. Birds, flowers, and old, gnarled trees adorned the overall picture. The sky cleared up and we took off our jackets. The path led through eucalyptus and mixed forests, and we discovered parrot and plant species that we had not seen before. We didn't meet many people, so the hiking trail was almost ours alone. We took a break on two logs and enjoyed our sandwiches.

It continued uphill. Due to some charred tree trunks and dead trees, it could be guessed that a devastating forest fire had raged here in 2009. Many hectares of forest were destroyed back then, but nature quickly recovered. We had reached a plateau from which we had a wonderful view of the forests, the beach, the sea, and the mountains. By now, we had clear blue skies and 19°C - the perfect hiking weather!

At around 2:30 pm, we reached the car park again. With our shower essentials in hand, we went to rinse off and planned where we wanted to spend the night. The only campground in the national park was too expensive at $60, but really good alternatives were hard to find. After some searching, however, we found a good sleeping spot for the night.

But before we set off and started the about 45-minute drive, we had another short hike to do. The 'Prom Wildlife Park' promised that we would see some kangaroos, emus, wombats, and koalas, and of course, we were very excited about that. So we put on our hiking shoes again for the 2.3-kilometer walk and set off with a lot of anticipation, which was about 20 minutes away from the tourist information center. The vegetation here was already different. More savanna-like with dry soil and low trees and bushes, the area lay before us, and indeed - after a few minutes, we spotted the first kangaroos, which had browner fur and a slightly different stature than the ones we had seen before. Emus were also walking at a certain distance from us. The animals ate, lay in the sun, or watched the few hikers who had set off. As so often before, Janina and I were excited about the landscape, the animals, and nature. We were glad to have done this tour and got back into our 'Liu' van, even though we still hadn't seen a wombat.

We continued towards the rest area where we wanted to sleep tonight. Suddenly, while talking about wombats, a cute, small, hairy specimen was grazing on the side of the road on the opposite side. I turned around in the middle of the highway to see the wombat again and take photos. But when we arrived, it had ventured into the thicket and we couldn't take a photo as evidence. Nevertheless, we were thrilled to have spotted such a rare Australian animal.

Arriving at today's sleeping spot, we set up chairs and the table and enjoyed the evening sun. I had promised Janina to cook for her today so she could relax a bit. Just before she fell asleep, the tortellini with ham and cheese sauce were ready, and the hunger disappeared after a good portion. After cleaning up, we wrote the blog, as we do almost every other evening, and had a quiet evening in the campervan...

J♡J