വമ്പൻ വമ്പൻ വമ്പൻ

May 23rd - May 24th, 2017

Today we leave the city and head to the Mornington Peninsula. The peninsula is located south of Melbourne. We take a short walk up Arthurs Seat, a mountain that offers a good view of the surrounding area and even the silhouette of Melbourne. Unfortunately, it's a bit hazy, but that doesn't dampen our mood. We spot a few kangaroos and then continue on to Wilson Promontory National Reserve. The only reason we're going there is because we want to see some little wombats in person. In the nature reserve, we stop at a clearing, as that's where the starting point of a track is supposed to be. But what catches Claudi's eye immediately is this little plushiness walking on four legs. A wombat! We're really lucky, because these cute little animals are mostly active at night or dawn. We spend fifteen minutes taking dozens of pictures and just admiring this adorable creature. I even got to pet it :)

Shortly after, it disappears into the bush and we start walking. On the hiking trail, we encounter dozens of kangaroos, a few emus, and more wombats. We take twice as long to cover the distance due to non-stop photo stops and worshiping the wombats. As a result, we ran out of time and drove to the nearby campground.

We make a short stop in Bairnsdale before heading to the next campground. I am in awe of a colony of flying foxes, while Claudi is rather disgusted and even scared. As it is already dusk, the animals are somewhat active and crawling along the branches. Most of them, however, hang upside down from the trees. Their size is impressive. The estimated wingspan is 1 meter and the body is about the size of a 1-liter bottle. It's a strange feeling to stand under 20 of these flying foxes.