10.1.19 Healesville Sanctuary & Blue Lotus Water Garden

At 7.30am it's 8°C! I was already freezing last night and covered myself with all the blankets. 8°C! It's just like in New Zealand... Although it will be 25°C during the day, it's already ridiculously cold.

The most photo-rich day of the entire trip begins now. In the end, I will have taken 500 photos before deleting the unusable ones.

I take a quick drive to Beechworth Bakery on the main street in Healesville, a big store that offers reasonably priced breakfast. Unfortunately, the hotel is so far from the town center that you always need a car.

After a toastie and a coffee, I arrive at the Healesville Sanctuary at 9.30am and pay $37 for admission. Well then. At first, it is still pleasantly empty and I observe lazy koalas at eye level and don't have to look upwards 40m. Here, the focus is mainly on Australian animals, often on breeding endangered species. Among others, there are also Tasmanian devils, many birds, and reptiles. Birds fly around in huge walk-in aviaries, except for one poor frogmouth. I have already admired it in Tasmania, it's an impressive bird that is nocturnal. Some things here remind me of Devils Unzoo south of Hobart, but here the animals are mostly separated from humans. Fortunately, there is no petting zoo. However, some animals still roam freely here or fly above us in the trees. The grassy areas where kangaroos lie are "sealed off" with low barriers, so it initially prevents people from simply approaching the animals. I like to stay a bit longer with the echidnas, but the koalas in their sleepy state are simply cute. What I find totally inappropriate is a show with a platypus in a tank. You sit in rows of benches and a caregiver presents the platypus named "Nelson" for about 15 minutes. An abandoned stray that was raised here. Unfortunately, the woman plays with him using a blue cloth waved in the water. It was done much more appropriately at the Platypus House in Beauty Point, Tasmania, and they weren't presented there.

So, I continue to a house for endangered parrot species, to the night house to see a gliding squirrel and other nocturnal creatures - and it's 11.30am when I step back onto the circular path and see crowds of people, lots of little children, groups of children, etc. in front of me. Oh my god! What is this? Suddenly there's a queue at the reptile house... Seriously. I take another round to the beginning where the koalas are, still look for the dingoes, visit the animal hospital where you can follow live examinations and even small surgeries on monitors - and I'm back there at 1.30pm. So, it is advisable to start here at 9.00am in the morning to escape the crowd. Today is Wednesday, but sure, it's still summer vacation time in Australia.

I drive the almost 4km to the main street and go to "Habituel" to have coffee. 2 cappuccinos, absolutely delicious. At 2.30pm, I'm already back in the car and head towards something I hadn't thought I would be able to do: the Blue Lotus Water Garden in Yarra Junction, about 25km from Healesville. I am classified as a "senior" - okay, that saves $2 (leaving $16) and I won't complain about being 2 years and 1 week away from the age limit...

A fantastic garden with endless varieties of lotus flowers that fill entire ponds. Simply unbelievable. My camera is working at full speed. The large Amazon lotus leaves can carry up to 40kg!

Shortly before 5pm, I drive back to Healesville. Since yesterday, one of my wheels has been making horrible noises. People stop and stare in every town. I hope I can make it to Melbourne in one piece tomorrow. However, I don't notice any changes in driving or braking, but who knows, maybe it can suddenly change one day?

I finally pack my big bag, sit in front of the room in the mild evening sun at 6pm, write in my diary, and save my pictures on my tablet.

Tomorrow, I only have to return the car at 4pm and the flight to Beijing won't leave until 8.15pm, so I have a relaxing day ahead of me as I am only about 70km away from the airport. I have to check out of the hotel at 10am, so I have plenty of time. But I'm done with sightseeing and taking photos now.