Thursday & Friday

We started our drive along the Princes Highway through the state of Victoria  towards New South Wales.   Fires alongside this road in January and February had caused sections to be closed at the time, but by the time we were there the whole road had reopened.

We drove to Wilson's Promontory which turned out to be a serious walker's paradise.  I'm not a serious walker and the weather was really hot.  30 degrees celsius.

So we had a quick walk on Squeaky Beach.  So called because the sand squeaks when you rub your shoe along it.

 We eventually arrived in Metung where we saw a great sunset.  And stayed the night.

On Friday morning we drove to a small ferry which took us to Raymond Island where wild Koalas live - amongst the houses of a small village.

Then we were off to Mallacoota.  This was one of the most affected areas we saw on UK television during the fires.   We drove through the fire hit areas and were pleased to see that already the trees were recovering.

There is still work being done clearing trees and undergrowth.  Some areas were being burned back under supervision.

We reached Mallacoota and found these pelicans waiting to be fed by a fisherman who was filleting his catch of fish.

 

Thanks for joining me today.
Bernice

Bok Tower, Lake Wales

I took my friend Suki away for a short road trip.  We went to Kissimmee and Celebration.  On our second day we went to Bok Tower Gardens.  The tower is famous for having a carillon and for being built on what passes for a mountain in Florida.  The 'hill' is less than 300 feet high.

Walking through the gardens to the tower

The infinity pool

 

The Genesis Door

The view from the top of the 'mountain'.

 

Through the gardens

  The Pinewood Estate 

 

 

 Back into the Bok Tower gardens and down to the Window by the Pond

Sadly we didn't see any wildlife!

 The tower from the other side of the garden

Orchards of orange trees as we drove home.

Thanks for joining me today
Bernice

300 metres turn right

The last three days of our Australia trip was spent driving along the Southern Ocean Road and the Great Ocean Road.  Lots of photo today.

Day 1: Adelaide to Mount Gambier
As we drove along we saw this amazing pink lake.  Pink due to carotene in the water!

We stopped off to see where the pelicans nest but there were no pelicans.

A very long walkway

A table made from rolling stock

The Blue Lake in Mount Gambier which turns out to be blue only for a very few days in November

Buildings in Mount Gambier

Day 2: Mount Gambier to Port Campbell
Before leaving Mount Gambier we climbed up to this tower.  Roger went to the top of the tower but I didn't have the energy.

The view from the top

We went down the easier way but looking back the way we had come it didn't look (or feel) much easier.

The sunken garden in the centre of Mount Gambier

Along the coast road

As we drove along the Great Ocean Road there were signs to each different coastal formation and the signs always said 300m turn right.

The Petrified Forest
Not trees but hollow tubes of limestone

The Bay of Islands

The Bay of Martyrs

The Grotto

London Bridge

The Arch

Overlooking Port Campbell, our stop for the night.

Day 3: Port Campbell to Melbourne Airport

Loch Ard Gorge

The 12 Apostles

We stopped for a late lunch and I couldn't resist taking photos of the toilets (as you do!

And as we drove towards Melbourne Airport we saw this sign.

And we were crossing!  From Melbourne to Singapore to London and a drive home.

That's all for our trip to Australia for 2018.

Coming up on the blog tomorrow: Practising Gratitude - 21 days of gratitude

Thanks for joining me today.
Bernice