We’ve been in Victoria, Australia, for a month, and it suits us well. We are here to care for two of the cutest Cavapoos. They are really fun dogs!
As some of you may remember, we were in Australia for several weeks in 2016. We did a pet sit in Cairns and visited Sydney before meeting with Matt’s parents. After they arrived, we road-tripped from Sydney to Adelaide via the Great Ocean Road, then up through central Australia to Kakadu National Park. It was an incredible trip, but we were left thinking we wouldn’t return to Australia.
I’m so glad we didn’t listen to ourselves! This time around, we are already thinking about returning in the future and where to go next time.
Where We Went
We will spend 3 months (Feb- April) in Australia pet and housesitting for a friend of mine. We are loving it. Her two dogs are the cutest and funniest duo we’ve encountered in a while. We are in a beach town called Torquay. It’s famous for surfing, Rip Curl, and being the start of the Great Ocean Road.
The Stops
Australia – We spent all our time in the state of Victoria.
The towns/locations we visited were Torquay, Anglesea, Lake Elizabeth, Airey’s Inlet, Forrest, Lake Elizabeth, Lorne, Apollo Bay, Beech Forest, Kennet River, Cape Otway, Port Campbell, Twelve Apostles National Park, Lavers Hill, Glenaire, Wyelangta, Geelong, The Great Ocean Road
What We Did
Torquay is a wonderful place. The coastal setting and breathtaking shorelines make us smile every day. The weather’s a bit cooler than expected, so we haven’t spent as much time in the ocean as expected. Instead, we’ve spent time walking the beaches and exploring the gorgeous southern coastline of Australia.
Festivals and markets are popular weekend activities here. And, of course, this area is all about surfing. We haven’t surfed, and not sure we will. But watching so many surfers has been a thrill.
The month’s highlight was our five-day road trip along The Great Ocean Road, Beech Forest, and Cape Otway. Some locations were repeats for us, but things have changed since 2016, so it still feels new and exciting.
The Great
Favorites
- OMG! OMG! OMG! Live, wild platypuses. We had about 10+ sightings during our canoe float. Most of the sightings were from a distance, but the last one of the night came up next to our canoe. They are such unique, fascinating creatures. Surprisingly, at times, they reminded us of baby alligators swimming.
- All the wildlife! Tons of birds (especially different kinds of cockatoos), rafts of Little Penguins, a few kangaroos, lots of wallabies, lizards, platypuses, koalas, and one echidna. Still no snakes nor notable spiders.
- Exploring the coastline. The area has fantastic walking trails all along the coastlines and the cliffs. Gorgeous!
- The downtime to relax and not feel pressure to be on the go has been great. It’s given us time to get organized.
- And, of course, the road trip. In our opinion, the southern Australian coastline is some of the most beautiful in the world.
- We hiked to see five different waterfalls and wandered in the Californian Redwood Forest. Our time in green nature was recharging and uplifting.
- The Razorback limestone formation. We found this by accident. We visited the more well-known Loch Ard Gorge, where a clipper ship had crashed in 1878. The views of the Razorback and the area were spectacular. That stretch of coastline, cliffs, and rock formations should be on every road trip list.
- Seeing wild koalas in Cape Otway. We especially felt a heart hug when we found a koala and one of the horses we saw in 2016 in the same location. Well, we are fairly certain one of the horses was the same.
- The Pako Festa cultural diversity festival in Geelong. The representation of different cultures, food, clothing, people, and attitudes was awesome.
The LOLs
- Walking onto the clothing-optional beach. We decided to go for it, threw our clothes into a pile, and stayed until it got too cold.
The Not So Great
The Least Favorite
- The f*cking flies suck! They bite. They aren’t everywhere, but they are in enough locations to make it beyond annoying.
- My sprained ankle is still causing me limitations. But oh well, I still hiked and pushed through any pain.
- Matt was upset that he didn’t win any radio giveaways for Taylor Swift concert tickets.
The Oops
- One day, we tried to find a surfing competition. We read it had moved to a different location. We tried both locations and could not find anything resembling a competition.
- Touching too many buttons on my camera while trying to view the Little Penguins returning from sea. The penguins return to land anywhere from 20-60 minutes after sunset, which means it’s really dark and hard to see. I accidentally changed some settings on my camera, and it was too dark to figure out what I did, which meant no good pics of any Little Penguins.
What We Learned
- It is compulsory to vote in Australia. If you don’t vote, you could face a fine.
- We must have some sort of art or creativity in our lives as much as possible. Whether it be live creative people (preferably), museums, galleries, music, or festivals, we need things to spark our interests, or we get stagnant and crabby.
What We Watched & Read
- We’ve had more downtime, so we’ve been catching up on a lot of shows. But of course, I can’t think of any titles now.
- Matt Read “Win” by Harlan Coben
Up Next
March is the month of surf competitions around here, so we will be at the beach most weekends. Other than that, we don’t have anything in particular planned.
March Goals = update our Amazon Storefront, research and organize our trips to Tasmania, Taiwan, and South Korea, and start thinking about our mid-year plans.
