Picked up campervan sucessfully and drove out to the Gt Ocean Road in south Victoria. Spectacular road hugging the ocean. We are now in Lorne about half way along the Ocean Road in the Gt Otway National Park. Amazing scenery, the forest meets the shore line. The beach is pristine, as you can see from the photos. Really love our little campervan. Yesterday we walked up the Erskine River to the Erskine waterfalls. Checked the route with the information office before setting off and the lady warned us that there had been lots of snakes sited on the route!! Nearly changed my mind about going but the forest is so beautiful I put on a brave front. Walked all the way to the falls through eucalyptus forests and then rain forests up to the falls. It took 3 hours to get there. Saw loads of birds on the way up but no snakes thankfully. As you can see from the photo the falls are not at their best as there has been little rain!! Had picnic lunch on a very well inspected rock before starting our descent back to Lorne. About an hour into the return leg the horror of horrors happened and we came across a snake at the side of the path. I nearly bobbed in my pants and Mark stopped dead in his tracks which meant I ran into him trying to get away from the pesky snake!! In hindsight it probably looked like a comedy sketch but was a complete horror for me. Thankfully the only injury sustained was self inflicted when I trapped my snake deterent stick in between my legs in the haste to get away which caused a big scratch. Having survived my first snake encountered I think I am now an experienced bushwalker!! Looked up what kind of snake we had seen and it was a Tiger Snake - deadly poisionous!!! Yikes!!!
Got back to campsite with no further incident, tired out after 6 hours walking and the snake drama. The campsite is right next to the beach so we had a well deserved beer on the beach before tea. There is loads of birds here. Really noisy kookaburras and sulphur crested cockatoos that wake you up at 6am!! Also spotted galahs, white faced heron, fantails, pacific ducks, magpie larks, etc (Yes Mrs Allen I have got my guide to Oz nature with me to identify the wildlife - geek abroad!)
26C forecast today so I think we will have some beach time. I can't believe its snowing at home - good luck with that!!
