Wild Wild Life

My first full week in Australia has been pretty wild. And I mean that literally.

After a few days in Melbourne to acclimatise and shake off jet lag, we headed south-east of the city to experience life in the remote, southernmost parts of Australia. First stop was Phillip Island, a delightful holiday island popular as a weekend getaway with Melburnians. We then moved on to a wilderness retreat in the State Park of Wilson’s Prom (short for Promontory).

These places are home to some of Australia’s most famous animals. My main photo shows a sleepy little koala resting above me in a gum tree, on Phillip Island.

My photo below shows a wallaby who came along looking interested in the barbecue I was cooking in the outback on Wilson’s Prom.

I also broke off from my barbecue to snap these kookaburras, laughing while perched in a nearby tree, at dusk.

The landscape and climate here shows nature at its wildest. We climbed the 558m high Mount Oberon for this view overlooking Norman Beach and Tidal River, the hub for visitors to Wilson’s Prom.

There seems to be an amazing, and practically deserted golden sands beach on every stretch of coastline. My photo below shows Sunderland Bay, taken at Surfie’s Point.

We have also waited patiently at sunset to watch Phillip Island’s penguin colony return from a day’s swimming and fishing, waddling in unison across the beach to the safety of their burrows. Also, as advised by Park Rangers, I’ve been taking care to protect the food for our barbecues from the visiting wombats.

With all of this wildlife, rugged coastline and amazing surf beach scenery, you may think I have become temporarily distracted from my usual focus on food. Well, there is probably some truth in that to be fair, but expect normal service to be resumed soon. Having said that, let me share with you this heavenly chocolate, peanut butter and almond slice I enjoyed at the Sanny Bakehouse in San Remo.

Choice of music this week has to be Talking Heads, with Wild Wild Life.