Lurking Emus...

As we tried to have our picnic lunch at Tower Hill outside Warrnambool today we had a pair of lurking Emus trying to steal our food...I think they wanted my peanut butter and jelly sandwich but I managed to fend them off...

There were a couple of Koalas sleeping in a tree nearby but they slept right through lunch.
Once we arrived in Port Fairy we went for a walk around Griffith Island and met some Black Wallabies on our way...

Our Journey Down the Great Ocean Road Continues...

Today, Joan, Cookie and I made our way from Port Campbell to the end of the Great Ocean Road and then on to Port Fairy.  Along the way we stopped in at the rest of the major rock features along the coast. 

The Arch...

London Bridge...

The Grotto...

A huge wave coming into the Grotto...

And as it breaks on the rocks...

Bay of Martyrs...

Bay of Islands...

Wind, Waves, Wow...

Today we journeyed to some of the most popular viewpoints along the Great Ocean Road, part of the Twelve Apostles National Park.  Despite some of the warning signs we braved the trails...but definitely didn't go off the paths!

Our bravery was rewarded with some beautiful sights...

Two of the Twelve Apostles at sunset (oh and me too!)

Some of the other Twelve Apostles (there were only ever nine and one collapsed a few years ago)

The beach at Loch Ard Gorge where two shipwreck survivors washed ashore.

Various features from my helicopter flight along the coast (lots of salt spray in the air it was quite windy)

The remains of London Bridge, there were two arches but the one connecting to the shore fell in 1990 stranding two people out on the other arch - no one was killed when it fell, which is amazing considering how many people visit this coast.

Loch Ard Gorge from the air...

The Twelve Apostles from the air...

From the ground...

On the beach at Gibson's Steps...

It got rainy and stormy by late in the afternoon...I am hoping for sunshine tomorrow to add to my photo collection.

Koalas, Koalas, Koalas!!!!

We found them!  Most were sleeping but we found a few that were awake and even a couple that were eating.  Enjoy!

My Journey Down the Great Ocean Road Begins...

Our first stop was Bell's Beach a famous surf beach, known for its regular, long waves so is used for surf competitions.  Today wasn't a big surf day, but we did see a few surfers.  Here are a few photos from the day...

Me walking along Bell's beach...

The beginning of the Great Ocean Road going East...

Erskine Falls near Lorne...

The trailhead of the Erskine Falls trail back to Lorne...too dangerous for me :-)

ANZAC Day Footy Match

Well today was the big day...my very first AFL Footy match!  ANZAC Day is a big national holiday here - kind of like a combination of Remembrance Day and Canada Day all rolled into one.  Many of the past and present service men and women march in local parades with their units.  If your parent was a veteran then you can march wearing their medals on your right side (veterans and current military wear theirs on the left).  We saw some of the parade at Flinder St. Station in downtown Melbourne.

Then we were off to the footy match at MCG (Melbourne Cricket Grounds).  It is a huge stadium, and there were 87,000 of us at the match.  The game was between the Essendon Bombers and the Collingwood Magpies, you barrack (cheer) for your side - I have been told I am a Collingwood fan - as far as I can tell their fans are as passionate as Rider fans and everyone loves to hate Collingwood so it does make some sense! Joan barracks for Collingwood and Cookie barracks for Essendon, and as you can see I tried to represent the Riders but ended up wearing a Collingwood beanie (toque to my Canadian readers :-) since the weather was fairly cool, luckily we were under cover and stayed dry.

They had a ANZAC ceremony and moment of silence...

Then the match was under way...

Collingwood won by one point (80-79) but it was a hard fought last few minutes and came down to the last seconds.  It is very exciting at the end when the score is close because you don't know how much time is left, much like in soccer only the Umpires know and they don't tell you in footy how much stoppage time, so you are just waiting for the horn to go or praying it won't, depending on the score.  I may have to figure out a way to follow footy more closely in Canada...quite an addicting game!