Where now?

We celebrated being back by the sea by having a surf lesson. The van came with a surfboard, we did once get it off the roof and look at the sea, but decided we weren't ready to head straight in. We had a great morning in Torquay learning what we're meant to do and catching some small waves, we then spent the afternoon in the same spot with our own board refining our new learnt skills. After, we set off on the Great Ocean Road, first stop Split Point Lighthouse which has a long history but was used for a telly show called Round the Twist, which has a really catchy theme tune so we got that playing in the van. We stopped at lovely little campsite where we could have a campfire and there were Kookaburras and Cockatoos everywhere. We then continued to follow the coast stopping at the Kennett River Walk (Koala count: 1), Carisbrooke Falls, Apollo Bay, Maits Rest Rainforest Walk, and Melba Gully. The drive along the Great Ocean Road is beautiful, its an amazing coastline but there is...

We've been listening to the Harry Potter audio books slowly since we set off on our travels back in June, then watching the film as we finish each book. As we arrived at our campsite on Phillip Island we had just finished The Goblet of Fire, and that's a pretty exciting one because (spoiler alert!) it's the one where Voldermort returns. So you can believe our joy as we're cooking pizzas in the camp kitchen and flicking through the DVDs, we find Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire! It really was meant to be!  The next day we had a good walk around Rhyll Inlet, a RAMSAR-listed wetland habitat on Phillip Island's north-east corner, before visiting the town of Cowes (sounds like we went from north Wales to the Isle of Wight). We then spent the afternoon looking around the Nobbies Centre right at the far tip of the Island. They have a great section called an Antarctic Journey which talks all about the oceans and animals between Australia and Antarctica.  There is also a ...

Our campsite at Kosciuszko had lots of kangaroos and wallabies jumping about, then as we brushed our teeth a possum wondered past, curious about the light from the van. It's also seems hard in Australia to not be right next to a rather large or loud insect. The next morning we headed back towards the coast to Merimbula, where it continued to rain. This wouldn't be too bad except when we left Sydney, in the torrential rain, we quickly found out there was a leak in the front of the van from the top of the windscreen. As we were having such heavy rain again I had to tie a bottle up to catch the drip. We have since bought some sealant and when it's dried up we'll have ago at making the van water tight! We still managed a stroll along the beach and ate waterside between the showers, but then spent most the evening watching a film in the van.  The rain continued the next morning as we headed to Panboola wetlands. I know wetlands are meant to be wet but a lot of the paths were...

The next day we headed inland into Kosciuszko National Park, our aim being Australia's highest point - Mount Kosciuszko! We stayed in one of the National Park campsites - Island Bend, which was very basic and very in the middle no where but meant we could start the walk nice and early. When we arrived at the starting point we chatted to a friendly man who informed us there was an event on, the Krazy Kosci Klimb. Ran by the Cerebal Palsy Alliance, each year the charity challenge young people with cerebral palsy or similar disabilities to reach the summit with their support teams. The sun was shining and there was a gentle breeze so it felt like a great day for it, so off we set well behind the young people who had started a lot earlier than us. The walk to the summit was great, not too tricky, and provided wonderful views.  As we approached the top it started to cloud over, not that strange as you reach 2228m above sea level. However, as we touched the trig point the rain began, and...