So many animals 🐨

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 flooded. However, we did our best to have a good look around and as the rain eased off we spotted two Red-bellied black snakes, one of which was eyeing us pretty spookily, so we didn't stick around. We also caught an Eastern Water Dragon trying to warm up on a pile of tyres, and plenty of bird life. We're trying to keep a big list of  all the birds we see but it's hard to keep track as we're seeing lots but are not very good at identifying them!

After travelling on south we thought it was about time we did some Koala spotting and after a bit of research found that Raymond Island was the place to go. With the sun finally shining, we spotted 23 koalas hanging out in the Eucalyptus trees which was awesome. There was also an Enchidna rooting around in the soil, not at all bothered by our presence which was just adorable. We also found a Tiger snake napping in a tree, basically at head height, we almost didn't see it. I'm glad it was napping, it's apparently one of the most venomous snakes in Australia so I wouldn't have stuck around for a photo if it seemed aware of us. 

We drove on and stopped the night in a car park in a strange little town called Foster, it was weirdly quiet and I found it a bit eerie, but was perfectly fine for what we needed. It was near to Wilsons Promontory, which had been recommended for walks and beaches, two of our favourite things! On the first walk we did there we saw Emus within the first minute (the picture isn't great!) which was a wonderful way to start the day. We also walked up Mount Bishop which gave great views along the coastline and took us through gorgeous woodland. After we took a well deserved rest on Squeaky beach, named because the sand makes a squeaky sound as you walk on it. 

We stayed another night in Foster, where I went into a shop to buy a lettuce to make our BLTs and barely saw a soul in the whole town. It was an odd place. The next morning we were off to Phillip Island, to try and spot some penguins. I'll tell you about that next time as this is getting a bit long. 

Lots of love, 

Lisa and Matt 💕