After eating dinner, we drove to Wilson's Promontory to see if we could spot any native Australian animals. We read that they tend to come out at dusk. We were SO excited to spot them. We saw kangaroos and wombats!!! We were freaking out as we spotted them on the side of the road munching on grass or hopping across the road. It was AMAZING! We got some good pictures and videos.
Our first Kangaroo!!!!!!
Wombat crossed the road right in front of our car.
The kids were so excited to sleep in our Air B&B rental because they got to sleep in bunk beds. After doing rock/paper/scissors Rylie got to sleep on the top bunk for the first night. Derek would sleep on the top bunk the 2nd night. We woke up the next morning, had breakfast and drove to the visitor's center at Wilson's Promontory ready to find the best hikes.
Our first hike was started at the nature center. Then went through Tidal River. We went out to Pillar Point and then down to Squeaky Beach. After playing around on Squeaky Beach by exploring the huge rocks at the end of the beach, we hiked back to our car. The view at the end of Pillar Point was gorgeous. The sand on Squeaky Beach really did squeak!! We had our doubts. It was so fun to hike as a family. We played games along the way, mainly the guess animal game. We chatted, laughed, told stories, asked questions and just bonded as a family. We also saw lots of Wombat poop. It is easy to spot because it is square. It just so special to share these memories together.
View of Tidal River
At this point we thought the view was incredible. Little did we know that the best was yet to come!
I will always remember this sweet girl holding my hand throughout the hike.
She LOVED to hold my hand. I LOVED having her hand in mine.
Out to Pillar Point
It was SO windy and we were laughing so hard as we were trying to take a picture with my selfie stick. The stick was difficult to keep still.
Now making our way down to Squeaky Beach.
The color of the water was a beautiful mix of blues.
We all took our shoes off to walk along the beach. The sand did squeak! There were no shells or rocks on the beach and the sand was so smooth.
Rylie proudly took this picture of Matt and I.
Look at this beautiful girl!
The kids loved playing in these rocks. They were HUGE. They climbed on them and through them and tried to see what was behind them. Matt and I bought a cool print from the visitor's center of these rocks on Squeaky Beach to hang on our wall at home in AZ.
The kids would've stayed on Squeaky Beach all day playing in the rocks and sand. We had to pull them off the beach to hike back to our car.
Derek and I on the hike back to the car.
lunchtime shenanigans, doing yoga poses on a rock
We saw a laughing Kookaburra in the wild.
It really did make a laughing sound!
After this hike of gorgeous ocean scenery, we did another hike called Lilly Pilly Gully and hiked into the rainforest. Here we saw much different types of trees, plants, and scenery. Most of this hike the kids lagged behind Matt and I and chatted with each other, playing games together, laughing and having a great time as brother and sister. It was so sweet to watch and listen as Matt and I hiked hand in hand feeling so blessed. On the way back to the car the kids were getting tired. They had been hiking for over 5 hours! The coolest thing was spotting a live kangaroo on the side of the trail just staring at us. I was caught off guard and said something silly like "Is that a real kangaroo or fake?" What I meant was, "Is that actually a kangaroo?" I didn't get a picture of the kangaroo because I didn't dare move and take out my phone for fear that I would startle the kangaroo and he would hop away. This was the closest we had come to a kangaroo...basically face to face...the last time we had seen one we were in a car, but this time we were hiking! It was SO cool.
The path through the rainforest of Lilly Pilly Gully.
On the way back to the Air B&B the kids were so silly. They were singing "Kookaburra Sits in the Old Gumtree" song. They kept singing over and over again and laughing and giggling and having a great time. I got the silliest videos of them.
After hiking Lilly Pilly Gully we were all tired so we drove back to our Air B&B and had dinner. With dinner in our bellies the kids were feeling re-energized and played the cutest game of tag outside. It was a beautiful scene of the kids chasing each other with the rolling fields in the background. There was a sweet sound of laughter and cheering each of the kids on. I LOVE watching them play together. It was a beautiful moment.
After dinner we went out looking for wildlife at Wilson's Promontory. We saw kangaroos and wombats again. We went back to the field we had seen the kangaroos the night before. But this time we got out of the car and walked up close to them. It was truly incredible. They were eating grass in a big field and didn't even pay attention to us as we stood there about 3 feet away. There were large adult looking kangaroos and smaller looking ones. I think they look the coolest when they stand up tall on their back feet.
LOVE this picture of the shadow of the 4 of us with the kangaroos in front of us.
After viewing them for a while we decided to venture down a trail. The path was difficult to see around the corner as it twisted and turned and trees were hanging in the way. I asked Matt if he really wanted to continue down the path because I was a little nervous we were going to run face to face with a kangaroo. He said we should probably turn around. No sooner did he say that then 2 kangaroos hopped out right in front of us. We slowly backed away up the path and into the wide open field. No sooner did we do that then the 2 large kangaroos came bounding out of the same path we were just on! It was amazing!!! Then we drove on in search of a wombat. We ended up seeing just one, but that's ok. We kept joking because we had seen so much wombat poop during our hike all day.
After hiking 6+miles today we were all tired. We began driving home spotting kangaroos left and right. We pulled over when we spotted a Mama kangaroo and her joey!!! He had his head in his Mama's pouch. She was eating grass on the side of the road and he had his feet on the ground, but head in the pouch. We assumed that he was nursing, while she was eating. We sat on the side of the road in our car with the windows open just watching the Mama and joey. It was amazing!! Finally we decided to continue the drive home. We kept seeing kangaroos. One kangaroo was on the side of the road on his back legs. He spotted us driving along and raced us!!! It was so cool. We were on the road and he was on the grass next to the road hopping along at our speed. Finally after a while he ducked off into the bush.
We drove out of the park this night with very full hearts. God was so good to allow us to see so much wildlife. We also saw an amazing sunset on the left side and a full moon (supposedly the "blue moon") rising on the right side of the road. We kept turning our heads from left to right to see the beauty. All day long I kept singing the song we learned from Hillsong Church, "Surely love and mercy and peace and kindness will follow me. Will follow me." I felt like God's loving hand was upon all this whole trip. We had strong healthy bodies to hike. Eyes to see the amazing views. Ears to hear the crashing waves and the sounds of the kids laughing and giggling along the hike. He blessed us with an amazing family and amazing husband. We are SO grateful that we are able to go on this trip and experience Australia like we are. This trip to Wilson's Promontory was a last minute decision and turned out to be some of the most amazing and fun memories with our family with adventure and beauty beyond expectation. We got to see Australia the way I was used to seeing it portrayed in photos with beautiful coastal scenes and wildlife (kangaroos). We are also blessed to be able to experience Australian culture as we live in St. Kilda. We are getting to experience the best of both worlds - touristy things and Australian culture.
