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Great Ocean Road - Victoria

Great Ocean Road - Victoria

We got to the Port Campbell National Park around 2:30pm and spent the next two and a half hours wandering around the various lookouts and viewing platforms enjoying the sights of the 12 Apostles, the Razorback, Blowhole and Thundercave. We took lots of photos and enjoyed our time there before heading in to Port Campbell where we are spending the night tonight.

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Great Ocean Road - Victoria

Great Ocean Road - Victoria

The only unfortunate part of the day was that it was very overcast and hazy, which made the views not quite as clear as I would have liked. At least it wasn’t as hot as it has been in recent days !

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Great Ocean Road - Victoria

Great Ocean Road - Victoria

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Sorrento - Queenscliff Ferry - 2003

Spirit of Tasmania - as seen from Sorrento to Queenscliff Ferry - 2003

We got the 11am ferry and enjoyed the trip across (except for the rolling caused when we crossed the wake left by the Spirit of Tasmania which overtook us at a great rate of knots). From Queenscliff, we drove in to Geelong, and then north along the freeway towards Melbourne but turned off into Werribee.

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White Rhino - Werribee Open Range Zoo - 2003

Werribee Open Range Zoo

After a bit of driving around trying to find the zoo (their signposting is rather inadequate in my opinion), we eventually found the place just after 1pm and spent most of the afternoon enjoying the animals and scenery. Pity it rained so much during the first half of the safari bus tour, but we were rewarded with some extra time watching the White Rhino’s frolicking in the mud. I’ll write a full report on our trip to the zoo on the ZooBeat Forums

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Werribee Open Range Zoo

Zebra - Werribee Open Range Zoo

We left the zoo just after 4:30pm and headed back down south to Geelong and then on to Torquay, where we were staying the night.

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Werribee Open Range Zoo

Cheetah - Werribee Open Range Zoo

All up, a relatively short day of driving, with the ferry crossing and the time at the zoo taking up most of the day.

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Toora Wind Farm - 2003

Toora Wind Farm - 2003

From Foster, after stopping for petrol and some grocery shopping, we headed south to Wilsons Promontory, a rather hilly bit of land sticking out into the ocean with some wonderful native flora and fauna and some amazing beaches. We headed to Tidal River, where we stopped for a picnic lunch before walking along the beach and playing in the crystal clear water. Given it was about 37 degrees, wading through the water was very refreshing.

Wilsons Promontory

Wilsons Promontory Panorama

After lunch, we drove back up and around to Inverloch and Wonthaggi before reaching San Remo and heading across the bridge to Philip Island. We drove around wondering why is was supposed to be so special – it looked just like any other part of coastal Victoria to us, with a few penguins (can see them just about anywhere), and a grand prix motorcycle track in the middle.

So, after driving all the way around Philip Island, we headed back to the mainland and up and around Western Port (the body of water where Philip Island is located, before driving down to Hastings on the eastern side of Mornington Peninsula, where we arrived by about 5:30pm.

Despite the high temperatures (we have air conditioning in the car – which makes it bearable), we enjoyed the days driving, although we both agreed that we would have liked to spend a lot more time on Wilsons Promontory – I think we will really have to go back there to camp one time – it’s a lovely spot with lots of walking tracks and wonderful beaches.

Leanne’s sister spends quite a bit of time down at Huskisson, just south of Nowra, so we decided to head in there to check the place out – and had an early morning tea around 9:30am.

We made Batemans Bay by midday and stopped for lunch, before heading down the road to the township of Mogo, where one of our favourite zoos is located – Mogo Zoo.

Tigers at Mogo Zoo

We spent a couple of hours at the zoo – and there were a few pleasant surprises there for us. I’ve written more about our visit on the ZooBeat Forums, and I’ll upload some photos once I’ve got around to processing them.

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Red Panda - Mogo Zoo - 2003

Red Panda - Mogo Zoo - 2003

Interestingly, while at the zoo we actually saw a couple I used to work with back in Adelaide. They were visiting family while on holidays in the area – such a small world.

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Snow Leopard Cubs - Mogo Zoo - 2003

Snow Leopard Cubs - Mogo Zoo - 2003

We eventually got back on the road and headed to Bermagui – arriving at around 4pm.

Travelled around 450km on day 1.

More photos from Mogo:

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Giraffe - Mogo Zoo - 2003

Tapir - Mogo Zoo - 2003

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Bears - Mogo Zoo - 2003

Mogo Zoo - 2003