To the Grampians

The first day of the tour to Melbourne ended up in the Grampians National Park (after driving through very long stretches of very dry land, and of course crossing to another timezone). About half of the area we were in was burnt by large bushfires about three years ago, and we learned that the Aboriginals actually welcome these fires as a way of regenerating nature and putting nutrients back into the soil. It's obviously working - new life is coming out of blackened tree stumps everywhere. The highlight for me was my first kangaroo sighting (in the wild as opposed to a zoo and alive as opposed to dead by the roadside). And I saw loads more in the following days, as well.

We stayed in a very nice backpackers, and started early the next morning to hike the Pinnacles. It was well worth getting up for - the views from the top were stunning! After having a look round the local visitor center, we went on towards the coast. Lunch was in a spot in an ex-volcanic lake, and would have been great if only 2 billion flys hadn't decided to have lunch there, as well... But apart from the flys, there were also wild koalas and emus!