Last week we took a short trip to western Victoria. Our departure was a little delayed because of the fire-ban/high-wind warnings for Tuesday, but we still managed a few days climbing at the Arapiles, a visit to Naracoorte Caves, a short paddle on the Lower Glenelg and a visit to Nelson. Naracoorte Caves National Park was listed as World Heritage site because the caves acted as pitfall traps from over 500 000 years and contain an exceptional fossil record of thousands of animals. Most exciting are the remains of extinct megafauna such as marsupial lions, giant wombats and short-faced kangaroos. Naracoorte is also a very beautiful cave system containing every known limestone formation.
We also visited the Lower Glenelg River National Park. There were many people canoeing on the river but we had not made camping reservations. Being Labour Day weekend, the river sites were fully booked. Instead we paddled on nearby Crawfords River and found a really secluded camping spot, deep in some beautiful forest. We saw a huge spiny cray scuttling under a log, listed to koalas roar and growl at each other and tried to swim to the bottom of a remarkably deep hole in the river. Ross got at least 9 or 10m down without touching the bottom. Strange for such a small river with low flow…
We visited Nelson, at the mouth of the Glenelg, and walked on the beach. We found a huge whale vertebrae and saw lots of birds, including the very strange-looking musk duck. We returned home along the Great Ocean Road and Surf Coast, stopping to look at cliffs and to play in the surf and on the beach.