Wilson's Promontory

Thursday morning I awoke to a fabulous breakfast at the Bayview House. My hosts Ellen and Paul entertained me with stories from their trips to the Pacific islands. They visited Palau in 1993 and they told me about their trip and I told them how Palau has changed since then. The House has a scenic view looking toward the Prom and we watched as the clouds rolled across the hills. I grabbed my camera and got back in the car for the 16 km drive into the Prom.

The Prom is a teardrop shaped peninsula and is the southernmost point in continental Australia. After entering the park, there is still a half hour drive to reach the center of the park where the main hiking trails begin. Something I had really hoped to see in the Prom was a Kangaroo in the wild and on my drive south I got my wish. I saw a Kangaroo grazing on the side of the road and I stopped the car to observe and photograph it. I was able to get very close to it and it completely ignored me and continued to graze. I reckon it is rather used to tourists snapping pictures.

I drove to Mount Oberon, a mountain in the central western portion of the Prom. The trail to the top of Mt Oberon is a popular hike and even in the winter I saw more than a dozen people on the trail. The trail was a wide track with a moderate grade that took me forty minutes to reach the top. Along the way I was fascinated by the trees. A brushfire in 2005 had burned this portion of the park and turned the trees a charred black, but the trees were still alive and had grown new green branches. They looked very unusual but were a testament to the resiliency of the local flora and fauna. At the summit, I had a 360 degree of the Prom with large expanses of coastline, ocean, and mountain. It was a cloudy day with rain in the forecast, but when I was on Mt Oberon the clouds cooperated and it was clear enough that I was able to have excellent views. I took some pictures and then soaked in the atmosphere for a while. After a while at the summit I was getting cold and finally started back down the trail to my car.

I drove a short distance into Tidal River, the small village within the Prom. It is mainly a visitor's centre and camping grounds area and the starting point to many trails. I grabbed a quick sandwich at the cafe in the visitor centre and then started hiking the Norman Bay trail. Norman Bay is a beautiful bay near Tidal River with two rocky points on either sides and a few rocky islands off in the distance. At first the trail wound through small trees and brush, or more accurately, what was left of them after the brushfires. Along the trail I spotted another kangaroo grazing and shrubs. I saw a second kangaroo hop by in the distance. I reached Norman Beach and with the windy weather the waves were large and crashed ashore. The trail continued up along Norman Point giving a panoramic view of Norman Bay. A light drizzle and low hanging clouds restricted the view, but I could still see the waves crashing against the rocks and islands in the distance.

It was getting late in the afternoon and it was time to to return so I hiked back to the visitors centre and began the drive out of the park. On a clearing along the road I saw two kangaroos grazing and I pulled over to watch them. In the clearing next to them, another kangaroo grazed next to a wombat. Wombats are small mammals, like porcupines without the quills. After observing them for a while I returned to my car and as I pulled away I looked back and saw two large Emus, similar to ostriches, had entered the clearing. A short distance down the road I passed what I initially thought was a wombat, but when I got closer I realized it was a Koala. It was a remarkable amalgamation of Australian wildlife and it was really neat to see them all in the wild in such a short time frame. I left the Prom behind and drove to Fish Creek, the nearest town, for dinner. Afterwards, I returned to the B&B for a quiet night.

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