Another holiday weekend, another excursion, another delightful surprise. I have been mentally writing this post for a couple of days now, and so far have failed to come up with vocabulary and descriptions that I haven't already used multiple times in previous posts. The state of Victoria continues to impress us with its lush countryside, rolling, verdant hills and lovely beaches. We have yet to see anything that corresponds to our previous idea of a dry, dusty, and empty wasteland with a few roos hopping about. While I know this is true of large parts of the outback, yet to be explored by us, the south eastern corner of the continent is anything but red and blank. This we confirmed once again in a short trip this past weekend.
The Sunday before Labor Day started off hot, sunny, and almost stiflingly humid. Having heard the prediction for a cool change bringing some rain in its wake, we raced to our destination, Wilson's Promontory, the southern most point on the Australian mainland. The kids were hoping for a swim, and right up to the end we thought we would make it. The helpful staff at the information center in Foster assured us we would be well ahead of the rain as we set off on the final forty minute drive on the road ending at Norman Beach. We watched the temperature plummet during these forty minutes, however, and sure enough, the raindrops started to fall as we pulled into the beach carpark. After waiting for an hour or so huddled under umbrellas, we resigned ourselves to a wet evening.
Prior to the rain, the three hour drive down from Melbourne provided one beautiful view after another, which I mostly failed to capture on my camera. I'll include a couple of the attempts anyway. In the background of the second photo you can see Wilson's Promontory, a stretch of land surrounded by water on three sides and affectionately called "the Prom" by generations of Victorians.
Having done very little research for this trip, we did not realize that emus live on the promontory. We happened upon two by the roadside next to a pair of Eastern Gray Kangaroos, and pulled over to watch them.
Shortly after the emu sighting, we noticed a few splatters of rain, and by the time we headed back to our motel, it was falling in earnest. Our primary consolation was that unlike most of the others at Norman Beach, we were not spending the night in a tent.
The Squeaky Beach overlook, beautiful in spite of the gray clouds:
Nearly the same spot the following morning, which happily brought with it a return to sunny skies:
We again drove as far south as the road will permit, to the Norman Beach and Tidal River campgrounds. Before changing into swimming gear, we opted to go on a two hour hike to Squeaky Beach, a decision that was better received by some of the children than others. All ended up having a fantastic time, however, and even James walked nearly the whole way up, down, and then back up and down again without a complaint.
A sign at the start of the trail explained that the brown color in the river comes from the tannin produced by decomposing vegetation, similar to what happens when brewing a cuppa, rather than from pollution. After admiring Norman Beach (above), we hiked for twenty minutes or so uphill and were rewarded us with stunning views of Squeaky Beach, so named because the quartz content of the sand not only makes for startlingly white and gorgeous sand, but also causes loud squeaking noises when humans walk on it.
Cameron and Sophie desperately wanted to climb on the rocks below, but after Ross and I read the account of a nineteen-year-old and twenty-year-old swept to sea and drowned by an unexpected wave in 1998 on this very spot, we wouldn't let them. There were a couple of men and a boy fishing here, however, as well as children in the surf in spite of signs proclaiming it to be unsafe for kids. It is hard to know what exactly is safe and what is not.
Investigating the squeaky sand:
It was incredible to us that on a gorgeous holiday Monday this amazing beach was nearly empty. It is no wonder that so many people come here to study or work for a couple of years and end up staying for a lifetime (note to family: not to worry, like it or not, we will be back!).
Several hours later the younger kids finally enjoyed the promised swim in the surf while Katie opted to read in the sand.
The emus made a second appearance as we reluctantly turned the car toward home, all hoping as we pulled away that this first trip to the Prom would not be our last.
Such a neat post, Christie. I learned something new about sand---that it can squeak! :) It's so pretty--white and powdery looking. Katie looks pretty in her blue shirt and jean shorts. The little ones look so happy to be at the beach. Your landscape pictures are beautiful!
Posted by: Shanda | 03/18/2011 at 11:50 AM