Wildlife and Wine

After a great dinner at a little place in Port Fairy called Ramella's, we stayed overnight in Port Fairy and then got back in the car to head for the Grampians National Park. We went on a beautiful walk at the Brambuk cultural center where we were able to see mobs of kangaroos, a flock of emus, and a kookaburra in the wild.




After that we drove on another windy and hilly road and then took a short hike to see the Mackenzie Falls.


We stayed overnight at a cool place called the Kookaburra Motel. There were only a few kookaburras hanging out the day we were there, along with a huge flock of cockatoos. From our room, we were treated with the sight of kangaroos bounding across the field.


Dinner at the Kookaburra Bistro was fantastic. We shared a bottle of local shiraz that we liked so much, we went the next day to visit the Montara winery, purchasing a bottle to bring home. We made two other winery stops on our way to the next destination in the Macedon ranges. Although it was sprinkling the next day, we climbed up to the top of Hanging Rock, a volcanic rock formation well known because of the 1975 movie, Picnic at Hanging Rock.



For our last day exploring South Victoria, we took a fantastic wine and wildlife tour of the Yarra Valley, spending the morning at the Healesville Sanctuary where we saw many animals indigenous to Australia (although the Tasmanian Devil and Wombat failed to show their heads).



We followed the wildlife tour with a delicious lunch and tasting at the Yering Station Winery and a second tasting at the DeBortoli vineyards. So much fun with a really nice group of people.