G’day Roos!

15^th April 2013

We’ve been bemoaning the lack of Roo sightings since our arrival in rural Victoria and South Australia. Today that all changed! We started the day by watching some unusual, white Kangaroos lazing about. 

white Roo lounging

Close up of white Roo

Ready for action

 

As we drove through yet more boring plains and then entered the much more attractive and bumpy Grampion region, we spotted several groups of more traditional, brown Roos. Most were rather shy, bounding off when the camera got close but one group allowed us to get quite close. We think these Roos were tame ones. They seemed to be the green keepers on the cricket pitch in Halls Gap! 

More traditional brown Roo

Roos in the wild

Roos tending the cricket pitch

Not sure if this one is a bowler but he was certainly staying close to the wicket!

Also spotted a rather cute Wallaby but he was too shy to be photographed. Any one know the difference between a Wallaby a Roo? (other than size of course). Leave that one with you!

The Grampions are quite impressive rocky bumps, a welcome change after the flat plains. Unfortunately it was pretty cloudy today so the photos don't reflect the true beauty of the region. 

 

We complete our drive back to Melbourne tomorrow and head off to Uluru (Ayres Rock) in central Australia on Wednesday. It’s been a nightmare trip to arrange. The norm routes are incredibly expensive so we’ve opted for the cheaper (nothing cheap about this trip in reality!) option which involves flying from Melbourne to Alice Springs and then driving a camper van to the rock, a round trip of some 950k or so. Getting hold of a campervan was somewhat tricky so we’d booked a car and hotels instead, only for a van to become available so at the last minute we went back to Plan A. Despite the administrative difficulties, really looking forward to seeing this iconic symbol.

A tip for future trippers. There are several web sites offering campervans at $1 a day if you drive them to prescribed spots within a certain time scale (usually short but you can extend the time by paying the norm rate for a few days hire). This would be a much cheaper way of doing this trip and a good way to get around the country cheaply as long as you don’t mind driving.