Yarra Valley & the GOR

Well, I meant to write this post weeks ago but then Christmas came and we were busy! This is part two of our trip over to OZ last month. We stayed a few nights in Yarra Valley, which is known as the wine region of Victoria and is located just an hours drive outside of Melbourne. In our limited time there we managed to see and do a lot. Besides all of the delicious wine we drank, our favourite thing was feeding kangaroos! We visited an animal sanctuary which is similar to a zoo but on a smaller scale. It didn't have the "caged in" feel that most zoos have and we were able to get really close to most of the animals. The Roo's name we got to feed was Kiki, pictured below. She was sweet and gentle and thoroughly enjoyed the corn and carrots we fed her. Unlike her male counterparts, we were told the females were fairly tame and we didn't have to worry about our safety around them.

Kiki the kangaroo

Of course we had a day visiting wineries in the region as well. We tried to fit in as many as we could but with so many to chose from it was hard to just select a few! We managed to see the ones that also made their own cheese...obviously. It was all delicious! The landscape of Yarra Valley reminded us of other wine regions we have visited in the past such as Marlbourough and Sonoma. Rolling hills and lots of vines!

This sign made us feel better when we showed up to the first winery at 10 am :)

Yarra Valley

mmm cheese

Our last two days in Australia were spent driving the Great Ocean Road or the GOR as they refer to it. It is a few hundred kilometer stretch of road West of Melbourne along the ocean that travels through many small towns and too many amazing landmarks to mention. We didn't have time to travel the whole thing but we managed to see about three quarters of it. Unfortunately it was overcast  the entire road trip so the photos didn't turn out quite as amazing as I had hoped! 

The view along the GOR

Wild Koala's. They were cuter than I can put into words :)

The start of Twelve Apostle's beach

Tyler dancing...I think?

The Twelve Apostles - which refers to the rock formations jetting out of the ocean

There was a side road along the drive that was known to house many wild Koala's. We stopped there twice - once on the way there and once on the way back. They were just so cute, we couldn't help ourselves! We saw them sleeping, eating, walking across the road and even a mama feeding her baby.

Just a Koala hanging out on the deck. No big deal.

Mama and baby!

Besides the Koala's, we also found a spot where we could see wild Kangaroos. It was fun seeing them inside the sanctuary, but nothing beats seeing them in their natural habitat in the wild. Of course we didn't attempt feeding any of them this time!

A mama feeding her baby

Hip hop, hippity hop!

Overall we had an amazing time in OZ and can't wait to go back some day. There is still so much of the country left to explore. Also, I have lots of pictures to share from over the Christmas holidays when Tyler's family was here. We did and saw so much with them. Once I sort through all the photos I will post them!