Christmas Dinner, Kookaburras, and a Koala

We had spent three days at the beach over Christmas but hadn't done any surfing yet, so on the morning of December 27, we packed up our camping things at Johanna Beach and headed down the Great Ocean Road in search of the perfect place to surf. We decided on Wye River. The waves were a good size, and we had fun practicing our skills. Afterward, we rinsed off and attempted to wash our hair in the beachside shower. This is the lovely knot I had to brush through after three days of boogie boarding, hiking, surfing, and no showers. Yes, it took FOREVER to get through!

Zack and I have a tradition of getting dressed up and going out for a fancy steak dinner right around Christmastime. I always get filet mignon, mashed potatoes, and creme brulee for dessert. Since Zack's now a vegetarian, he gets a fancy fish dish. Well, since we're in Australia, our Christmas dinner took on a new twist. We didn't really dress up and instead went to dinner at a nice seafood restaurant next to the pier in Lorne. Zack got some fresh snapper (it was delicious), and I got a kangaroo filet! For dessert, we had the most amazing passionfruit creme brulee. SO good!

This guy was in the tree above our tent for awhile.

There is another free campground at Wye River, off a dirt road up in the woods, so we stayed there for the night. We saw a couple of koalas, including one right near our campsite. He was making grunting noises at night, which sounded like a wild boar or something! There were also a ton of kookaburras flying around. They really do sound like they're laughing, and their calls woke us up early in the morning.

We camped near this guy!

The next day, we drove to Anglesea for some more surfing. Traffic coming from the other direction was ridiculous. Apparently everyone comes down the Great Ocean Road after Christmas, because the lines of cars (especially heading into Lorne and Apollo Bay) were insane. We were glad to head back to Melbourne after a few hours at the beach. It was a very memorable Christmas holiday in Australia spent camping and surfing along the Great Ocean Road!