Driving at night is no joke here. There is so much wildlife, you have to be slow and careful. We had a VERY close call with a Kangaroo who jumped right to left across the road and I stopped with my bumper seeming less than a foot from his powerful legs. It was early in our 2 hour drive, and we made it closer to three hours.
And we saw this guy, a tawny frogmouth. Not on our side, but so special we shined our lights on it to see. Seems like an owl, but not quite it’s in the nightjar family. He was quite content to sit there in our lights. Next morning we had a kookaburra sighting Close up. They are so pretty and if you haven’t heard their call, you should look it up. While we talk about driving, this is our trusty rental car. It has been quite good to us for comfort and handling when swerving and breaking for animals. I thought it would be hard to drive on the left side, but other than using the wipers instead of the turn signal, that has been the least of our worries. I love that there are winter-flowering bushes. Seems less common at home (when out of town). Sights on our hike to Pinnacles OverlookJust looked like a certain kind of throne. And I could get used to seeing parrots on my hikes…The rocks are so coolI love a tree that finds a way.At the topAnd Currawangs
360 viewI always hear about ocean people who can’t live away from the ocean. But I am definitely a mountain person, lack of large bodies of water doesn’t bother me, but lack of mountains makes me feel exposed and vulnerable. And also a big pointy place where you can get a view, is very nice. The Grampians is enough, not tall, but that just makes the hike easier. Proof it really is sandstone these mountains are made of. Despite the patterns of weathering being so different from home. Not the prettiest of pictures, but there are a surfer crested cockatoo, several rosellasSame place different angle for two kookaburras and an ozzie magpie. They just hang out in the yard…So prettyPretty fancyAnother sandstone hike. Toward the Venus Baths…My sister, or my mom, would say: “there she goes climbing rocks again”Green with sandstone is always especially pleasing when you are from the southwest. They have deer here. I don’t know how or why…. They seem to be on watch and the kangaroos trust that they will let them know if they should worry. we also saw wild emus, but not close enough to photograph. I want this bath! About 5.5feet long and deep. It makes me glad I kept the floating water activated candles this long. I don’t use them often, but so pampering when I can. We made a game estimating how many kangaroos/wallabies we would see in a day. First day we said 37 and got past 50. For this day, driving to Adelaide, we guessed 150 and pretty much hit it on the nose. Not that I can actually count all those but estimating.
Jessica Wandering 
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