Heller Neilson Travels: Wilsons Promontory National Park

After our short trip to Phillip Island we headed to Wilsons Promontory National Park affectionately known as Wilsons Prom. It is a pristine wilderness on the coast about 2+ hours from Melbourne. When we arrived at the nearest town closest to the Park, it was growing late and we needed to find somewhere to sleep. We were desperate! Very little was available and we had to settle on a MINUS STAR, in my opinion, motel. It was tough trying to relax and accept our fate. Of course, Cliff having been in the army had no trouble falling asleep! I lay there hoping I wouldn't get bedbugs. About 6am I was awake and heard the loudest bang, thinking oh no what is happening. In fact, this loud noise awoke Cliff out of a dead sleep, sitting upright saying what was that! All I wanted to do was get dressed and depart. We had to wait until the park opened so I managed to pass the time until 7am. Upon departing we asked at the desk what the noise had been. She told us it was a possum falling on the roof. The sleep in the trees and fall out. These are giant possums, which in fact seem to be a big problem in Australia and New Zealand. The experience makes a good story in retrospect.
Wilsons Prom is a huge beautiful wilderness with camping, hiking on many different trails and a total outdoor experience. We chose a hike that was considered easy/hard. It was a walk up a gradual incline that was like hiking up a blue/green ski slope. It was tough and took about an hour. Once we got to the "almost" top we looked up and saw steps we had to climb. These steps were built into the rocks and at most places I must say there was a railing. It was scary and I kept leaning into the mountain and not looking down. When we got to the top we were on top of the world and could see NOTHING. Clouds had come in and settled over the valley below. On top of that there were bushes that attracted bees and they were buzzing everywhere. With my bee episode last summer, I was frantic I would be stung and of course, had nothing to counter it. Who would believe there would be bees at the top of the mountain. According to our tour book, the land one would see, if possible from the top, would be South America!
This morning my legs felt like I had done squats all day!
We also walked to a beach trail as we wanted to see the ocean. Unbelievable beauty.
In the early afternoon we headed to the wine country, an area of Australia that had been severely burned in the fires two years ago.

Cliff with his walking stick