Lilly Pilly Gully circuit walk - Wilsons Promontory

No, i didn't make that up.... That's actually the name of the walk we did at Wilsons Prom. But first things first.

We had a long days drive to get here, we drove from our overnight stop in Bega to Tidal River, which took about 7 hours continuous driving, we arrived at the gates of Wilsons Promontory National Park around 5pm; sunset. Now, we're not insured if we drive in the dark in nonresidential areas because of the wildlife. And we understand why, since we have seen so much roadkill already! But since we really wanted to spend the night insite the park, we decided to continue during dusk, but carefully. We only had only 30km to go and it wasn't dark yet. 

The campsite at Tidal River

But at dusk is when most animals come out, and we did seen some wombats and even emus in that last stretch! So cool.
We arrived at Tidal River, the Park's only town at half past 5. Or town... It's actually just a very large campsite (484 sites!), with several amenity blocks, a few cabins and a general store and visitor information centre. The last two were both closed by the time we got there. We had hoped to get one of the only 20 powered sites, so we could put on our heater, but how to arrange that? We didn't see anyone alive, accept for the birds... Until we discovered a printout on the notice board: a laminated card would serve as an 'after hours permit' and a little map showed where the powered sited were located.
Only then did we realise we stood in the middle of a campsite, not a car park....  We got the card (we were the first campers that night) and paid the fee the next morning.

Wombat!

When we walked to the amenities, we saw some of the larger brown blocks moving: those were wombats! And I happen to think they're über cute. And if they were a little more sensible they would be a tad more afraid of humans. IMHO. 

A wombat looks like a crossing between a giant Guinea pig and a koala. And it grazes. Right next to you. Unless you scare it like Rodie did when he accidentally walked into one, then it makes a funny noise and runs. Or more accurately, it wobbles.

View from the circuit track

After a good nights sleep, all the wombats disappeared again, and we decided to take a walk: first the Lilly Pilly Link Walk to Lilly Pilly Gully, then the first part of the Mt Bishop Summit Track, until we reached the Lilly Pilly Circuit Walk, then the boardwalk circuit, taking the Lilly Pilly Nature Walk back to Lilly Pilly Gully, ending with the Lilly Pilly Link Walk to Tidal River again. Too many Lilly Pilly's in there.... Though we didn't see that many. I think.... We did see lots of bird. Most impressive was the yellow tailed black cockatoo. And the funny little birdies that hop around everywhere here. 

The path 

We had quite some rain during the night, but just a few drops (and lots of sunshine) while we walked. It was really good walking weather, about 13', so we didn't get too warm. The first 1 hour (about 3.6km) was a moderately steep uphil walk, then another 1.5 hours (4.2km) easy flat and downhill. 600m was on the boardwalk, were we stopped frequently to spot those black cockatoos. 

Once back we had lunch and a little rest in de campervan (I got vehemently sick just after lunch, maybe Rodie did try to poison me with those toasties....)  I had power nap while it rained outside, and then we drove off at 4pm. We hoped to spot some wildlife on the drive out, and maybe do the Prom Wildlife Walk if we had time and stamina. 

Emus spotted at dusk 

We spotted some wombats and a young fox, and than two emus! But then we got to the Wildlife Walk. We parked the campervan next to a meadow, and saw 5 emus! Even though there was a drizzle, we started the walk. A few hundred meters further we saw some kangaroos, and in the end a wombat. After some selfies it really was time to get going. Officially you have to leave the park before sunset. We had decided to go to a campsite in Yanakie, 5km north of the entrance. It was dark by the time we got here, but we made it! And then the office was closed, but luckily a quick phonecall to the manager gave direction on how to get in, and here we are: nice and snug, just have to consider what to do for dinner. 

Hungry wombat eats, doesn't care who's next to him