Thursday, November 27, 2008

Porcupines, Kangaroos and Wallabies, Oh My!

Taking the advice of the girl working the entrance of the national park, I decide to head to the Murray Beach trail. On the drive to the trail, I come across a porcupine crossing the street. Now the Traveling Hillbilly has never seen a porcupine up close and personal before, so I can’t be 100% sure that is what it was, but that is certainly what it looked like. It looked quite prickly, but a little cute and it kind of waddled along. I stopped the car so he could continue his journey across the street, but he changed his mind and heading back to the forest.
I get to the Murray Beach car park and start my hike. I’m not on the trail 5 minutes when I see a kangaroo in the bushes. It’s so cool to see one in the wild like this. Not wanting to scare it, I continue to the beach. What a beautiful beach it is. It is truly picturesque. The water is so blue green that it looks like a picture that has been photo-shopped. I walk a long the beach for a while and then get back on the trail. I hear rustling in the bushes and jump back my heart racing. I look up and realize that it’s another kangaroo. Is this the same one from before or another one? I’m not really sure but this one is smaller and more reddish in color. I think it might actually be a wallaby. This is too cool.

After about 20 minutes on the trail, you get a great view of Murray Beach below. You are suddenly standing on top of sandstone cliffs overlooking the sea. Wow! After taking the time to soak the view in and snapping a few photos. I head on. As I walk, I suddenly think, I’m not in New Zealand anymore. They have snakes here in Australia! And once again, no one knows I’m here. No one knows, I’ve decided to rent a car and drive to Jervis Bay. Maybe it’s time to head back.

I see two more roos and/or wallabies, plus a bird that looks an awful lot like a parrot but luckily no snakes on my way back to the car. What a magical place.

Now I can go back to the cabin and actually cook myself dinner!

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