Tower Hill State Game Reserve

The beauty of seeing the Great Ocean Road on your own is that you have the opportunity to go beyond the usual tourist stops, and explore some of the less well known areas. Sadly, even with the extra day, we could not stop at all the sites that we (and by ‘we’ I mean ‘I’) had aggressively planned. After departing Port Fairy in the wee hours of the morning, we had to make a decision between Tower Hill State Game Reserve - a potential kangaroo, emu, koala filled adventure, or Logan’s Beach - a popular place where patience could be rewarded in the form of a sighting of the Right Whale.

As we drove along the two-laned road with endless strips of farmland on either side, Kate suddenly shouted, “Look! A kangaroo!”

We quickly pulled over the side of the road like any other American seeing a kangaroo in the wild for the first time would, and scanned the expansive land.

“There it is!” Kate pointed, as a medium sized grey kangaroo hopped off into the distance.

Not only was there 1, there were about 8 – 12 kangaroos in the distance! They blended almost perfectly into their surroundings. Had the kangaroo not been hopping, it would have resembled a piece of raised earth or some other inanimate farm object. Unsure if we would see kangaroos in the wild again, we slowly retreated to our cars, and drove into the Tower Hill entrance in hopes that we would see more up close.

For the next hour, we were in full tourist mode. The windy road was only wide enough for 1.5 cars. As we began to descend further down, kangaroos began to appear out of nowhere! Some carried joeys in their pouches, while others happily grazed on the grass, unaware of our presence.