We left Rhianna's in the late morning, and drove about 2 hrs to Kilkunda, to a family friend's beach house. Our host is an amazing guy who used to run a bike messenger service before creating his own bag company, Crumpler. They make really great and durable messanger-type bags (and other types of bags now, too). He and his wife own part of a 7 unit block, with 7 different beach houses. The block is full of dense tea tree forest, so each beach house seems completely private. The 7 families have a fairly communal spirit, with one shared building where barbecues and such are held (though most of the houses are self contained).
The house we were staying at was made with concrete and cinder blocks in a geometric, Frank Lloyd Wright inspired style, with open spaces and wall sized windows.
The house is about a 10 - 15 minute stroll through the woods to the beach, at first dense and confusing but which opens up to a lovely pathway.
We saw evidence of wombats and kangaroos, but the only creature we ran into was this little guy:
The last bit of bush before the river crossing:
The beach was breathtaking. There were huge sand dunes, and huge surf. There was also the mouth of a river coming in from the ocean, which we had to wade through to get to the ocean shore, and where little ones could play and swim in safety (compared to the CRAZY surf waves!).
Casper exploring sand dunes:
View of the river:
The crazy surf!
Post wave excitement! So fun!
Swimming in the surf was terrifying but SO FUN. As soon as your feet leave the sand, the waves take control and you have to be really careful not to be carried off the sea. So worth it though. It was thrilling! I only lasted about 5-10 minutes at a time, because its really tiring being thrown around in the surf, and I was a responsible daughter and came out for a rest when I thought I would be too tired to power-swim back to shore (Safety first, right mom? Ok... Safety second. You would have forbid me from entering the water altogether).
In the evening we came back to the beach house and had a lovely dinner outside.
Then, after dinner, I felt something HUGE crawl across my bare foot. Being the candy-ass Canadian (but could these Aussie tough guys handle -30??) I screamed bloody murder and tried to flick it off my foot, and which point it grabbed on to my hand with its terrifying legs, and I continued to scream as I tried to shake it off (all the while trying not to die of a heart attack). Finally it fell to the floor and we had a chance to examine it. Well, everyone whose vision had not gone gray and blurry from sheer terror examined it. Apparently it is called something like a rhino beetle, or something.
The biggest insect I've ever seen in my life. This is a big glass, by the way! The bug was probably like 7 inches in diameter, I swear. It scared the shit out of me and everyone laughed at me so hard. In my panic to get away from it, I headbutted our host. I also walked through the screen door. Just keepin' it real, Jessica-style. The whole ordeal was probably great practice for SE Asia.... Wtf am I thinking. Good lord.
Around midnight, Steve, myself, and our hosts decided to go on a late night beach walk. We used our cellphones as flashlights, and wandered through the bush, along the beach, and up a steep sand dune to sit and look out onto the stars and the ocean. It was beautiful, and soon and alarm went off on my phone - it was 2am, meaning 10am (the day prior) in Montreal, and my final semester law school grades were released. This being the future, I used Steve's phone to log on and check my grades then and there. I did pretty amazingly this term! It feels great to finally know that I am totally and completely done with law school, grades in and all. We cheersed our last beers. Our hosts headed back earlier, so Steve and I had to try and navigate our way through the bush at night. It was terrifying, but I couldn't be THAT scared with this guy as my guide:
To top it off, as scared as I was of bugs and snakes and all manner of creepy crawlies, Steve did the whole walk barefoot. And with me practically strangling him the whole way. We didn't run into any creatures (that I saw), but we did hear some kangaroo thumping, which apparently they do as a warning... Yikes. We eventually made it through the bush to the house. The beds were full, so I slept in a tent outside, too exhausted to be thaaaat freaked out anymore. I fell asleep listening to the waves.
The next day we left for another beach house in Venus Bay. Stay tuned for more adventures!
Location:Kilcunda, Victoria, Australia
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