The drive in...
Road signs here have funny looking animals on them, like this wombat.
Happy Heather!
Our first stop was lunch in the Tidal River visitors' center. Kaylee is sporting her "Road Trips are Awesome" shirt that I got for her back in June, purchased intentionally large so it would fit perfectly during this drive. I'm proud of myself for that forethought.
This is a Pacific Gull. I realize it doesn't look like an interesting picture, except that this bird was twice as large as any other seagull flying around the park. It was huge.
We checked out the trail maps for short hikes we could take to get the best views of the park without taking too long, as it was already about noon and we needed to be on the road before 3 to be sure we'd reach Philips Island and the Penguin Parade that night. There were a few options, so we talked to the ranger at the visitors' center. He said the loop that starts from the parking lot gives a great view of Tidal River and the shoreline, is only a 1km easy to moderate hike and takes just about an hour. Sounded perfect. We popped Kaylee into the backpack, grabbed our water bottles and a few small snacks and headed off toward the trail. Did I mention it was a hot day? Somewhere well above 80F.
It was gorgeous.
Heather on a bridge! We haven't even officially started the hike yet. The other end of this bridge had the trailhead marker.
Starting the hike.
The flora was gorgeous. And a few times, parrots and lorikeets flew overhead. Never with enough warning to catch them in a photo, though.
Views of the ocean. I am consistently amazed by the blueness of the ocean here.
Heather by a big rock.
The hike continued. We were grateful for the shade from the trees, as we climbed the path away from the water and the heat climbed right along with us.
We must be getting close! It was very nice of the trail to be clearly marked at this intersection.
The far side of the mountain was much sandier. I guess its technically a hill, and mostly sand dune. It was hotter, with much less shade. Let's find that overlook and start heading downhill!
We passed the overlook, and kept walking. It was a loop, right? The path wasn't as well marked here...
But the views were still gorgeous.
Clearly, a trail. People must walk this way! Hasn't it been more than 1km? Must be the heat making us think we've gone too far.
The heat must be getting to Heather. She's starting to pet the plants.
Then, the path kinda ended. I don't have pictures of it... the heat and exhaustion were becoming too much to deal with. And, have you ever tried to take a picture of, "hey, I think we're lost"? It's not an easy emotion to capture in a photo. Anyway. We reached a point where we were checking our watches, realizing we had walked significantly more than the "about 1km" the loop was supposed to be, and were no where near being back at the river or the trailhead. We turned around.
The views of the ocean were still gorgeous.
The heat and long walk wore out the little girl. Plus, that's a comfy backpack. Easy to sleep in.
We saw a blue-tongued skink! That was exciting for us.
Three hours later, completely dehydrated and exhausted from the heat, we made it back to the car park. This was not the 1 hour hike we were promised, and we were starting to worry about getting to Philips Island in time to check in to our motel, get some dinner, and be at the penguin sanctuary in time for the parade. Time to get going!
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