The day after Grandpa arrived Down Under we packed up the car and hit the road in search of adventure. Our first stop was the Grampians, a rugged cluster of mountains and rocky escarpments in western Victoria. We had enjoyed the area on our visit three years ago but the entire region was engulfed in bush fires (forest fires) shortly after our visit, so we were not sure what to expect this time around. Much to our surprise, the fires had revitalized the forest.
New leaves were growing directly out of the charred bark of the gum trees and the wildflowers were thriving on the forest floor.
Most impressive were the grass trees, which look exactly like their name suggests.
After a fire the plant sends up a stalk covered in flowers that can reach up to three meters high!
The humorous highlight of the day came during our picnic lunch. Zach was having a fine time enjoying his lunch with the grown ups. But poor Grandpa, who was still very jet-lagged at the time, was about to take a bite of his chicken when out of nowhere appeared a kookaburra who snatched the food right out of Grandpa's hands!
No doubt the kookaburra got a good laugh out of that spectical. We sure did!
At least the kookaburra was obliging enough to let us snap a few good pics of the iconic bird.
If you look closely you'll notice the kookaburra perched patiently in the tree above our picnic table.
After our picnic we hiked out to a breath-taking overlook. It looks like Grandma is holding onto her hat just in case another stealth kookaburra tries to make off with it.
Fortunately, Zach's hat has a chin strap!
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