native wildlife and dogs in Lorne

When I was in Lorne recently, I went for a walk along the street that parallels the main beach street, and I was concerned to see an off-lead dog wandering across the road in front of me. In a strange town you're never sure whether to try to catch a loose dog, because it might be the local custom to let dogs roam more freely than they do in the big cities. However, I bent down to see if it had a collar, and did a double take...

Frantically I tried to unzip the pocket of my raincoat - yes, it was raining - to reach for my camera. And this is what I managed to get, as the 'dog' scurried away from me:



Overseas readers might think it's an everyday occurrence to see a koala in Australia, but let me assure you, it is not! Not for city dwellers like me, anyway. And most of us live in cities. Here's a quote from Encyclopedia of the Nations:

Australia's population is mostly urbanized, with about 88 percent of its people living in an urban area. Sydney alone has over 20 percent of the country's people.

Once the koala was in the tree it relaxed and I had all the time in the world to photograph it.



It eventually got a bit tired of me staring and staring at it, and turned its head away.



I wonder how well dogs and koalas co-exist in Lorne? I did notice the house beside the tree had a notice saying 'beware of the dog'. I suppose it might be like our own garden, where Penny goes out each evening to see if she can find any ring-tailed possums on the ground. They're always high in the tree, to her great frustration and my great relief.

Tennyson's poem about the sea

When I wasn't taking pictures of dogs at Lorne - missing Penny and thinking how much she would have liked to be there - I was photographing the cliffs and the rocky outcrops.



The coast along The Great Ocean Road is a photographer's paradise!

The rocky part of the shore made me think of the sad poem by Alfred, Lord Tennyson that a long-ago teacher made me memorise. (I'm glad to have had such a tough-loving teacher!) It's called Break, Break, Break.

visiting Lorne without Penny

I've been to Lorne for a few days, leaving Penny at home with her other humans. I had a great time there, and saw lots of dogs enjoying this magnificent beach, which is located along The Great Ocean Road.





There were signs at each town saying dogs had to be on lead within the township, but I saw many dogs romping on the beaches along the coast, so I think it must be okay to play on the beach in winter. I had a look at the Cheeky Dog site, and it certainly suggests that this area is a great place to take dogs, so perhaps Penny will come with me on my next visit.

Most of the dogs I saw were racing around on the sand, and a few were in the water, near the edge, but there were signs around that even the clumps of seaweed had interested at least one canine.



I'm fairly certain dogs wouldn't be allowed on the beach in the middle of the day in summer, when there would be more people around than in this photo.



But on the other hand I wouldn't want to be walking with Penny in the heat of a summer's day anyway!

We met a couple of people with a most gorgeous blue staffy, and they said they were staying at Separation Creek, in dog-friendly accommodation called Surf Shack. From the look of the website, it seems lovely indeed.