The crimson rosella, a parrot native to East and Southeast Australia, is said to be easy to see in the early mornings and later in the afternoon, though I took this photo around lunch. Your Great Ocean Road tour bus driver may hand out bird seed for you to hand out to the resident crimson rosellas, who will jump onto your hand for lunch (talk about a bird in the hand).
Koalas abound in the eucalyptus forest here, and koalas are very slow-moving animals -- you're bound to see 'em. Koalas sit so still for so long, in fact, that Mother Nature's given them no nerve endings in their sitters. They've got claws, though, and koalas are wild animals -- have respect.
With luck, you'll also see anteaters sniffing busily along the ground here, as I did -- this stop for me was like, "Cue the Australian animals!"
Farther along the Great Ocean Road at San Remo or Philip Island, you'll see penguins -- lots of 'em. Penguins spend the day in the sea and then hang together in the surf at sunset until they've reached the critical mass they deem neccesary to safely waddle ashore in a pack. The water, melted from Antarctic ice not that long ago, is so incredibly clear that you can see the penguins bobbing inside waves like cute kindling, and of course, you'll see the march of the penguins when they come ashore to sleep near cliff bases just after sunset.
See a bigger version of the koala photo and a bigger version of the crimson rosella photo.
Next page for the next stop: the Split Point lighthouse.
