Here is Liga going for an early morning swim at Warrnambool.

Yes, this is the same Liga who has been complaining about being cold every day since she got here! She didn’t stay in for long, though she admitted that the water temperature wasn’t too bad.

As soon as we set foot outside, I knew that today was going to be hot. Liga had better be careful what she wishes for!

But she did it. She swam in an Australian sea. She was very upset to learn that she can’t swim in the sea when she gets to Cairns, because of the crocodiles.

Before we left, I had my usual tight-arse breakfast of Vita-Weets and Vegemite. Naturally, they had to try Vegemite.

I think it’s safe to say that this will be the first and last time they eat it. We went to a café so they could have breaky. There were some fire engines there as well, with heaps of firies.

“It sounds like you’re almost saying ‘fairies’,” said Liga2.

“Nah, these aren’t fairies! They’re FIRE – IES!” I said.

I can’t help myself. I liked this mural on a shop at Halls Gap.

By the time we got to Halls Gap, a little town surrounded by the hills of The Grampians, it was around midday and it was 30C. The power was out and all of the fire warning signs had their arrows pointed to extreme danger of fire. The wind was whooshing along the tops of the trees. If someone was stupid enough to drop a lit cigarette on the ground, it wouldn’t be good.

People from Melbourne absolutely love The Grampians. They’re only a 4 or 5 hour drive from the city and the bushland is pristine. If there’s a long weekend, you can get two full days of camping in the bush before you have to go home. Evry time i said I was bringing the Ligas here, people’s eyes would light up.

We went to the Information centre for a map of the walks around town. Liga decided that she would do the longest and most difficult walk ( of course), so after making sure she had water, sunscreen and some nut bars to eat, we drove off to a car park and left her there, agreeing to come back at 5:30 to pick her up.

Liga2 and I aren’t insane. We decided to see McKenzie Falls, The Broken Falls and the Balconies. Why push ourselves?

You wouldn’t believe it.

We were walking towards the McKenzie Falls lookout when Liga2 heard a noise. There were 2 fat Blue Tounge lizards. These ones were a bit more shy than the ones from yesterday, so they were easing themselves away as other tourists approached.

McKenzie Falls. We decided not to go down, as the stairs looked very steep and Liga2 was worried about how the heat might affect her.

So we pushed on and saw Broken Falls, which weren’t worth a photo (sorry!).

Our next stop was The Balconies walk. It’s around 15 minutes to get there.

I took a photo at the initial lookout, just to prove that I was actually here.

I’ve had this hat for around 20 years. It doesn’t have a chin strap, so I was hanging onto it to make sure it didn’t blow away. I love this hat.

Even before you get to The Balconies, the views are amazing.

The trails are really well-maintained here, though having said that, while Liga2 and I were walking merrily along, chatting about all sorts of things, Liga was clinging to cliff faces and inching her way along in places.

She was also having a lovely, if at times slightly daunting, time.

This is the view along the way.

And here we are! I was a bit sad that the tourism authority, in all its wisdom, has fenced off the rocky outcrops that hang out and over the cliffs. I remember sitting on them and gazing out at the view when I brought the kids here, probably 20 years ago. Part of the fun was knowing that you’d die if you lost your footing.

Happy tourist!

We decided after this that we’d “done” the Australian bush, so we headed back into town to find our room and unpack the car.

On the drive down the mountain, Liga2 spotted some echidna in a ditch by the side of the road. Incredible.

Just before it was time to go and get Liga, I asked Liga2 if she’d like to go to a spot where we had a good chance of seeing wild kangaroos.

It was at the local recreation park. And it absolutely delivered. There were around 5 kangaroos with little joeys in their pouches, while another joey was there beside its mother, munching on grass.

We swung back here after we picked up Liga, so she could see them too.

Most of the kangaroos were carrying joeys, but this one was like having your 50-year-old son living in the basement.

So now we have wild kangaroos to add to the list the Ligas have seen.

Let’s see – they saw a whale in Sydney. We won’t count all of the rosellas, lorikeets, cockatoos and other birds they’ve seen.

Koalas. Blue-tongue lizards X 2. Echidnas X 2. A snake at Mt Martha.

Honestly, it seems like the Australian wildlife are practically flinging themselves out of the Bush at them! I’ve never seen anything like it.

And to end, here is a short video, where you can hear the sound of the cicadas. Not 10 seconds after I stopped recording, a kookaburra started to laugh.

Honestly, it can’t get much more Australian than that!

Halls Gap had no electricity for most of the day, so the few businesses that either had a generator or had minimal prep work to do were absolutely swamped for dinner. We walked around town and eventually ordered pizzas – which had a ONE-HOUR WAIT.

The girls elected to sit and wait to pick up the pizzas, while I left them to it and went back to our room, where I poured a wine and read my book. They need some time to themselves to speak Latvian, without constantly having to translate everything they want to say into English. I don’t know how they do this – it must be exhausting.

Tomorrow, we head out of Victoria and into South Australia. The Crazy Road Trip continues!

Dad Joke of the Day: