This is a mystery we thought.  We explained that we don’t have monkeys in this region.  They don’t live or visit the Otway National Park or along the Great Ocean Road.  In fact we don’t have monkeys in Australia.  

What could it be?  Perhaps the noises were the laughing kookaburras (a native Australian bird).  The kookaburras usually start their dawn chorus around 5am. And perhaps the critter in the tree was a brush tail possum? Another Australian native animal which visit the farm.  Perhaps its more likely a fox has visited during the night and taken some shoes off the veranda?  We have had foxes do this before.  Thankfully, all shoes were recovered a short distance from the cottage.  We are keeping an eye out for tree dwellers.