Road Trip to Phillip Island

So Thursday was a great day. I hit the road with a bus load of other tourists and we headed off to Phillip Island and our ultimate destination- the penguins.

Thinking about it, the penguins were probably the main reason that I headed to southern Australia instead of up the west coast. I remember Karen telling me about them and as soon as she mentioned them when I was trying to figure out where in Oz to go I knew that they needed to be part of my itinerary.

The were the last part of my day though and we had many adventures before that.

First stop was a winery and a taste of about 9 of their wines. I didn't make it to all 9 though. They were okay, but it's hard to drink a very sweet, thick port wine when it's 30 degrees out. Next stop a wildlife park. Sadly more like a petting zoo than animal friendly, natural habitat zone. Everyone looked too hot being out in the midday sun. I know, they are native to the area but somehow I don't think they would choose to be in a bushless area, or sparsely treed area, in the midday sun. Anyhow we got to pet a wombat, and feed many of the animals - emus, kangaroos, goats, sheep, alpacas & wallabies. Oh and there was a mock feeding of a koala for a photo shoot. Then off to a small town for dinner, a stop at a surf beach to dip our toes in the ocean and then on to the main event - the penguins.

So they say that you are watching the penguins in their natural habitat but how natural is it for there to be a grandstand and spotlights on the beach? Regardless, we showed up an hour early to get seats and proceeded to wait for the penguins to arrive back from a long day at sea collecting food. Our guide commented that it could get noisy when all the penguins came in but really what would you expect? They've now spent 15 hours away from home, one penguin out at sea, the other at home. They get back after being separated all day and they must have loads to talk about. Imagine it: "how was your day" "fine, fine, kids were good without you. how was the fishing today?" "okay but had to swim farther than usual" "well, what did you gather for dinner in the end?" "mostly anchovies" "oh, not anchovies again dear, we've had those every day this week" " some respect i get. fine, next time you go out and slave away all day looking for food for your family. see how you do." "grumble, grumble, grumble".

Anyhow it was pretty magical when the first ones started appearing on the beach. They arrive in groups, called rafts, of 15 or 20 penguins each. First you could see little silvery-white stomachs as they stood upright at the waters edge. Then in little groups they started waddling inland off to find their mate and nest. They really do waddle much like those little wind up toys that laboriously move one foot and then the other, never looking entirely steady. Some nest right near the beach and others nest up to 1 1/2 km inland. It's really a problem, and if drivers are not careful there can be penguin carnage. So after watching the penguins land I took to the boardwalks around the area to watch them making their way to their nests. It was very cute, everyone waddling up the hills and looking around for their homes sometimes now on their own and sometimes in group. At one point on a particularly narrow path they were walking in line. There was one particular penguin who looked down right reckless. Everyone else was walking or rambling along and there she was, wings extended out making a run for it as fast as he could. I wasn't able to take any pictures as no photography is allowed but I've found a few online to show what they look like. These are little penguins though. They can only be about a foot tall and weigh around 1 kg each.

The next day was gloriously hot so after a long lie in (I got back from Phillip Island very late) I headed to the St. Kilda area of Melbourne to the beach. Everyone else apparently had the same idea too as it was packed. It was a nice, hot clear day, the water cool and inviting. It's painfully obvious what I was up to yesterday though as I'm am a particular colour of pinky red. Ouch.

Today I'm just wandering, possibly going to a movie before catching an overnight train to Sydney. It's so hard to believe that my time here is almost over. Sigh.

Below are pics from the my trip to Phillip Island and a link to Reed's photos.

Reed's Pics