Philip Island day trip

Anyone who's close to me will know that I'm absolutely batty about penguins. I once watched a documentary about Antarctica on TV with J and ended up squealing "cute cute!" and grabbing J's hand in the most painful way possible whenever a penguin appeared on the screen. This was after our visit to Philip Island of course. If it was before, I don't think J would have wanted to go with me.

First stop: Warrook Cattle Farm

Our first stop was at Warrook Cattle Farm, where we saw kangaroos and a very old and scruffy-looking wombat (yes, singular). It was rather disappointing as the area opened to visitors was small and limited. On a brighter note, there was a small kangaroo which was really really really cute. The poor thing was too cute for its own good and had to escape from well-meaning visitors who kept shoving food in its face.

Lovely wild flowers and a busy bee.

Next stop: Koala Conservation Centre

Our next stop was the Koala Conservation Centre. Because koalas have become synonymous with Australia, no tourist worth his salt would visit Australia without getting a picture of a koala (I suspect most of them end up going to the gift shops for postcards). Unfortunately, koalas have a very low metabolic rate and are asleep most of the time. In any case, no self-preserving koala would want to move down the tree when it sees a bunch of beings with craned necks and contorting bodies, pointing some kind of metallic object at them that goes click click all the time. So not surprisingly, I didn't manage to get a good picture of the koalas.

Final stop: Philip Island

Next stop, Philip Island. As we had time before the penguin parade, our tour guide drove us through a backroad (I think it's called the Nobbies?), where we saw great views of Philip Island's coast. During the drive, the guide pointed out numerous little holes in the ground, which turned out to be burrows dug by the fairy penguins. These were the homes which they would return to after dusk everyday.

Around 5.40pm, we proceeded to the viewing platform for the penguin parade. As we had paid an extra A$10 per person, we were seated at a more exclusive platform which is supposed to provide a better view of the penguins. There was a pleasant seabreeze and I felt very comfy in my jacket. We found a nice spot and were informed by the ranger that the penguins came up from the sea at 6.26pm the evening before.

As the sky began to darken, people became more excited and strained their eyes to see if they could spot the first penguin of the day. At about 6.30pm, I saw the sea spit up a little white and black figure onto the sand. As the fairy penguin is very small (about 33cm tall), I couldn't see it clearly from our platform. I vaguely saw the little fella shaking itself dry and then diving back into the sea. Suddenly, we saw another penguin. This one was waddling up the beach and heading in the direction of our platform. When it neared us, it paused and stared before scampering up the hill.

Slowly more penguins came onto the beach and stood there shaking themselves dry. The biggest group had about 18 penguins. Some of the penguins were in a huge hurry to return to their burrows, while others just waddled past us in a leisurely fashion.

After a while, J and I decided to follow a group of about 10 penguins up the walkway. We walked side by side with the penguins, with a distance of about 5-6 feet between us. The air was thick with hucking sounds, made by the returning penguins and their happy partners.

We were not allowed to take pictures as penguins' eyes are sensitive to light, so I ended up buying 2 postcards from the gift shop.

I also bought two plush toys at the gift shop. The bigger one, which I have named Pengi (don't ask me why), makes a very realistic cry when its belly is pressed.

After that eye-opening experience, we went to Cowes, where we had a scrumptious dinner of fish & chips, burger, potato wedges and hot chocolate. We left Philip Island around 9pm for our 1.5hr journey back to Melbourne. During the drive back, the guide played an old movie, The Man from Snowy River. This raised a few sceptical eyebrows at first because it's a very old movie (early 1980s), but J and I found it oddly compelling.

Back in Melbourne

We finally arrived back in Melbourne around 11pm. The guide had to send some of the tourists back to their hotels and it was 11.30pm by the time we got off the bus. We took the tram and got home around 12 midnight. Although we were both really tired, it was truly a memorable and enjoyable day.