Phillip Island
Trip Start
May 07, 2005
1
79
117
Trip End
Ongoing
Phillip Island,
Australia
Thursday, February 23, 2006
The train ride wasn't bad except that someone realized he had left his man-purse with all his money and credit cards on the bench at the station. They called around and found that it had been turned in minus the cash. It wasn't too much cash and he was relieved. We offered to give/loan him money but he refused (and it turned out he had travellers cheques in his money belt).
The hostel was an interesting place
Dave Cuddles Up For a Nap
. It had dormrooms, cabins, and trailer parking. Our cabin was wonderful with a full kitchen and TV. When we checked in we asked about the penguin parade and found that their tour had left but we could take a taxi for about the same price (except the tour included dinner).The penguin parade is a nightly event where penguins come back from a day of fishing fat and tired and walk up the beach to their burrows. Watching this is so popular that the government had to regulate tourism by fencing out the people and providing a viewing area with bleechers and a nice information building and charging quite a bit. It was all very nice. The penguins were totally adorable. They would surface a few at a time and when they had a large enough group to be brave they would waddle as fast as their stubbly little legs would take them up the shore. Often one would get scared and dive back into the water. This would scare the rest of them. It would usually take 3 or 4 tries for a group to get up the courage to make it all the way. Some penguins would be so fat they could hardly walk. The rangers explained that they were preparing to molt their feathers and grow new ones. They would be fasting for three weeks to do this. The best part came after most of the penguins were out of the water. There was a raised boardwalk that let us walk over and among the penguins to see them very close. Adolescent penguins would scream at all of the adults to give them food but only their parents would oblidge by regurgitating fish into their mouths.
We weren't allowed to take photographs in that area but outside in the walking park I spotted a penguin hiding under a bush. I crept close enough for a photo and took a few pictures without a flash. When I looked up there was a ranger scowling at me
David's Koala Reserve
. I whispered in my most innocent voice, "these photos are okay, right?" He relaxed a little and said it would be better if I stayed on the path.In the carpark there was a sign to check for penguins under the car before driving off. On a whim I looked under a car and sure enough there was a penguin sleeping under it.
We went back to the cabin very satisfied with our fill of penguins.
The next day we walked the long walk to the koala sanctuary. It was lovely with about five koalas. You could see them fairly closely on the raised boardwalk. It had an information center with lots of info about koalas. There were some other walking paths to see birds, echnidas, and other wildlife. At the time it was quite wonderful but since then we have had better koala and cookaburra experiences so I won't write more about it here.
On the way back we had a drink at a fun-house type place with puzzles, a large maze, and a mini-golf course. It seemed an excellent place to bring children but it was fun for us to sit in the free area and do puzzles.
The next morning we got the bus back to Melbourne.
