Phillip Island

Saturday November 6^th

A nice late start for a change. We were travelling as part of a small group to Phillip Island, south of Melbourne, to witness hundreds of Little Penguins returning to their burrows from the ocean.

Our first stop was a small town called Koo Wee Rup, an Aboriginal word meaning “plenty black fish”. Here we had a short break for lunch.

Next was a short journey to a winery run by an Italian family, originally from Calabria. The location was reason enough to be there, but better still, we sampled each of the wines produced on the vineyard. A tough job, but someone’s got to do it!

  

From the winery we drove to Phillip Island itself. It is now joined to the mainland by a bridge, and we were told that it is only since then that the island has had a problem with foxes. One of the touristy activities planned for the day was a visit to a chocolate factory. It was interesting and fun, and we made our own chocolate shapes, but it was a lovely day and we really wanted to be outside seeing the island.

Luckily we next visited the island’s Koala Conservation Centre. This is an area of forest where koalas were already living and which has just been protected with a perimeter fence to keep predators out. We were lucky to see the koalas quite close and to see three young joeys.

As we headed away from the centre, Marg yelled out “Echidna!”  According to our driver, Di, these shy creatures are as hard to see as a hen’s tooth. It’s very rare. By the time she’d turned the bus around and we’d got out, the echidna had buried its head into a shrub, so here we have a wonderfully rare snap of an echidna’s backside! On the other side of the road, a wallaby wondered what all the fuss was about and why no-one was interested in taking his photograph.

 Next stop was the Nobbies – rocks jutting into the ocean.

This area was simply stunning – wild, natural and we had the grand total of 30 minutes to enjoy it! We did however manage to catch glimpses of Little Penguins in their burrows.

A short drive to Cowes for a quick dinner and it was time for the main event. Every evening, hundreds of penguins return to shore and pass by viewing platforms on their way back to their burrows. The main seating area can accommodate up to 3000 spectators, but we were in a different area seating only 150. (see below)

As it got darker (and colder – the fleece came in handy!) we saw first just a few little shapes on the edge of the sea, then a few more. The penguins came ashore in groups (for safety) of between 6 and 200! They waddled across the rocks and past where we were sitting, some disappearing into the undergrowth and many continuing up the hill, past the boardwalk where we could stand and watch. We were separated only by a thin wire and were for the most part less than 12” away from them. We both felt very privileged.

 No photographs of any sort are allowed, in order to protect the penguins’ eyes from the possibility of flashes going off. It was good to see that everyone obeyed this rule.

(The photo (left) is a publicity shot from the web but gives an accurate impression of our experience.)

For this reason there is no photograph of the fleece! By the time we got away from the penguins’ area we were too cold to even think about it!

It was a long drive back to Melbourne, but what an experience!

Phillip Island is a beautiful place and we would have loved to spend a few days there. It has beautiful beaches and stunning wildlife. We recommend it!