September 13th Phillip Island Tour

Penguin Parade/Nature Park (Natural Environment)

     Everybody woke up at around 9 o'clock, super tired after staying up all night for the cricket match, but super excited for the day to come.  By now we had all gotten over the jet lag from the flight across the world.  Due to the late start, we ate a quick breakfast that Mason cooked up using the stove in the camper and then set out for Phillip Island just after 9 in the morning.  After two hours of uneventful driving, we finally crossed the bridge between the mainland of Australia and the Island at around 12 p.m. 

      We were all looking forward to seeing the penguin parade at the Phillip Island Nature Park but knew we had to wait until evening to for that to happen.  To pass time on the island we all headed to the koala center which was a free wildlife exhibit near where the penguin parade would be.  The five of us all began the long trek to the center because we had to park far away due to the giant camper.  It was a fair day in September, with the temperature at 17* Celsius(62.2* F) and a sunny sky.

     The koalas ended up being way cooler than anyone had expected.  There was a boardwalk for visitors to walk on through the habitat.  This made it possible to see the koalas in their natural habitat and even get close enough to interact them and touch them.  Each time Avery reached out to touch one of the koalas it would shy away, but they had nothing against letting Diego reach out and touch them. By the time we were done, we ended up learning a lot about them.  Who knew a creature so small could eat up to almost 30% of its weight and sleep for over 16 hours a day.  Everyone started laughing when Zach remarked that he wished he could sleep that much.  There was even a kangaroo exhibit there at the Wildlife Center.  It was packed with tourists that wanted to see one of Australia's most famous creatures.  At about 3 p.m we all came to the consensus to head out for lunch before heading over to the nearby Phillip Island Nature Park.

Everybody ended up agreeing on a local restaurant on Phillip Island.  It ended up having delicious food which we had expected because it scored 4.2 stars on TripAdvisor.  The best dish by far was the duck salad Mason ordered due to the fact all of the produce at the restaurant was locally sourced.  By the time all of us had finished eating, it was 4 in the afternoon and time to head over to the nature park for the penguin parade.                           
      As a group, we all hopped back into the RV and drove the short distance to the Phillip Island Nature Park, the home of the Little Penguin.  After buying the tickets to get admission, we walked down the path that leads to the beach and viewing area.  At this time there was only the occasional penguin on the beach, but all of us knew that would change within the next 30 minutes.  At Avery's suggestion, we all walked over to one of the park rangers to get more information on the penguins and pass time.  All of us were surprised by the fact that the little penguins stayed out in the ocean all day hunting and are able to naturally waterproof their feathers.  Just as we finished talking with the ranger, the penguins starting appearing from the ocean, drawing a crowd from the shore.  The bleachers quickly filled up with viewers as the Little Penguins waddled out from the ocean after a day of hunting. 

    The five of us moved to the edge of the walkway where viewers could get the closest to the penguins.  One of the burrows was close to the boardwalk so we got to see one of the little guys up close.  Avery, not heeding the warning the ranger gave us earlier that these penguins were wary of humans, stuck his hand out to the penguin.  He redrew it quickly after the penguin bit his finger.  We all burst out laughing as that was the second time in one day that an animal was not happy with Avery.  After that, we just watched the last few penguins slowly waddle back to their burrows to retire for the night before their next day of hunting.

     By the time we left the nature park it was completely dark out.  It was 8 o'clock when we finally reached the RV.  Everyone voted to head back to Melbourne that night as it was on the way for the next leg of our journey.  No one wanted to drive, so we all ended up drawing straws to see who the unlucky one would be.  I ended up pulling the longest straw so I was the unlucky one that had to drive all the way back to Melbourne.  At this point all of us were super tired, but all had grins plastered on our faces from the day.  We couldn't wait to drive to Sydney the next day.