Profile
Blog
Photos
Videos
My Big Adventure
Where to begin! Such an amazing day! So we woke up to hideous English weather - rain, rain, rain but we weren't going to let that dampen our spirits. We headed to breakfast (pancakes) and then popped to the shops before getting our tour to Phillip Island. It's been a jammed packed day full of excitement. It started with a long trip out to Maru where we had lunch and our second Christmas Tree Farm experience - the Maru centre. This was pretty much like Featherdale possibly slightly smaller. We saw koalas, crocodiles, wallabies, wombats, kookaburras, kangaroos, Tasmanian devils, alpacas and loads of peacocks. We also had the chance to feed wallabies and kangaroos again which we obviously did! So after feeding them and looking around the rest of the farm we jumped back on the bus for our next stop - Panny's chocolate factory. When we arrived at the factory we headed inside for a free tasting session (this sounds much posher than it was - we walked in sat down and were handed 2 chocolates to eat and then looked around the shop!). We tried a dark chocolate banana chocolate and a milk chocolate truffle. Both were ok but not my first choice. We then looked around the shop and headed off for the most exciting part of the day so far - a helicopter ride! Now I have never been in a helicopter before but would so totally do it again. I loved it. Unfortunately just as we arrived the rain came down and we were unsure if we were even going to get the chance to take off or if our trip would stop there with us just sitting inside the helicopter. Thankfully the rain eventually cleared enough for us to fly in the opposite direction. The flight was actually really quite smooth. As we took off we flew over the sea and cliffs, looking at the tiny surfers in the sea. We also flew over the Grand Prix track where the V8 races were taking place. It was an amazing experience which I would love to do again. As we jumped back on the bus and headed towards our next stop we were lucky enough to see kestrels, eagles, emus, kangaroos and wallabies actually in the wild. So from here we headed to the Nobbies an area known for it's little penguins and seals. So we walked along the boardwalk on the lookout for both. And you'll never guess what but we actually saw both. As we were walking along we saw a couple of penguins hiding in their homes and then as we looked out to the sea we saw a couple of seal heads bobbing up and down. After the Nobbies, we headed to main event for the day the penguin parade, where at sunset hundreds of penguins head up the beach to their home. When we got to the penguin parade we grabbed some dinner and then went and found our place on the beach ready for all the action. As we were waiting for the penguins we got chatting to a group of Australians who couldn't quite believe we had come all the way from England to see the penguins! After a short wait the first penguins began appearing from the sea and waddling up the beach to their home. To begin with they were in the distance but very soon they were literally a few metres away from us making the short walk up the beach to their home in the bank/Rocks. In total I think we probably saw over 200 penguins walking up the beach. And when we had to leave they were still coming. Apparently it normally takes about 3 hours for all the penguins to come home of an evening and they wait until it's dark to reduce their risk of being caught! So as we made our way up the boardwalk we saw the little penguins who had found their way home but also the penguins who were still making their journey and were walking (some running) alongside the boardwalk stopping off when they reached their home. Unfortunately we were unable to take any photos tonight as you aren't allowed but trust me when I tell you it was a totally amazing experience. So now we are on the bus heading back to the hostel for one more night's sleep in Melbourne before an early start and our flight to Uluru tomorrow! I'm not quite sure how I managed to contain my excitement at points today and I definitely feel that today is one which I will never forget. Melbourne has definitively grown on me, Sydney is still by far my favourite but I would say that St Kilda and Phillip Island rate quite highly too!
- comments
Cath All I can say is WOW . Great blog Fliss x
Zoe I love the kangaroos and penguins Miss Tomlin, I want to go there! Love Eden x
Fliss Tomlin So do I Eden, one of the kangaroos even held my hand while I was feeding it! It was very exciting! x