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So in our fabulous little yellow beast we left the big smoke behind and zoomed off down to Phillip Island. We really liked what we saw of Melbourne in the short time we were there and were a bit bummed we didn't get to stay longer but we had to be strict with our schedule as there were other fabulous things to be seen. Melbourne is quite different from Sydney and people say you usually prefer one to the other but we liked both for different reasons - Melbourne seemed to have a bit more character with older style buildings and quite a chilled vibe, wheras Sydney has a polished and new feel, with the added bonus of the stunning beaches.
Anyway, all that city life became a distant memory as we headed out through proper Aussie suburbia and into the vast drought ridden plains of Victoria. Phillip Island is only a couple of hours drive south and as we approached the coast we caught sight of the pure blue glistening water which was stunning. We crossed a small bridge onto the Island and drove nearly the length of it to our hostel - time taken, roughly 10 minutes - the Island really is teeny tiny! On the long straight roads we passed a handful of houses and about 2 cars, giving Grant a chance to properly stretch the legs of the little yellow beast by flooring it - you can take the boy out of Essex eh...
On arriving at our hostel we were told that they didn't actually have any dorm beds left so we were going to be upgraded to a luxury cabin instead, for the same price of course, if that was ok with us?? hmmmm, yeah!! The hostel was not actually very hostel-like at all and was basically a pretty camp and caravan site set amongst lots of trees, complete with swimming pool - hurrah. After grinning for about half an hour we had a quick dip in the pool then set off to the famous Penguin Parade, the reason for coming to the island. This is basically an area of the island where hundreds of wild 'Little Penguins' (named as such becuase they are like well small) come out of the sea at nightfall and waddle in groups up the beach and into their burrows. I know, we were well suprised that they live in burrows too but they properly do and have to hop, jump and slide on their bellys (usually just the fattys) quite a way to make it up a hill into their little earthy homes. I was practically giddy with the thought of seeing this as I loved the fact that it is all completely natural and the penguins are wild. A conservation group that have built a centre round the burrows so that they are protected and people can watch from afar and not disturb the penguins.
After waiting for night to fall we sat huddled together in the cold on stone steps waiting for the first penguins to appear. It is amazing to see first one or two, then a whole group, then loads of groups appear in the distance and waddle their way towards you. They don't seem to notice the people and just waddled by, stopping and waiting for another group if they got cut off from their buddies. This was often the case for the fat ones who woud have to stop regularly and rest on their bellys then continue on shuffling on their fronts - I feel your pain boys. It was explained that they are not actually just biffers however but that they feed themselves up if they are ready to malt. They stay on land to shed some of their thick feathers for as long as 20 days so do not get to eat in this time, living instead on the reserves in their bodies. After watching them walk up the beach we then went to see them entering their burrows along specially constructed boardwalks and this was properly amazing! We were so close to them that we could watch every move and see how they interacted with eachother. At one point a wild kangaroo hopped into their path and they all froze in a line like statues until he had gone - brilliant!! I could honestly have stayed there all night watching them as there were hundreds of them and they were all around us but after a good few hours Grant said it was time to leave and practically had to drag me away... think there's a theme here.
So, after a fantastical penguin filled sleep (not actually penguins in our beds) in our luxuriuos cabin we woke up all chirpy (!) and set off in the little yellow beast once more. We stopped off just after the bridge off Phillip Island and saw some pelicans being fed which was pretty cool, then Grant had the great idea of following them as they waddled off down to the sea. The ground was kind of like quick sinking mud however so after taking a few amazing snaps we struggled out and washed off our mud/possibly sewage stained legs (the things we do to get you guys some good photos eh). It was then onward to Sorrento where we caught a ferry over fantastic turquoise waters to the beginning of the Great Ocean Road.
Linz x
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