Phillip Island

Phillip Island

The day after I arrived in Melbourne, Bill and Shirley took me to Phillip Island which is about a 90min drive from their house. The Island is approximately the same size as Isle of Wight at home. 

We arrived in time for the Pelicans being fed which was really good to watch as they are massive birds!  

After that, we went to the Koala Conservation Centre and saw a few koalas sleeping in the trees. They are the cutest animals ever and I really want to bring one home!

We also went to a beach which I cannot remember the name of but it just looks amazing and had loads of surfers!  
Phillip Island is also famous for its Grand Prix circuit and I managed to get a couple of sneaky pictures.
We also visited The Nobbies which are famous rocks which loads of seals lie on. Unfortunately we couldn't spot any seals as they camoflauge into the rock but the views were incredible  even though it was so windy! 
 

The Nobbies

The best part of the day was seeing the Penguin Parade which is the reason why Phillip Island is so famous. It is one of the only places you will ever get to see hundreds and hundreds of Fairy Penguins come out of the water after a few days fishing and walk across the beach to their burrows. After getting Fish and Chip supper we went to where the Penguin Parade was and sat on some seats. There were hundreds of people there because it is such a popular amazing event.
The weather was so windy and wet but we sat for an hour until 20.45 when the first little penguin appeared out of the sea. Soon after about 50 of them came out and they walked across the sand, as a group, right past us to get to their burrows which can be up to 1mile inland. After the first group, loads of penguins suddenly kept appearing as it was getting dark and waddled their way up the beach having to stop occasionally for a rest. I would say it was probably one of the best things I have ever seen and something which I will never forget. It is a natural event which just makes it extra special. You were not allowed to take photographs but I have managed to steal one off the website for Phillip Island however I must stress, the photo does not even start to describe just how amazing it was!!

Penguin Parade

We also saw kangaroos, wallabies and loads of birds too earlier in the day so it is well worth a visit.
We didn't get back till about 12am so it was a long day but so glad I went :)

Kookaburra

Goodbye England, Hello Australia!!

So on the 7th February I left the UK and embarked on my trip to the other side of the world. The previous week was a hectic blur of packing, sorting out paperwork, repacking, saying goodbyes, having arguments with my bank, repacking again and booking my trip to Sydney! I sent a box to Oz with a load of uni stuff, clothes, shoes etc that I was unable to pack into my luggage which arrived at my family's house before I did! 




On the day I actually left, I remember feeling a mixture of excitement and anxiety which is quite expected when you're leaving all your friends and family for nearly 5months. The day absolutely flew by and before I knew it I was being driven to Heathrow Airport by my boyfriend with my parents and sister in a separate car! The worst part of it was realising that I had forgotten my camera battery and so would not be able to take photos!

Saying goodbye to my family and boyfriend was extremely difficult but I think I was more upset than they were! They kept reminding me how amazing this experience would be and that I would be back before I know it which is kind of true but it was still hard going through security and not being able to see them anymore. 

My flight was at 21.30 with Qantas which meant that I could sleep overnight. The flight was good because we got a pre-departure drink of Champagne which was much appreciated!! 
The flight to Singapore was 12 hours but it went fairly quick as we got a meal about an hour after taking off and there were hundreds of films to keep me entertained. Also I fell asleep for a few hours which made the time fly by!
 I arrived in Singapore about 5pm local time and pretty much got straight back onto the plane for a 8hour flight to Melbourne. 

I arrived in Melbourne about 7am local time after hardly sleeping on the plane! At security we had to wait an hour as all the computers went down which was bit of a pain in the arse as by then I just wanted to get out into Oz! 
Eventually I got through with no problems (thank god!) and met Shirley and Bill who are family. It was so nice to see a familiar face after nearly 24hours with me, myself and I! 

They gave me a tour of Melbourne City in their car for an hour which was great as I got to see how amazing the city was. After that, we went to their house where I had a shower which was soooo nice after being stuck on a plane for so long! In the afternoon they took me to get a SIM card for my phone and a few cooking items. Then we had Roast beef for dinner :) had a walk by the creek and then went to bed at 9pm as I was so knackered as the jet lag had kicked in!!