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