2018 – Part 19 – Day 1 In Melbourne, but not really
Both of us were happy to sleep in knowing that we had no long drive to the next hotel. Without having to continue our long drives today we found something cool just around 150km (one-way) away from Melbourne.
Day Trip to Phillip Island
We’re going to see penguins! Not penguins in a zoo, or in a movie but real, wild penguins. All without having to head to Antarctica. We get to see little penguins. Seriously, they’re called little penguins.
Our drive was uneventful, and signs are marked on the highway as to which exits to take to get to the island. This was one of the few personalized plats we spotted during our drives:
The island itself felt like a popular weekend spot. There were cottages, many boats being towed during our drive, and we drove by the Phillip Island Grand Prix Circuit that was busy hosting a car race as we past.
Look up the history of the track on its Wikipedia page. Once near the end of the island we parked and passed their weather sign on our way to check-in and then enter the main building:
Now, it was a nice fall evening in Phillip Island, so we initially thought that we were underdressed with a light sweatshirt each. However, that concern quickly passed as we found the temperatures just right for us. However everything is relative. Some visitors had taken the forecast literally. It was probably 15-17C with a light breeze off the ocean.
So what do you do here?
There are three parts to visiting the Penguin parade. First up after checking in is entering the main building.
Main building
This houses the concession stands, gift shop as well as sections to help inform visitors about the penguins, their habitat as well as displays about all the penguins found in the world. The popular items at the concession stand seemed to be any hot beverage, including hot chocolate and popcorn was the go-to snack. Given the options for dinner we passed as we had had a late lunch during our drive out of Melbourne.
Parade
Two main grandstands are setup facing the beach. It is here where we spent most of our time. As light fell the park welcomed us and informed us of what to expect. Once nights falls, the penguins will come ashore and due to their small stature they will cross the beach in groups as they are exposed to any predators, or any perceived predators. Once across the beach they will head towards their habitat or visit with our penguins in the hilly ground underneath the boardwalk that connected the main building to the grandstands. Given the penguins are crossing at night, photography and videography is forbidden, and the staff do an excellent job of monitoring this.
For us, visiting in the fall can lead to varied quantities of penguins coming ashore. This is because the young are grown enough that they are no longer in their nests. Instead it is the choice of the penguins when to return to ground after spending days at sea. In the main building a count from the prior evening was posted:
Boardwalk
This links the grandstands to the main building. As the special night lights around the grandstands dimmed, we made our way to the boardwalk. Here we were just a few feet away above the penguins while they went about their nighttime activities. Many would make a “huc” like noise to communicate with others. Both of us enjoyed the ability to stand and watch the penguins while many other people would stop momentarily, not be able to see anything and then continue moving. This part of the visit gave us the best opportunity to be up close to the penguins. It was neat.
One of the many habitats setup for the penguins.
Afterwards, we returned to our vehicle and headed by to our hotel. We stopped and had a fast food late dinner on the way.
Read more about our trip by clicking here.