Phillip Island

Aside from the Great Ocean Road, I also took a wildlife trip to Phillip Island. This is a small island about 90 miles south of Melbourne. It is known for the famous Penguin Parade. Once again I went with a tour group because I don't have a car. This was a day full of animals which is perfect for my tastes!

Our first stop was at a wildlife park to get up close and personal with some of the creatures there.

First stop was obviously the koalas. Again I got to watch them eat. I wasn't quite as interested as when I saw them in the wild but they are still amazing. We then hung out with some wallabies which are smaller than kangaroos. We had some fun.

I took a stroll to check out some other Australian creatures including the dangerous Tasmanian Devil (they slept the whole time),

a wombat,

the carnivorous kookaburra (a little more intense than the children's song makes ya think),

a couple of peacocks,

and the cuddly looking dingos!

Then I went outside and spent a good amount of time hanging out, feeding, and enjoying the company of the kangaroos.

I took advantage of my tripod and the timer function on my camera to get some non-selfie shots!

One mommy had her baby's leg sticking out of her pouch. She even let me touch it!

We then went to Phillip Island, stopping at Woolamai Beach, one of the best surfing areas in Australia. Some parts reminded me of our beaches in Cape Cod, so sad to be missing it this year.

We stopped for dinner at another place along the coast.

The last stop before the penguins was an area called the Nobbies. Offshore of this area is Seal Rocks, home to Australia's largest colony of fur seals. A look through the binoculars showed hundreds of seals romping around being seals. 

 The sun started to set while we were here so we got to see the light bend its way around the shoreline.

The last stop and the highlight of the trip is the Penguin Parade. During the day these Little Penguins (that's the species)head out to sea to hunt. As the sun starts to set they come to the shore in groups, leaving the water to find their burrows in the hillside. We got to witness this natural phenomena first hand. I got no pictures of the actual penguins because a flash would confuse the penguins and to avoid accidents cameras are prohibited in the area. It was a spectacular experience on a beautiful line of coastline. The park has build hundreds of wooded box burrows to help the Little Penguins overcome habitat loss.

Great Ocean Road

If ever you are traveling through Melbourne the Great Ocean Road is a must! I went with a tour group because I couldn't rent a car on my own but either way it would be wonderful. I could not have asked for a better day, sunshine all day!

One of the first places we stopped was a lighthouse with gorgeous views of the coast in both directions.

Then we stopped in a small park where a bunch of wild koalas like to hang out in the trees. One of them was even awake and having some lunch which is amazing timing since they sleep for about 20 hours a day. Contrary to popular belief, they are not always high, they just have a very low energy diet taking 72 hours to digest one leaf. Especially difficult because of all the toxins in the eucalyptus leaves, but they are well adapted to it.

It was here that the trees were filled with King Parrots who were happy to join us for a snack.

I've never thought of bringing my cat sightseeing but I guess it is out of the question now, darn.

We also stopped to se the 12 Apostles (nothing to do with the bible) some large sandstone structures on the sea's edge. These were beautiful and it makes you wonder how these few pieces stay here while all the earth around them has washed away. Persistence.

The last stop on our trip was a formation called the London Bridge. It's just racks again but really cool. Apparently there used to be a piece connecting the shore to the formation but if fell a number of years ago trapping a couple people on the other side who had to be rescued by helicopter. Here we watched the sun drop below the horizon leaving beautiful colors streaked across the sky and rocks, the sight of which I will never grow tired.