Phillip Island (Melbourne excursion)

Back in the bus our driver told us in the mid-1980s there was a program to reclaim a fifth of Phillip Island for the penguins. The penguin population had been rapidly declining and something needed to be done. They began replanting native plants, and eliminating feral cats and dogs (the penguins biggest predators). The effort took about 30 years, but now the population is thriving. The penguins come back to land at dusk when they feel safe. The entire peninsula has been preserved. In the summer about 10,000 people live on the island. 

We drove past Woolamai Beach, which is home to many seals and stopped for lunch in Cowes. He commented most places would be open because it was a Friday.

The trip website says we were supposed to stop at Woolamai Beach for 20 minutes and that it is a must-see location. We were given an extra 30 minutes at the Moonlit Sanctuary, so maybe that's where the time came from, or maybe it was the driver's prerogative? I don't know, but I do know this was our second day trip when a stop was cut without explanation. Maybe it was because we were a larger group than advertised? It was supposed to cap at 28 and we had around 40 people. Or maybe the beach was closed for some unannounced reason.

Rare photos with my whole
body in them

No matter the reason, we stopped for lunch in Cowes across the street from an ALDI (Don's favorite grocery store at home). We ate sandwiches and carrot cake al fresco. The sun was shining. The sky was blue. The air was idyllic.

An even rarer picture of both of our
entire bodies taken by Florida couple

We noticed a ferry boat

that takes passengers to French Island, another nature pre
serve, on a regular basis. Sounds like a lovely side trip, and a spectacular place to watch a sunset, but not a realistic detour when on a tour bus.

Where to look?

Dipping my toes in the Cowes Jetty

The town's traffic circle

Cowes

We still had a couple of hours until sunset, so our driver took us to the Nobbies Center where we walked the boardwalk and relaxed. There are a lot of boardwalks. A lot of different paths to take. Within the terrain are houses the penguins go to nest. We did not see any penguins or seals, but the views were spectacular.

We bumped into Florida couple again and learned their names are Patrick and Melissa. they are in their 50s. Their dad and stepmom invited them (and her siblings) to join them on a trip to Australia. Due to COVID, her dad had been planning this trip for two years. He had a full itinerary planned, but this was a day when they all went in different directions. Melissa really wanted to see koalas and penguins and booked this trip at the last moment.

Florida couple took another picture of us

Not bad for a selfie

As I saw studying the green grass, the black
volcanic rocks, and the white waves
crashing on the shore, I wondered if this is what
Ireland looks like.

Some penguin homes

We went a little further than time allowed, so we hustled back to the bus. Others were taking so long our driver ran out to look for them. 

Our driver had insisted he wanted to leave before the other tour buses so we could get optimal viewing spots at the penguin parade. This was putting us behind other buses. Fortunately, we were not yet in prime tourist season and there seemed to be enough spots for everyone. They did run out of upgraded tickets for the even better viewing spots.

The nature preserves are funded in part by our tickets to watch the penguins.

Some things I learned about the little blue fairy penguins that day. They go out to sea for about ten days, then return to land to check out their burrows and to regroup. That's why we don't see all of them on any given day. There will be more coming in during the summer, but they do come in year round. They are not overly worried about predators because they are still pretty fast.

Penguin parents take turns feeding their young. Spring is mating season. They have already seen some baby penguins. This spring is warner than most springs.

This time of year between 500 and 900 penguins come to shore. In December that number is between 2,500 and 5,000 a night. The night before we were there the first penguin was spotted at 6:38 pm, and over 1,300 penguins were spotted. I wish I knew where the daily stats were visible so I could see how our night compared.

There was a note saying the chicks were arriving early that year, so keep an ear out for their chirps.

When we got to the viewing areas the first one seemed pretty full, so we went to the second one. We heard we could sit directly on the beach, rather than on the bleachers, so that's what Don and I opted to do. I wish we had brought our towel with us as the sand was a little cold, but we were fine.

The biggest rule that was hard to follow was that we were not allowed to take pictures after sunset because the penguin's eyes could be damaged by the bright lights. A staff member came around with a QR code we could scan to get copies of their pictures. Of course their professional photos are much better than anything we would ever take.

Professional photos

So cute!

Babies!

Our photos taken before sunset:

Waiting for the penguins!

Passageway some take

Viewing station

Sunset was at 6:09 pm. A 6:43 pm we excitedly saw our first penguins! A group of six started waddling up together. A few moments later we saw a larger group of about 15 do the same. They seemed to ride the wave to the beach.

Of course people disobeyed the rules and took photos and videos. I wonder how long before they lock up cell phones upon the entrance like they did at "Take Me Out" when it was on Broadway. Yondr could expand its business to Australia to create a cell phone free space. 

Phillips Island is home to about 40,000 animals, including birds, penguins, and wild wallabies. Yes, wallabies run wild. We saw some.

While waiting 20 minutes for the lsat of the group to arrive, Don and another passenger went outside and took pictures of the stars. Coming from New Jersey where we are lucky to see a few stars a night, it is jaw dropping to see so many stars. In this case it was also a little disconcerting as the Southern Hemisphere sky is different from what we would see in New Jersey. The only times I have seen more stars were at the top of Mount Haleakala in Hawaii in 1999 and when I went to Cuba in 2015.

We then had a two hour drive back to Melbourne. Rather than waiting to get off at the stop closest to our room, we quickly leapt out of the bus at its first stop. After exchanging names with the Florida couple at the Nobbies Center, we never crossed paths again.