Phillip Island

Wake up - my legs and ankles are back to normal - breathe sigh of relief.

After much faffing by me, Dee and I set off for the day to Phillip Island. The Island is attached to the mainland by a bridge - however it is very much shaped (and named) like the Isle of Wight. A fact obviously not lost on the recent locals as the burned out shell of the 'Isle of Wight' pub attests. It feels like a slightly bohemia/surfer vibe very much focussed on the laid back. They have massive motorbike rave there every year (a bit like the Isle of Man) and that sees the island packed out with people.
 I had my first taste of shark (called 'flake') which was very tasty - almost tangy and better than fish due to the lake of bones! Headed to the wet and windy beach to take in the sea air and a stroll along the short pier, that comes complete with fish measuring plates so that you don't keep fish that are too small.

We went back inland to the animal park we'd passed on the way and spent a fun couple of hours getting acquainted with the residents. You're given a free bag of animal pellets on entry which certainly helps with the wallabies & kangaroos. Saw a Cassowary bird (sort of a cross between an emu and a prehistoric colourful turkey), Koala's (one of which was awake - they spend about 90% of the day asleep Dee says so was cool to see one chomping!), an Echidna, Wombat, Dingo's, several HUGE birds of prey, Emu's. Pelican's, various colourful varieties of bird and some rescued cockatoos. Also saw some Whistling Ducks (so called because they....wait for it.....whistle - I know, weird, but cool to hear!) which probably explains where the infamous wine got it's name.

After that we headed for what is, arguably, Phillip Island's main attraction - Penguin Parade.

Informative visitor centre keeps you busy, fed & watered before heading out of the doors and down the boardwalk to watch the Little Penguins come in from a day's/13 day's swimming and feeding. The little guys and gals surf in in batches of about 10, then to & fro and the beach for a while trying to decided if they got the time right, due to the floodlights on the beach, and the location right, due to the hundreds of large things in funny clothing staring at them. Eventually they seem to think all is good and waddle up the dunes, again in a more than leisurely fashion, to their waiting mates/chicks for a noisy reunion. dee and I decided it was either joy or nagging but whichever it was noisy and a wonderful scene to behold as these little things no higher than your knee waddle up and under the boardwalks. Some of them getting so far that there are warning signs in the car park asking you to check under your car lest some poor hen-pecked penguin has decided to join the ranks of the 19% divorce rate amongst their population, and your car seems preferable to their burrow.