Phillip Island

On a chilly day, late in the Australian winter, we ventured approximately 140 kilometres south-east of Melbourne to Phillip Island. Formed by volcanic action, the island is home to many island wildlife – most notably the world’s smallest penguins, the “Fairy Penguins.” Other than being famous for wildlife viewing activities, Phillip Island is also a great place to go surfing. We started our day there.

I’ve been told by locals that the ocean never really gets warm in the Melbourne area, so maybe surfing in winter wasn’t the best timing on our part. The ocean surface temperature was around 10 degrees Celsius that day (~50 degrees Fahrenheit), and I have no idea what the actual water temperature was. All I know is that from the moment I put my bare foot into the water, a sharp sting shot up my leg. With a girlish scream, I instantly ran back onto the beach screaming, “This is not natural for a human to be experiencing!” Out in the distance, two young girls about 7 years of age were jumping waves in their bathing suit as if it was a warm summer’s day. Here I was in my full Rip Curl wetsuit, screaming that the water was too cold. I headed back in the water, biting my tongue as the feeling of liquid nitrogen pouring over my feet consumed me. Within a minute, I lost all feeling in my feet. Luckily, my wetsuit shielded my body from having to go through the same traumatizing experience!

After a few hours of mostly body boarding on the surf board, and Corey catching a few waves without encountering sharks (where an island is famous for wildlife, it is almost famous for its shark sightings), we proceeded to the wildlife viewing portion of our day.

With the island being fairly small (26 km long x 9km wide), we were able to make a stop at all of our planned sights on our way to the Penguin Parade. We visited the usual tourist attractions such as the Koala Conservation and Pyramid Rock before proceeding to the Nobbies, in hopes of seeing Australia’s largest Australian Fur Seal Colony. From the moment we stepped out of the car, it was as if we had walked into an Alfred Hitchcock movie – specifically, “The Birds.” I was not aware that the Nobbies was also home of the nesting seabird colonies. As we strolled cautiously along the boardwalk, trying to take in the gorgeous coastal scenery, thousands of beady silver gull eyes stared back at us. Not only did I fear that my invasion on their nesting ground could result in some sort of freak attack, I feared most that one of those silver gulls might poop on me.

Sadly, the silver gulls finally got the best of us, and we retreated to our car without catching a single glimpse of an Australian Fur Seal.

As the sun began to set, we arrived at our grand finale for the night – the Penguin Parade. Without a doubt, this is one of biggest, if not the biggest, tourist attraction for the island. From “The Birds” we had moved onto an amusement park like atmosphere. Hundreds of people poured out of coach buses, as a person in a furry penguin suit greeted everyone at the entrance. We even had the option of getting our pictures superimposed onto an image of penguins in the background! I was surprised that cotton candy wasn’t being sold, but upon further reflection, they may have had some at the snack bar.

Ticket prices ranged anywhere from $18 AUD/adult (the get ready to be shoved onto a rafter with a few hundred strangers, and pray that you can catch a glimpse of a penguin package) to $65 AUD/adult (the you and your 9 closest friends can practically hold a penguin package). We settled for something in between.

Despite all the bells and whistles, seeing the fairy penguins was an amazing experience! The penguins, each just over a foot tall, return to their burrows each night after hunting in the ocean. Once they came ashore, we were able to observe them from just a few inches away!