Melb to Phillips Island

 The next day we had a short drive to Melbourne where I would drop off my computer for repairs. Along the way we ran a few errands, like me taking my dad to the library to print out his mail-in-ballot (I turned mine in over a month ago, but he got his much later). We got it printed and sent in the mail. Civic duties done. We also go some bits and bobs for the car before I leave it for some months, making sure it is ready to go.

That evening we stayed outside Melbourne before stopping by my friend Hope’s house in the morning. Hope (a childhood friend who moved here a few years back) has been a huge help during my time here receiving packages for me and allowing me to stay a bit while I travel. We dropped off my computer with her, prepped for pick up and repair (hopefully in a brief time, although much drama came of Lenovos changing dates and time frames). Most importantly, we met her baby, Zoe. She’s an adorable little girl who will surely be an active toddler if her constant kicks were any indicator. It was so great to meet her. 

That afternoon we drove to Phillip Island. We walked to the western end of the island, but were nearly blown away by the gusts. We did not stay long outside as the wind was just too much. Along the drive we saw lots of critters though, of course the usual cows/sheep/wild roos, but we also saw lots of Cape Barren Geese which have fluorescent green beaks and flouro pink legs. They were everywhere in the natural areas of the island which was so fun. We also saw a little echidna meandering across the road in a slow waddle. 

That night the wind blew through a huge storm, but it made the next day beautiful and sunny, so it worked out well for us.

The next morning we went for a short hike on a rocky shore. As we carefully picked our way across the rocks I hear my dad yell ‘HEY’ and I look up confused. Well , he had gotten swooped by a magpie unhappy with our presence. It bonked him on the back of the head and was going for another swoop! I started staring it down and waving my arms and it flew off, but it came back for a few more swooping a whenever it thought we weren’t looking. We had to walk so one person looked down and walked a bit while the other watched for the magpie and then switch back and forth. They don’t seem to swoop you if you are watching them lol. When we got back dad said it was kinda fun, I said he was cracked, but it was an adventure.

Next we headed to a regional nature preserve where we walked to the pinnacles, a look out over some tall red rocks in the ocean. It was a nice day for a walk and on our way back we heard a nesting shearwater chick, saw a slow waddling echidna, and a copper head snake. It was so great.

We headed to the airbnb for a rest before heading to the penguin parade at 7pm. The penguin parade is a location where thousands of fairy penguins come in to feed their chicks after a few days out in the ocean feeding. We arrived an hour before sunset and set up on the edge. We were told that our spot we would see more penguins, but less close than the other spots, and we decided we were happy with that. As the sun got low we saw a seal playing in the water. We worried it was there to eat the seals, but we were informed these seals do not eat penguins. Which was nice. 

As the sky got dark you could feel the anticipation of everyone in the stands waiting for the penguins to return, probably emphasized by the penguins anxiously waiting for their partner and parents to return from 4 days at sea with food. It was truly even better than I expected  the first raft of penguins arrived at 8:15. 5 or so drifted in with the waves and gathered at the edge of the water  after 10 minutes of chirping and chattering and waiting for others to arrive 8 penguins hopped up the beach into the scrubby hills. Over the next 50 minutes approximately 1,400 penguins would drift in a hop their way up the beach into the surrounding area. Some had to hop over 1km to their homes, which seemed quite a feet for these little penguins. Everytime they return from the sea they take the exact same route and penguin trails are clear in the scrub. Researchers have tags on some and they walk over a weigh bridge every time they come or go and they are able to see their weight changes and comings and goings. As we walked back along the boardwalk we saw all the penguins running out the greet their mates. They played, squabbled, fed young, and marched on home where they would rest a few days before returning to the sea for another feed. 

The conservation efforts of the area were pretty incredible. In the 90s they said the numbers got down to 8,000 penguins and now the island has 40,000! An entire town was bought and moved out of penguin habitat over 10 years to protect them and is now being restored to wild habitat. It was a really neat experience.