I have made my way to the final stretch of my Australia adventure. My home base for the next few days would be the beautiful city of Melbourne. As I landed in Melbourne and am waiting patiently at baggage claim, I am greeted by TV screens flashing ‘Breaking News!’. Over the next 3 days, Melbourne is expecting record breaking rain fall. 3 months of rain is due to fall over a 2 day time span. Extreme flooding is expected! Grrrrrreeeeeeeaaaaaaaatttttttt! Now, I love rainy weather, but this isn’t looking too good for my scheduled tours over the next days. But, I’m not gonna let it ruin my time in a great location! I contacted my tour company for my scheduled tours over the next 2 days, who assured me that they are monitoring the weather but we shouldn’t have any issues up to this point.
I opted for a gorgeous Airbnb in the city center with full views of the city from my panoramic view windows of the 19th floor. If you have not yet tried out Airbnb, it is a great spot of find a home base that lets you live like a local. My host met me to show me around and give me some recommendations for the neighborhood. I settled in for the night and did some much needed laundry from being on the road for a week and a half. It’s the little things like laundry which can make a traveler happy!
The next morning, I set off to meet my tour for the day. Go-West Tours offered the two tours I wanted to do while in Melbourne with a discount when buying together. The company offers WiFi on their buses to allow travelers to post their adventures throughout the day. And they were one of the only companies that offered a tour of the Great Ocean Road for sunset.
Today, my adventures will be taking us to Phillips Island for the famous Penguin Parade with some spots along the way!
Our tour guide, Noddy, picked us and we were on our way. We made our way through the quiet beach communities such as St. Kilda on our way to Brighton and their colorful Beach Boxes.
Along this stretch of sand, stands 82 colorful, but small structures from the early 1900s. The boxes were once used by beach goers for changing into swim wear. Owners of the beach box would change a small fee for people to use as a quick dressing room. The Bright Beach Boxes are now individually privately owned but regulated by an association. Any changes that owners would like to make to them, such as painting, must be passed by the association. These small structures cost a pretty penny too! Going for upwards of $300,000+ in auctions. The boxes are not allowed to be rented out and are a bit of a ‘status symbol’ for those who are enough to own them!
So far, the expected rain was tailing us but only giving us sprinkles, which I am completely okay with!
We made our way to the next stop, Moonlit Sanctuary. When we arrived the weather continued to sprinkle which is great for viewing wildlife, as the animals are often more active. We were lucky enough to get some great views of Koalas up and active in their enclosure. Fun fact! Koalas sleep for 20 hours a day (it helps them digest the Eucalyptus leaves that are their sole diet and extremely hard to digest!) so seeing them up and about is always a treat!
The Wombats were out and about for awhile as well, but I think this guy had an idea of what was on its way with the weather as he found a cozy spot in his enclosure.
I walked throuh the property to find some Wallabies and Kangaroos to feed and quickly became friends with this cute little one!
But, the weather decided that it was time for a bit of fun with the tourists. Moonlit sits on 25 acres and I was quite a ways back on the property when the skies decided to open up. A group of about 8 of us stuck huddling under a small over hang trying not to get soaked to the bone as the rain swirled around us. After about 10 minutes, hoping for downpour to ease, it still showed no signs of stopping. Rivers were beginning to run through the pathways. I decided to make a run for it back to the visitor center which was quite a distance from my location. Needless to say, i was a bit....SOAKED by the time I made it back to the building!
Eh, a little water never hurt anyone! I warmed up and dried out with some hot tea in the Visitor Center while the storm finally started to ease after about half hour. I decided to venture back out. As an animal lover, I wanted to see all the animals, rain or not!
I found this big guy who decided to hold my hand as I fed him some goodies.
Kooka-Kookaburra
And I survived without getting caught in another downpour!
We were then off to Phillips Island! We stopped off at Cape Woolamai. Our guide mentioned that the Hemsworth (the beautiful brothers of Thor and Hunger Games fame), live in the area and this is one of their favorite surf spots! I was hopeful I might meet my new Australian husband, but no luck! I would have to settle for the beautiful views of nature instead.
Where the sand meets the boardwalk
I didn’t intend for this photo to show off my brand new Australia Tattoo but definitely not mad about it!
As we arrived to Nobbies, it was time to start keeping an eye out for Penguin burrows in the bush and take in some stunning coastal views.
The wind was making for a cold night but the views were worth every second. Nobbies has a rock just off shore that is home to Australia’s largest fur seal colony.
I was even able to spot a few little penguins in their burrows!
We stopped in to the town of Cowes for dinner before heading to the main event of the Penguin Parade. It was a cool beach town with tons of great food spots along the water and beautiful park along the beach and pier.
We arrived at the Penguin Parade about an hour before the expected nightly arrival of the Little Penguins. Nightly, anywhere from 1,000-4,000 Little Penguins return from feeding all day to their burrows. I opted for a guided ranger tour which gave me a premium viewing area with a small group, and a ranger to explain and give commentary throughout the night. We explored the Visitor’s Center in which we got to view into some burrows that the park rangers were able to get viewing windows into without disturbing the penguins. It was chick season so I was lucky enough to catch some great peaks at some babies!
The Little Penguins of Phillips Island are just that, little. They only grow to be about a foot tall! They are blue in color along their back which helps them camouflage while fishing in the ocean. From above, their predators such as sea hawks, have a harder time seeing them as the blue shade of their feathers blend with the deep ocean colors, and from deep in the water, sea lions and sharks will have a harder time seeing them as the white of their bellies blend with the sky above.
(Please note this is a stuffed penguin that died of nature causes and is now used for educational purposes at the center)
The guided ranger tour enjoys a private reserved area for viewing the penguins return to the beach away from the general crowds.
Unfortunately, no photos are allowed during the parade as they Rangers want to protect the penguins and not frighten them with the flashes. As dusk sets in, groups of adorable little penguins begin to arrive on the beaches. 2 penguins found a spot about 3 feet from me at the private viewing area, and hung with us for about 15 minutes before heading back to their burrows for the night. It was a unique and fun experience watching these adorable animals return to their burrows, many greeted by their mate and chicks as they returned home.
(Since no photos were allowed, I gave in to the fun green screen photo!)
Phillips Island is breathtaking with the sweeping views, amazing wildlife viewing, and the weather held off, giving us a great night watching the penguins! Even the downpour at Moonlit Sanctuary made for a fun memory. I wouldn’t have changed a thing!
Up next, I have one last spot on my Legendary Australia trip, the Great Ocean Road! Thanks for joining in my adventures!