Kangaroos, Koalas, Wallabies... oh my!

Day 16: Phillip Island and back to Melbourne

This morning, we didn’t have much of a plan except to get back to Melbourne sometime during the day. We had breakfast and found some free internet at the library to try booking some stuff (which never happened). We wasted so much time that it was lunchtime, so we went back to the Thai place and ate some good food – who knows when we would get a tasty meal like that again!

We then went to a wildlife reserve where we saw lots of animals native to Australia, including kangaroos and wallabies that were roaming free on the acres of land. It was cool, but a little zoo-like (though the kangaroos and some wallabies were free to roam in acres of land) – so it wasn’t as cool as seeing them in the wild.  We did get to feed them as they came right up to us (they’re used to it, with all the visitors), but it was a little intimidating as they jumped towards us with excitement!

After that, we went to a koala sanctuary, where we walked through more boardwalks across the trees and saw some koalas in their natural habitat. Did you know koalas sleep 20 hours a day because their diet of eucalyptus leaves is so light, they need to preserve their energy? Nice life!

After the sanctuary, we visited a winery on a mountain by the ocean, before heading back to Melbourne. When we got back to the city, we needed to find a hotel, so we drove around and stopped into a whole bunch (which were mostly sold out or ridiculously expensive because apparently it was the Queen’s birthday long weekend)! So we found one hotel and we took it! We had leftover Thai for dinner and passed out – we have an early morning tomorrow!

Gaurav feeding the kangaroos

Lazy koala

Stealth little penguins

Day 15: Phillip Island and a Penguin Parade

True to our last-minuteness on this trip, we woke up with no clue what to do today. Finally, we decided to rent a (particularly expensive) car to take a trip to Phillip Island. The drive was short, and the rolling hills reminded us of our first love – New Zealand.

We arrived at the info centre in Phillip Island and the very helpful customer service lady helped us book a hotel for the night (at a discount – yay)! We then made it out to the main attraction! We got front-row seats on the boardwalk and waited…

When nightfall came, we saw them, sneaking in from the ocean like little stealth spies… clusters and clusters of tiny little 32-inch tall penguins! After spending days and sometimes weeks in the Bass Strait looking for food for their family at shore, the penguins come back to shore in the guise of darkness and sneak over to their burrows, trying to avoid predators by leaning low to the ground and coming up only in small groups. It was an amazing sight! Nature is truly wonderful!

We weren’t allowed to take pictures or get near them so as not to disturb their natural habitat and their nightly schedule, but it was truly fantastic! They trotted along, pausing at times like little statues – as if they knew someone was watching them.

When we followed the last of the penguins searching for his home as far as we could see, we dropped our stuff off at the hotel, and went to the one-road town to have one of the best Thai meals we have ever eaten – finally, some good food!

Now, time to rest on a full belly!

 Wild Kangaroos

 Shores of Phillip Island