http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/Australia/Victoria/Philip-Island/ Travel adventures in journals and photos from Oceania , Australia , Victoria , Philip Island en-us Fri, 05 Dec 2008 00:48:13 UTC Fri, 05 Dec 2008 00:48:13 UTC We woke very early 5.30am to get packed up and make our way to board the car ferry from Queenscliffe to Sorrento on the Mornington Penninsula then on to Phillip Island. We rugged up for the cold cold night and venture to the coastline to see the famous Little Penguin Parade it was so so so cute they are Stephanies favourite animal so she was especially excited. The next morning we packed up and b http://www.travelblog.org//Oceania/Australia/Victoria/Philip-Island/blog-348117.html Voila 5 jours que je suis en Australie et je n ai pas encore vu le moindre kangourou ni koalas. Si les animaux ne viennent pas a l homme l homme ira aux animaux o Je reserve un tour organise d une journee avec Autopia depart 11h45 pour un parc animalier en dehors de la ville. On me prend en photo aec un koala je donne a manger a des kangourous caresse un wombat vois des diables de tasmianie http://www.travelblog.org//Oceania/Australia/Victoria/Philip-Island/blog-347744.html Tuesday 916 brought another windy morning with sporadic cold rain. We took a 40minute vehicle ferry ride from Queenscliff to Sorrento in order to avoid having to drive through Melbourne. We then headed to our destination of the day which was the town of Cowes on Phillip Island. The highlight was a visit to the Phillip Island Nature Park to see their nightly penguin parade. This place is a c http://www.travelblog.org//Oceania/Australia/Victoria/Philip-Island/blog-325816.html Hey Andrew and I just finished our last day of work this Friday We said bye to all of the coworkers we had got to know well over the past 10 weeks. They were from all over the world including Iran France England China Japan Turkey and India. Also we went down the winery to say bye to the Manager Nyall and get a couple of bottles from the award winning Waurn Ponds Winery. That night Sha http://www.travelblog.org//Oceania/Australia/Victoria/Philip-Island/blog-307994.html Yesterday Saturday Nichole my friend Matt and myself went on a day trip to Phillip Island. I don't have any pictures of Phillip Island itself because we weren't allowed to take them but I have pictures of all the other stuff we did. We got into the city grabbed a quick breakfast and loaded onto the bus at around 11. Our first stop was a wildlife park called Maru which was still on the mainlan http://www.travelblog.org//Oceania/Australia/Victoria/Philip-Island/blog-265833.html Vanuit Merimbula trekken we 's ochtends vroeg verder over de Highway 1 groter en sneller hebben ze niet maar wel lekker laid back... naar Philip Island om de pinguins te ontmoeten.Deze kleine beestjes 33cm komen elke avond na zonsondergaang aan land om te slapen dat doen ze eeuwenlang. Prachtig om te zien hoe ze zich rondom een leider in een gropeje formeren en met hun laatste krachten de dui http://www.travelblog.org//Oceania/Australia/Victoria/Philip-Island/blog-262193.html Well it looks like I haven't been keeping up my end of the bargain in posting messages very often Things have definitely been busy in the last few weeks but as we are just returning from EasterMid SemesterFall Break whatever you want to call it I thought I'd recap a few of the things I've been up to in and around Melbourne.Over the weekend of March 15th a few of my friends and I hired http://www.travelblog.org//Oceania/Australia/Victoria/Philip-Island/blog-261819.html This place is really cool I hired a car for a couple of days and took a drive down. There's a penguin sanctuary here where you can go down when it's getting dark and watch all the Little Penguins come in from the sea after a days fishing. It's really funny watching these little one foot high birds waddle back up the beach to there burrows all full up. Unfortunately they won't let you take picture http://www.travelblog.org//Oceania/Australia/Victoria/Philip-Island/blog-261436.html Yesterday I went on an awesome 9 hour tour out of Melbourne to Philip Island about 90 minutes away. It was a bus tour and included the following stopsA Traditional Cattle Farm We stopped here for an included Devonshire Tea and a walk around with some Kangaroos Wallabies and lots of birds I got to be really close to the Eastern Grey Kangaroos one of the larger species and took lots of pho http://www.travelblog.org//Oceania/Australia/Victoria/Philip-Island/blog-258825.html We arrived on Phillip Island late on Thursday evening were welcomed by signs saying there are 'on the spot' fines of 100 for camping or parking a camper overnight. This meant we had to book into a campsite just before crossing the bridge into Phillip Island. Costing 30 for an unpowered site we had no option but to pay the money. Next morning we were up early to watch pelicans being fed. T http://www.travelblog.org//Oceania/Australia/Victoria/Philip-Island/blog-258172.html Day Twowe find that Sunday transit riders get a break on transit fares which is fantastic. Until we find we can't buy the tickets at our train platform. at 10am on Sunday there's not much open event to get change. We head to the convenience store and buy some water and a newspaper in order to get manageable change for the ticket machine. When we get back to the platform we end up having to buy a http://www.travelblog.org//Oceania/Australia/Victoria/Philip-Island/blog-252833.html We were to leave Philip Island today and head towards Melbourne but after receiving Jacqueline's school works we knew that we had to spend a day doing work with the kids before we go to Tasmania. We are already a few weeks behind the program and the first few weeks are going to slow for us all as we understand what we all need to do. Guy is teaching the kids Maths and I am doing the English or LAC http://www.travelblog.org//Oceania/Australia/Victoria/Philip-Island/blog-245892.html Guy did some school work with the kids in the morning and then we went to San Remo to watch the pelican feeding. We asked the locals where the best fish and chip shop was and we sat in the park to enjoy our lunch. We then headed to an entertainment centre called 'Amazing things' and walked through a maze and explored the many illusions the tourist attraction had to offer. We then went for a walk a http://www.travelblog.org//Oceania/Australia/Victoria/Philip-Island/blog-245671.html Our big outing today after catching up with the washing and clean up jobs was to visit Cowes to pick up Jacqueline's box from BSDE. She was very excited about what her school work will be. With the Bell family we went to Philip Island Winery to enjoy a wine tasting. We took home a lovely sample of some of the wines we had enjoyed together. We headed back to the caravan park to have a quick dinner http://www.travelblog.org//Oceania/Australia/Victoria/Philip-Island/blog-245650.html Of course the day we were leaving Tidal River the weather was beautiful. We packed up and then did a 2.5km walk along the Lily Pily Boardwalk into the rainforest which was just beautful. We then followed the coast around to Philip Island and we stopped at Inverloch for a short time before the cold wind encouraged us back to the car. We were greeted at the caravan park by our lovely friends who we http://www.travelblog.org//Oceania/Australia/Victoria/Philip-Island/blog-245640.html HelloRoad trip still going well and apart from a very dodgy start every morning as our lovely little van Mavis scares me to death and almost refuses to start often in the view of our amused fellow campers as the 'pommies' fail to get their van started She always pulls through in the end We now know why we got it at a discounted priceCordy wants me to mention the Canberra Art Gallery a http://www.travelblog.org//Oceania/Australia/Victoria/Philip-Island/blog-236988.html Tues 11th DecA badly planned day trip after last night but luckily it wasn't leaving until midday. Off to Philip Island to see the small penguins. As the parade doesn't start until after dark we had several stops en route. A nature reserve some wine tasting not appreciated today some stunning coastline some great pizza and finally the parade. Unfortunately you can't take photos of the http://www.travelblog.org//Oceania/Australia/Victoria/Philip-Island/blog-236010.html As you may know a large part of the north eastern part of Australia has been affected by severe flooding and parts of the area have been declared a natural disaster area. We have been watching the weather consistently since we arrived as you can imagine and made the decision yesterday to cancel our 5 days in Byron Bay as the weather forecast is not showing a significant improvement next week w http://www.travelblog.org//Oceania/Australia/Victoria/Philip-Island/blog-235764.html Next morning we had a bit of a lie in and got up for breakfast at 8.30. Breakfast was fab the guy who owns the hotel does all the cooking himself and the vegetables some of the fruit and the herbs come from his own garden. G even commented that the bacon tasted just like it does from home.After breakfast we went to the koala sanctuary on the island. G was a little taken aback as a sign was http://www.travelblog.org//Oceania/Australia/Victoria/Philip-Island/blog-235762.html Next morning we got up finished our packing and checked out of our hotel before our Neighbours tour. The reception area was packed full of reporters and TV crews as the majority of the players for the Open tennis tournament were checking in to our hotel.When we got to the pick up point for the hotel G was amazed that there were 2 buses going on it that morning and a further 2 that afternoon http://www.travelblog.org//Oceania/Australia/Victoria/Philip-Island/blog-234320.html Headed Home Well I know I havenrsquot written for a few weeks but I wanted to be able to tell you something when I got home. I have been very busy enjoying every minute of the past few weeks. It is Tuesday here and I am going to be going back to Melbourne tonight to stay with Lozrsquos sister. My flight leaves at 1135 in the morning on Wednesday. I ended up with so much stuff that I am hav http://www.travelblog.org//Oceania/Australia/Victoria/Philip-Island/blog-228364.html One of the main 'sights' that pretty much everyone goes to when they're in Melbourne is the Penguin Parade on Phillip Island a good couple of hours away so not technically in Melbourne. I'd booked myself on a two day trip with the first day on Phillip Island and the second at Wilson's Promontory. The trip to Phillip Island promised that we'd visit a winery see some native wildlife go to th http://www.travelblog.org//Oceania/Australia/Victoria/Philip-Island/blog-227913.html Week 5After a long weekend it was hard to go back to school this week but I got over it quickly because I was excited about starting in Mr. Kelseyrsquos grade 2 class. However upon arriving to school on Monday I was placed again on pool duty. I tried to get out of it by telling the principal that it was my first day in Davidrsquos class Mr. Kelsey but it didnrsquot work. I spent Monday http://www.travelblog.org//Oceania/Australia/Victoria/Philip-Island/blog-224571.html Week 4I had mixed feelings going into this week because it was my last week in the grade 1 class so I was a little sad. However I was excited about going to Geelong on Friday. This week started up swimming again at the school. Half of the school swims one week and then they switch the next week. We couldnrsquot have swimming on Monday or Tuesday because there was to much duck poo in the pool. http://www.travelblog.org//Oceania/Australia/Victoria/Philip-Island/blog-221854.html Week 3After a long weekend it was really hard to head back to school on Wednesday. The grade 1 and 2 teacher decided that they were going to use the rest of this short week to doing end of the year testing. On Wednesday morning I help El give a maths test. It was a booklet that had about 30 questions in it. The students were allowed to work at their own speed or could work along as Miss Hansen rea http://www.travelblog.org//Oceania/Australia/Victoria/Philip-Island/blog-221852.html 4 Day WeekendItrsquos Melbourne Cup weekend which means that the longest horse race in Australia is being held in Flemington. This race is known as the race that stops a nation. Hey say this because it was made a State Holiday for Victoria. This means that pretty much all the stores are shut down for the day. I guess I would compare it to the activities that go on for the Indy 500. Saturday I we http://www.travelblog.org//Oceania/Australia/Victoria/Philip-Island/blog-218043.html Week 2Hey everyone Well itrsquos time again for a week review. Let me see last Sunday I went to my first Aussi BarBQ. All I have to say about that one is Thank God for Chicken I think that is what I ate. LOLAnyways my second week of teaching went really well. I actually got a chance to get up and teach a lesson in math. I taught a two day lesson in perimeter. We started out with an outdo http://www.travelblog.org//Oceania/Australia/Victoria/Philip-Island/blog-217812.html FIRST WEEK Well Monday we got up early and took mom to the bus stop. It was hard I actually cried when she left. That last familiar thing in my life was being taken away. We went back to Laurenrsquos house and I laid down for awhile before getting up and getting ready for my first day of school. Once at school I quickly picked up on a few differencesThe first graders do not use text books an http://www.travelblog.org//Oceania/Australia/Victoria/Philip-Island/blog-215080.html Getting Settled in So itrsquos been awhile since I last wrote. I donrsquot have the internet at the house Irsquom staying at so I have to do all of my emailing and stuff during my lunch. Well let me start off where I left off. The train ride back into Melbourne went a lot smother. Once in Melbourne we caught a train to another near by town. This is where Lauren the girl Irsquom staying http://www.travelblog.org//Oceania/Australia/Victoria/Philip-Island/blog-214398.html Today i did a day tour to Phillip Island a small island 160 km south of Melbourne city. The island is famous because of its penguin parade I went there with an organised small group we were 6 people. Our first stop was in a wildlife animal farm which i did not really like too much...it was like a cheap zoo where the poor animals where not in the best conditions. We could feed the kangoro http://www.travelblog.org//Oceania/Australia/Victoria/Philip-Island/blog-213663.html