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Published: March 30th 2018
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Phillip Island –
Around 87 miles from Melbourne lies a small island called Phillip Island. The island is named after Arthur Phillip who was the Governor of South Wales. Phillip island is very small, 26 km (16m) long and only 9k (5.6m) wide.
The island is a tourist destination with 3.5 million people visiting each year. People generally visit to watch the Penguin Parade.
We only spent a day on the island but we did a lot. After arriving just before midday and going to the tourist information centre, we went for a short walk along Woolamai Beach before heading to SAN Remo. At SAN Remo we see wild pelicans being feed and sting rays. The pelican feeding is done by a local fisherman. It’s a way to keep an eye on the birds health. There were around six pelicans that day but we were told there can be up to 30. The Sting Rays were huge in the shallow water in the bay.
After we watched the feeding we went to a near by chocolate factory (again) for free tasters before doing our first walk of the day.
The first walk started back at Woolamai Beach and after 1km we
went up along the cliffs. There weren’t many actual things to see on the walk but the views were amazing. The ocean on one side and the other, grass and tree area with wild wallabies. The walk was amazing. We did a sort of circle walk walking in total around 10km (6m).
After that we had a little look around the town and headed towards the Phillip Island Nature Park. We had tickets to watch the penguin parade. We arrived a few hours early so decided to do another costal walk. We had read there was an unsealed path that lead to the Summerlands however we couldn’t find it. We followed the road until we got there. We had a look around the Nobbies Visit Centre then found the correct path. We walked back
along the unsealed path having to get out of the way for more cars than we did on the actual main road. Again the views were amazing. The ocean right next to us, with wallabies and geese all along the walk.
Once we returned to the Nature Park we went to the Penguin Parade. The parade is every night and is where the penguins waddle
back to their houses after a day fishing. A charity runs the event and you have to pay for tickets. The money is used to help protect the penguins and the surrounding area. The penguins are a breed called little penguins and are the smallest species, 33cm (13in) in height and 43cm (17in) in length. The penguins are blue and white instead of the typical black and white as this allows the penguins to have a better camouflage. In the ocean they are protected against big fish and sharks from below as the white looks like waves or the sun and from above the blue protects them from birds as it looks like part of the ocean. The penguins wait until night fall to leave the ocean to protect them selves from birds. They huddle together in small groups, communicating when it’s safe to go. The group walks across the sand, many times turning back and going back to the sea edge.
Once the penguins have made it across the sand and in through vegetation that is in a protected area where they have burrows and wooden houses, provided by the charity. Some of the penguins go around 5k (2m)
from the beach and can sometimes be found in the car park. Since the charity started protecting the penguins and the conservation area in 1920, the penguins in this area have grown to a large amount of around 32000 breading pairs which is around 70,000 birds!
Unfortunately photos are not allowed but there is a live webcam in one of the borrows that is available for viewing at - https:// www.penguins.org.au/attractions/penguin-parade/penguin-burrow- camera/
Phillip island had so many wonderful things to see, views, wildlife, conservation parks, beaches and of course the penguins. If you are ever in this area it is a must!!
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