Blog 5 Phillips Island

Today we traveled to Phillips Island to experience the wildlife at several of the Conservation Parks and to watch the Penguin Parade of Little Penguins.  Phillips Island is one of three islands off the coast of Melbourne.  It is reached via a bridge from the mainland.  The second island, which we also visited is Churchill Island and is connected to Phillips Island by a one lane bridge.  The third island is only reachable by boat or ferry.

Our first stop was the Moonlit Sanctuary Wildlife Conservation Park where you could walk around and feed the kangaroos and wallabies or, if so inclined to pay extra, pet a koala.  We declined that option and just wandered around looking at the cute wallabies, which seemed to have the run of the place, and a very relaxed wombat sleeping on his back in his log. 

Wombat sleeping in his log

Wallaby

Our next stop was on Churchill Island where we got a glimpse of farm life in the late 1800’s.  The first demonstration was whip cracking.  Bill tried his hand at it and was quite good.  The “crack” comes from the fact that the tip of the whip, when spun around, breaks the sound barrier.  Next on the agenda was a demonstration of a working sheep dog named Billy.  To buy and train a sheep dog costs about $20,000.  But Billy was very good (and very fast) as he herded the sheep where his master wanted them to go.  Then we got a demonstration of sheep shearing.  Today they use mechanized shears but in the 1800’s they used large manual shears.  In 1892, a sheep shearer set a record (that still stands today) of manually shearing 321 sheep in seven hours and 40 minutes.  The fastest time for shearing a mature sheep (using mechanical shears) is 37.90 seconds.  We watched as the sheep-shearer manhandled a 200-pound sheep and sheared off its wool.   He passed around some wool for us to feel – it is very oily with lanolin.

Bill cracking the whip

Bill and Billy

Shearing the sheep

 Then it was off to the Koala Conservation Center where we were able to observe about 12 koalas that live in the trees on the center.  Most were sleeping, but a few were eating.  The word “koala” in the Indigenous language means “without water”.  The Koalas only get water from the eucalyptus leaves that they eat.  The eucalyptus leaves are poisonous.  They sleep 18 hours a day to conserve energy that is needed to expel the poison from their system.  The Indigenous people found the koala to be a useless animal – their fur was too oily and their meat was poisonous to humans.  The Australian government, on the other hand, find the “cute and cuddly” koala bears a boon to tourism.

Sleeping Koala

Eating eucalyptus leaves

Beach at Cowes

 Following a stop in Cowes, a resort town with a beautiful beach, for a dinner of fish and chips, we headed for the Nobbies Center.  The Nobbies (named because of its unique rock formations) is famous for its large colony of Australian fur seals that live on Seal Rocks off the coast.  Without binoculars they are almost impossible to see.  They have a boardwalk that runs along the cliff’s edge where, if you are lucky, you can spot a few of the Little Penguins that live in burrows on the hillside leading down to the water.    And we were lucky.  There were about 3 that we could see in their burrows and then as I was approaching the end of the boardwalk near the Visitor Center, one little penguin came out of his burrow and posed for us.

Little Penguin in its burrow

Little Penguin

As dusk approached, we drove to our last stop and highlight of the day – the Penguin Parade, when thousands of Little Penguins come ashore after a day of feeding at sea.  Little Penguins are the smallest species of penguins (only about 1 foot high) and the only species that is found in Australia.  They are sometimes called Little Blue Penguins because of their slate-blue plumage.  This event, which attracts millions from all over the world, begins at sunset when the first of the penguins start to come ashore in groups of 25-30 and make their way up the hill side to their burrows (or in some cases little wooden boxes that were built to encourage breeding).  The parade can last as long as 2-3 hours.  These little penguins have a keen sense of direction and very good eye sight, so even though they may have to travel over 1¼ miles to their burrows, they usually know where they are going.  On occasion, they do get disoriented and then you can hear them calling to their mates or chicks in the burrows.  Once back at their burrows they regurgitate the food and fed their mate and/or chicks.  Then at 4 am it is back down the hill into the water for another day of feeding.  According to the ranger, penguins sleep for four minutes at a time.  It was quite an experience watching them waddle up the shore in groups and then separate into smaller groups as they make their way up the hill.  Unfortunately, picture taking is not allowed as the light from the cameras disturbs the little guys so I will have to “borrow” a picture from the internet.

Little Penguins leaving the water

Little Penguins making the trek up the hill to their burrows

Leaving the Penguin Parade about 10 PM, our guide stopped the bus on a dark stretch of the coastline so we could see the stars.  It was a beautiful night for star-gazing.  She pointed out the Southern Cross (like our Big Dipper, it is used to help people orient their location), the constellation Orion (which appears upside-down in the southern hemisphere), and the very bright Milky Way.  What a glorious way to end another perfect day “down under.”  We arrived back at our hotel at midnight, tired but very glad we took this trip.