Phillip Island & The Penguin Parade With My Parents

July 7, 2013

Our last Melbourne adventure was a day trip to Phillip Island.  Phillip Island is about a two hour drive from Melbourne.  It is a beautiful place full of incredible beaches, vacation homes, wineries, Nobbies Centre (home to a large population of seals), and most importantly- the cutest little parade you ever did see.  The PENGUIN PARADE!  It is also important to note that the Hemsworth brothers hail from Phillip Island.  Sadly, no Hemsworth sightings.

Here are some photos from our first stop- the Nobbie Centre.  Unfortunately, we didn't see any seals, but the views were amazing!  (No Hemsworths AND no seals?!  I want my money back!)

Double rainbow ending at the kangaroo crossing sign!

Can you tell it was FREEZING cold?!

Supposedly this thing is usually covered in sun-bathing seals

 

 

 

 

So here's the deal with the penguin parade- first, you must know that these penguins are the smallest penguins in the world.  Which also conveniently makes them the cutest penguins in the world!  Anyway, each morning at sunrise these penguins go out to sea to spend their days fishing, and then each evening at sunset they return to their nests.  This is what you are seeing when you view the Penguin Parade.  Like clockwork, right as the sun began to set, we started to see little black blobs coming up to shore.  The penguins were coming!!!  The penguins get together in large groups, and before you know it, they're standing on the sand.  It's pretty funny to watch, because it takes them 3 or 4 times to build up their courage to really come ashore- the little groups would keep on running back into the water before finally beginning their parade.  Once they start coming up, it's the cutest thing as they march/waddle in perfect little lines across the beach, and up the hills to their nests.  Unfortunately, pictures were not allowed- and they had tons of park rangers around enforcing this rule.  So you'll just have to take my word for it- they were adorable!  It was such a cool sight to see and so amazing to think that these tiny penguins repeat this ritual every single day. 
 

The penguins we saw are only as big as the tiny little one at the bottom!

Since I couldn't take photos of the real ones, this will have to do...

Snuck this photo while waiting for the penguins

 

And that concludes my very overdue recaps of my parents' visit to Australia.  Thanks for coming mom and dad!  So glad you got to see this beautiful place! 

Heron Island With the Parents

July 28-30, 2013

I was so excited that my parents had decided they wanted to include a stay at Heron Island as part of their visit!  This was the second visit for David and I (you can read about our first visit here), but we were just as excited as the first time.  I could go there a million times and not get sick of it- it really is paradise.  Heron Island is a coral island (coral cay) in the Great Barrier Reef.  Conveniently, it's very close to where we live- just a two hour ferry ride. 

This is the first view you get when you step off the boat.  UN. REAL.

 

 

 

We also saw this when we first arrived. 

Shadow?  A darker area of rocks or sand?  Nope.  This is a school of fish.  Crazy, right?  See that line down the middle?  That's the school of fish being parted by this:

I'll get back to this school of fish/shark experience a little later...

We woke up at sunrise on our first morning there to go on a guided reef walk.  A reef walk is a little like tide-pooling.  Basically you are walking around during very low tide with a marine biologist who points out all kids of coral and reef creatures.  It's pretty neat!  This was also around the time that David realized he forgot his bathing suit (OOPS!), so he was off scampering around trying to find a bathing suit in the one gift shop on the island.  I was about 80% sure he would end up with a speedo... luckily they did have some swim trunks, but he missed out on the reef walk :-(

Sunrise over the reef.  One of the few times I haven't been mad about being up early enough to see the sun rise.

 

 

Clam | Sea Star | Sea Cucumber

 

It's crazy how far out you can walk and not even have the water touch your knees

 
 

Sea Hare

We spent most of the rest of the day snorkeling right off of the island and exploring the reef.  So unbelievable to be swimming around in one of the Seven Natural Wonders of the World.  Last time David and I visited Heron Island, we borrowed a friend's underwater camera, so we were able to get much better photos on that trip (you can check them out here), but we did still get some good ones this time.  The highlight of course, was swimming with a sea tortoise- so cool!

 

 

A bit hard to see here, but this is a sting ray

 

 

 

 

Below, you will see what it looks like to swim through a school of fish.  No big deal, right?

And this is what it looks like to swim through a school of fish with a couple of SHARKS!

 

A pretty freaky experience.  These were reef sharks and lemon sharks, which supposedly are completely harmless and uninterested in humans, but STILL.  Come on, it's a shark!  Not sure I trust them completely... at least they had plenty of food...

I know this post is already pretty darn photo heavy, but there are just too many photos of this beautiful place.  So, if you're still with me, here are the last handful that I just couldn't bare to leave out. 

 

Hard to tell its size from this photo, but this is a giant Grouper that lives under the jetty.  The staff said it probably weighs close to 300 pounds!

 
 

 

 

Low tide again.  Pretty crazy to see people out SO FAR in the ocean just walking around.

 
 

 

 

Kangaroos, Koalas, and Crocodiles... OH MY!

No trip to Australia is complete without a visit to see some of Australia's cuddly marsupials... and a few not so cuddly crocs, too.  And of course, I always insist that anyone who visits,  MUST partake in the near-nirvana experience of holding a koala.  So, off we went to the Koorana Crocodile Farm and the Cooberrie Wildlife Park. 

We started at the croc farm.  I hadn't visited this place yet, and I had heard great things about it and was really looking forward to it. Koorana Crocodile Farm is a family owned place, and the guy who owns is like the Steve Irwin of crocodiles.  It's really neat because he even does all the tours himself.  He was full of stories about crocodile encounters, rescues, and lots of croc factoids.  There was a day care group on the tour with us, and my favorite part was right at the beginning of the tour when he warned the kids that anything that hangs over or pokes through the fence is property of the crocodiles.  Needless to say, they were very well-behaved after that warning.  It's pretty insane that these reptiles have lived nearly since the time of dinosaurs, with little to no evolutionary changes.  At any rate, here's a little of what we saw.

  

 

 

 

 

Next, we headed to the Cooberrie Wildlife Park.  I couldn't wait for my parents to pet their first kangaroos and hug the heck out of a koala! 

Aussie Birds: Emu (these things freak me the heck out) and Cockatoo

Dingo

See its cute little spotted bum? Each koala's spots are unique and serve as camouflage while up in the trees (the spots resemble sun light and shadows coming through the branches)

Mom and Zorro the koala

Dad meets Zorro

Koalas need two thumbs for climbing and holding on tight to branches

I dare you to convince me that this is anything but a koala hugging me through a wall.

 

 

 

This one had a joey in its pouch!

This 'roo was very interested in my camera.  Kangaroo kiss?

 

I love how they sit with their paws crossed