Day Trip to Phillip Island!

A bunch of us joined this thing called the 'Culture Card' not long after we got here. Which is basically this website that has various events organised and gives discounted or free tickets to students that are members. So they posted this day trip to Phillip Island, and at first it seemed kind of expensive but we soon realised its value for money when we found out that we would have to spend the night otherwise as the last train was really early. In the end, me, Lisa, Veronica, Taylor and Laura Tafuri ended up going.

We started the day off by heading to the city to meet our tour bus/guide. Me and Tay stopped in a 7/11 and got some kick as deals on drinks and doughnuts...so already the day looked full of promise!

After loading up on the bus, we headed to Phillip Island.

This was a nightmare to photograph and took several attempts but i go there in the end! 

Me doing what i normally do!

Going over the bridge to Phillip Island.

Going over the bridge to Phillip Island.

It took a good couple hours but then we arrived at our first stop; Phillip Island Chocolate Factory! Now this factory does run tours but we didn't have time to go on one unfortunately as we had plenty of other stops to make. We did however have time to have a nose around the shop and try some free samples :D

[L-R] Veronica, Lisa, Me, Taylor and Laura

Coolest display ever!

This train just ran back and fourth around this small track and disappeared into the wall. It became quite a challege to get a photo of it as it happened to go past!

After some of us made a few purchses...we piled back onto the mini bus to head to our next location.

After driving for a little while we pulled up in this car park. We could see that we were at a beach, and were all pretty excited to head down onto it. So me and Taylor jumped out and literally ran down onto the sand! It was really beautiful and a perfect day for the beach. Sadly we didn't get to spend much time there but it was really nice to see and get our feet...and legs wet!

My first step on an Australian beach.

 

It felt pretty cold at first!

And of course Taylor couldn't leave without having a photo taken with a true Australian surfer!

This is Bernie.

We then piled back onto the bus once again to head to 'The Nobbies'. Now The Nobbies; whilst having quite a dirty sounding name, is actually a set of sea stacks. The area was unbelievably picturesk and me and Taylor managed to walk the entire path around it before having to leave. We had some laughs along the way too!

Our friend 'Stumpy' the Seagull...Taylor tried to take a photo with him but he was having none of it and flew away!

We both made the same face, at the same time, completely by accident. How cool are we!?

After taking in the incredible scenery that was 'The Nobbies' and TRYING to spot a penguin or a seal, we headed back to the mini bus. The sun was just starting to set, and it was really pretty. On the way to 'The Penguin Parade' we spotted some wild wallabies!

After snapping a few photos of those beauties we arrived at 'The Penguin Parade'

My penguin Parade Ticket

[L-R] Veronica, Me, Taylor, Laura and Lisa

After making our way inside, me and Taylor managed to lose everyone as per normal. SO, we made our own way outside to find a good spot. As we were walking around a wallaby jumped out of some bushes right next to us but it was too quick to take a photo unfortunaltely. We then came up to some bleechers which looked pretty packed. Noticing there was another set of bleechers a bit further down, we decided to try our luck there instead. We ended up making the right decision as we managed to get on the floor right at the front, and had the BEST seats of anyone on either set of bleechers as the penguins had to walk right past us to get to the rocks nearby. They were so ridiculously cute and walked in small groups up the beach and hopped onto the rocks. I did not take any photos though, as photography is disruptive to the penguins and therefore forbidden.

Once the penguins had stopped coming up the beach, we started wandering back to the gift shop area. Along the way we saw several penguins in or next to nests. It was really nice to see them in their natural environment expressing natural behaviours, especially ones related to the breeding season! We even saw a pair copulating...dirty buggers! :P

When we thought we'd seen enough, and in some cases more than enough, we headed back to the mini bus for the final stretch of our journey. The last stop was 'Moonlit Sanctuary.' Now all i knew about the sanctuary was that we were going to be walking around looking at the nocturnal animals on display, so it was all kind of a mystery. So we arrive, and the guy introduces himself and goes and gets out a Jungle Python for us to have a hold of. It was really pretty.

We then proceeded outside to this paddock area. On the other side of the fence we could just about make out some Kangaroos and Wallabies that were hopping around.

I tried to snap a few photos of them in the dark and was pleasantly surprised when i saw this one!

Wallaby with a joey in her pouch ^_^

We were then let in with them so we could feed them! It was quite unexpected but it was a really cool experience. They were so lovely and a couple of them let us smoove them. You could see they all had their own characters too. As there were a couple that were really shy and held back, whereas some mobbed you as soon as they saw you had food. Some of them were quite funny too, as they would put their front legs on your hand and pull the food towards them, and then another one would do the same thing on the other side; so they'd just be pulling you back and fourth so they could get a mouthful!

 

We then proceeded to walk around the sanctuary. Heres some of the critters we saw:

Tawny Frog Mouth

Tasmanian Devil...This guy would not keep still. He just kept running around like a wild thing! So these were the best i could do really!

Tasmanian Devil again.

We also saw a Koala, Dingoes, Sugar Gliders, Potoroo and much more. I didn't get photos of them though as it was too dark and/or the flash was disruptive.

So that about concludes our day trip! It was a fantastic day and we were all knackered by the time we got home. Til next time...