Philip Island

On Sunday we went to Philip Island, which is a 1 hour drive south from Melbourne. Here you can see a little map of the Island.

First we went to the Chocolate factory. We went to the little museum and we saw how the chocolate is made. We could also make our own figure with some chocolate.

The next stop was Churchill Island. This is a very little Island connected with a bridge to Philippe Island. This is an old farm where we could see cows, sheep, horses,… We also had our picnic here.

Then we went to the beach and we rented a surfboard and wetsuits. We spent 2h surfing and we all liked it. The beach was very busy! So many people… you can compare it to a hot summer day in Knokke, where people lay on the beach 1 meter away from each other. The waves were good, but the water is a lot colder than at the Gold Coast.

The next stop was the Koala Park in the middle of the Island. We saw about 15 koalas in the trees when we were doing the top tree walks. One of them was a small koala who was just old enough to find his own way in the trees.

Then we went to the north to find a grocery store. We bought burgers, salad and bread and then we went to the public BBQs next to the beach and we did a BBQ for dinner. We enjoyed the nice view while eating!

Then we drove to the West south part of the island to go to the Nobbies. This part of this island has a lot of rocks where you can normally see seales… however, we didn’t see them.

The Nobbies

Around 8pm we went to the Penguin Parade. First we went to pick up our Ipods with which we could listen to some information about the penguins. Then we went to the platform close to the beach where we sat down waiting for the sunset while a guide was giving some more information. Around 9.15 the first group of penguins came out of the water and they ran to the grass. We could see them pass closely. They were so cute and they walked in such a funny way! They were about 35cm high. We walked on the platforms and we watched the penguins. We were not allowed to make pictures because it hurts the eyes of the penguins, so I took some pictures from the internet.

At 1am we arrived back in the hostel, exhausted!