After breakfast we said our farewell's to Bill (Raewyn had another early start for work) and then headed south to Phillip Island. The main tourist attraction and reason we were visiting is the Penguin Parade. We stopped off at San Remo just before the bridge over to the island for coffee and to see the pelicans before heading on to the island and Cowes, the main town, to find somewhere to stay and lunch. We booked into the Tropicana Motel (good value, clean and free wifi!) for the evening and then walked back into the town for a look around and to book tickets for the parade. The weather had brighten up a bit and we spent the late afternoon sat outside enjoying the sunshine. We decided to have a quick tea and bought fish and chips which we ate sat in the car at the pier (the pesky seagulls and slight chill put a stop to eating them outside). From here we drove down to the Nobbies at the west tip of the island, a couple of large, craggy offshore rocks which are inhabited by the largest Australian fur seal colony (although you can't see them from the island) and an array of sea birds before driving back to Summerland Beach. The Penguin Parade attracts more than half a million visitors a year and is based at an impressive complex with concrete amphitheatres that hold up to 3800 spectators. Most of the visitors there were Chinese and we almost felt as if we'd gone back 4 months to when we were in China. Just after sunset the world's smallest penguins appear on the shore and waddle up the beach to their land based nests. You get a really close up view of them from the boardwalks as they search for their burrows and mates. It was a great evening and well worth the price which apparently all goes to support the penguins.
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| Pelicans at San Remo |
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| Cowes beach |
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| The Nobbies |
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| Eudyptula minor (little penguins) - courtesy of the National Parks as you're not allowed to take photos |
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| The Penguin Parade complex |
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