The stunning scenery and abundant fresh air of Wilson’s Prom inspired us to climb another mountain today. Our climb began with a stroll through Lilly Pully Gully which was a forest walk with a little bit of rainforest boardwalk action thrown in for good measure. Then began the energetic climb up to Mt Bishop…. the rewarding views at the top absolutely stunning.
With our legs feeling like we couldn’t possibly walk anymore we set off for Philip Island, home of the parade of the penguins. This experience was one of the highlights of my previous visit to Oz so I was looking forward to repeating it. Southern Australia is home to huge colonies of the very cute Little or Fairy Penguins (which proves to the geography buffs that this continent was at one stage, albeit millions of years ago, joined to the Antartic). Every night, shortly after sunset, these little guys waddle in from the sea and make their way to their burrows. It is magical to watch the first few rock up, they seem a bit dazed and confused as if they have got the time wrong or something, but then hundreds of their friends begin to emerge from the sea beside them. And when there is a large enough group for them to feel brave enough to make that treacherous journey across the beach, past the nasty seagulls, they begin their comical stop start waddle. Whilst they are lovely to watch, even more special is watching the chicks emerge from their burrows to wait for their parents to arrive home. You get a sense of the hunger these little guys must be feeling from the squawking racket they make. Not to mention the accosting of every adult penguin that goes past. But it is only when an adult penguin is certain that the demanding chick does actually belong to them that they surrender their catch of fish. The whole “Penguin Parade” set up may be terribly commerical but that doesn’t detract from the magic of watching these little guys. I’m looking forward to seeing more later as we drive along the Great Ocean road.