On Sunday we headed out to Phillip Island
to complete Donald’s wildlife adventures.
The kids love a good car ride so it wasn’t hard to convince them. Since there were 5 of us Keith had to
sit in the backseat (since he’s the only one that would fit between the car seats). The kids thought this was awesome. We meandered through the city to get on
to the M1 and although it took longer than advertised we did get to Phillip
Island in the afternoon. We
stopped for chocolates at the chocolate factory and saw the chocolate penguins
and the train. The kids enjoyed
their chocolate dolphin treats. We
then set off for the Koala Conservation Centre. There are boardwalks that allow you to be higher up and
quite close to the koalas. There
were some that were very close and it was neat to see them in their natural
habitat and close enough that the kids could see them. There were again snake signs – this one
detailing the shy copperhead which, although shy, is extremely venomous. Cian thought since there was a picture
of one with information that we should be able to see it – thankfully, this was
not the case. The kids loved the
koala boardwalks and Cian told Donald “This was a very nice trip”. We then headed to the beach for some
supper. Donald and Keith went to
get the Fish n Chips and I took the kids to play on the beach. I don’t know what possessed me to think
that they would stay up on the grass when there was perfectly good sand to roll
around in. It was a disaster. At one point I was trying to get Emily
to come back after running down the beach and I turned around and Cian was
waist-deep in the ocean. In his
clothes. Needless to say our
children are not afraid to get dirty.
They are very much “outdoor” kids.
Keith and Donald finally rescued me and we cleaned up and had our supper
on the beach. It was a gorgeous
day, not too hot and the breeze was amazing. The seagulls surrounded us but never got too close – all I
could think of was the Finding Nemo scene “Mine mine mine mine”. Cian found it very difficult to not
spend every moment scaring them away – I think that is hard-wired in
children. After supper we got back
in the car and went to the Penguin Parade parking lot. The plan was that Keith and Donald
would go in to the Parade and I would stay in the parking lot with the
kids. I thought they would be too
noisy and would scare the penguins and I had a pipedream that they might
sleep. They were wide awake when
we got there at 730pm and walking around was impossible as the parking lot was
full of flies. I then sat with
them in the car for about 15 minutes while they found and ate my chocolate bar
and 2 other chocolate granola bars and wanted more. I then texted Keith to see what the demographics inside were
like (because I had seen a lot of people strolling by with children smaller
than ours) and he said there were lots of kids inside. So we told Cian that if he was VERY
good he could go in and see penguins.
That was the golden ticket – he was awesome. We hung around in the information centre and watched the video
and then headed out on the boardwalks.
This was much nicer because the breeze kept the flies away and it was
easy to manoeuvre with the stroller.
You aren’t allowed to take any pictures once you leave the Penguin
information centre and there was something extraordinary about that. Most tourist places are full of
people’s flashing cameras and wiggling into each other’s way to get the perfect
shot. That was impossible
here. Instead we could all just
experience what was going to happen; which was extraordinary. As the sun set little penguins start to
come up on to the beach. They are
quite shy so it takes them some time but eventually you see them waddling their
way into the bush in their organized little groups. It was hard for Cian and Emily to see them on the beach but
just as cool as the beach parade is that the little penguins march under the
boardwalks and along the lit paths.
They come very close to you
and you can see them in amazing detail. Emily at one point said “Mommy I love penguins!” and Cian
said “Look they’re camouflaged!”
It was way past their bedtimes and they were mesmerized by the march of
the penguins. It was a magical
thing to watch especially with the wonder of children. It was even more magical with no
flashbulbs or camera clicks.
Everyone had to drink in their full experience right there in the
moment. We piled into the car for
the drive home (after checking under our car to ensure there weren’t any
penguins as instructed – there weren’t any) and made the long drive home. It was a very full and wonderful
day.
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