February 14th, 2024

We only had 80 miles to go from Melbourne to Phillips Island. It did get very rocky during the night but when we woke up we were anchored in a nice calm bay. We were stopping on Phillip’s Island so we could watch the penguin parade of the Little Penguins or the Blue Penguins, Since this is the main thing to do this is our included excursion. This does not occur until sunset which is around 8:30 so we knew this was going to be a long day. They started letting people tender to shore around 10am but apparently they had severe storms the day before and their power had been knocked out. There was no electricity at all on the island. People who went out early started coming back and saying that with no power everything was closed. So instead of going in early we waited until our tender time which was 6:45 to go in. We did manage to get an afternoon Mah Jongg game going since we were on board and nothing was going on.

The other interesting thing was the weather. After 97 degrees in Melbourne it was 64 on Phillip Island and since the penguin parade takes place after sunset they recommended layering to stay warm. Kathy and I both wore long sleeve shirts, pants and our rain jackets underneath our regular jackets. We were very comfortable.

The ship warned us about lots of crowds and long lines, long way to walk and being cold so a lot of people starting backing out of the tour. Originally they said 800 of us had signed up for the parade but unsure how many actually went. You had to do a 30 minutes tender ride, then a 30 minute bus ride and then a walk to get to the beach where the penguins come ashore.

I liked the way the sun was hitting this boat in the harbor.

The tender ride was very smooth and on the bus ride we saw lots of birds and tons of wallabies (little kangaroos). To clarify a wallaby is considered a nuisance in Australia and sort of considered a pest like the squirrel.

This is not a good picture but wanted you to see how the wallabies were just out in the fields and on the side of the road. This is through the bus window.

Once we got to the penguin reserve we walked the boardwalk leading out to the penguin viewing area and there were several more wallabies closer.

Wallabies are smaller than kangaroos but still pretty big.

There were also tons of burrows along the boardwalk and this is where the penguins live and come back to after sunset. They leave before sunrise to fish for their young and return after sunset all so that they can avoid their only predator which is birds.

Here are the penguin chicks in their burrows waiting for mom or dad to bring food back. We have been sharing photos since all of us gotten something different. The one on the left was taken by our friend Linda and is my favorite since the blue is so vibrant. The one the right was taken by Judy, one of our Mah Jongg players.

Gives you an idea of the long boardwalk and how many people.

You walked out to the beach where all the bleachers are and it is a beautiful cove where the penguins come ashore.

While we were waiting for sunset the tide probably receded 25 yards. You are allowed to use cameras until sunset as long as you don’t use a flash. After sunset absolutely no photography of any kind and definitely no flash which would hurt the penguins eyes. As the tide receded it was further for the penguins to come ashore.

They had reserved 1 side of the bleachers for “their cruise friends” and we had gone with Kathy since Michael did not want to go. Stan and Gin found us and were with Linda and Michael and so we all sat together and Kathy took this picture of us.

The penguins did not actually start coming ashore until well after sunset. It was fun to watch and I had binoculars. The penguins would start coming up in the surf and then go back out until you had several of them together. Then they would huddle up and begin the long walk to the beach and then back to their burrows. The chicks starting sticking their heads out of the burrows and making noises so their parents could find them.

I did sneak a few photos but not that good.

This is not a good photo but it shows the penguins gathering to make the trip to their burrows. What I loved was the penguins reflection in the water and would have loved to have gotten a better picture of it.

Wish I could say I had taken this one but this is posted on the penguin web site and they want you to download them so you won’t take photos but this shows the reflections well.

Once it gets too dark to see them come ashore anymore the guides lead you along the boardwalk which runs along side the trail that the penguins use to waddle back to their burrows. I snuck a couple of more photos.

It is amazing how far they have to walk to get to their burrows.

By the time we were done it was after 10 so we did a quick run through the gift shop where they had tons of stuffed penguins all sizes and some of the stuffed penguins had sweaters on them which apparently they do when the penguins are injured and have to go to rehab. I am guessing we brought back 100s of stuffed penguins to the boat since everyone seemed to have gotten one or two.

Of course I had to get one so that the kiwis would have company!

It was a 30 minute bus ride back to where the dock and then we had to sit on the bus for another 30-40 minutes waiting on the tender. They did not want us having to wait outside on the dock where it was cold and no place to sit. Since the event ended at the same time we all were back waiting on tenders at the same time so we knew it would be a late night. We got back to the boat right around midnight and they had kept World Cafe open and they were serving hot chocolate and sandwiches and soup. Since we did not eat dinner we went up and had a quick bite and then off to bed.

We have a sea day next on our way to Eden, Australia and we are happy for a relaxing day. The temperatures will stay in the 60s for our sea day.