Our trip to Sorrento and Phillip Island to see penguins!

On Monday, April 20^th we left for Phillip Island. When we have visitors here, we have to take both our cars to travel. There are two ways to get to Phillip Island – by ferry and then drive over OR drive through Melbourne and around to Phillip Island. We decided to take the ferry across to Sorrento and then drive to the island. It’s a great way to carve off an hour of driving and we avoid the busy city traffic! Plus, it is just gorgeous to take the ferry. We drove to Queenscliff to take the ferry across. The kids thought it was pretty neat that we were driving our cars onto a boat. After we drove on we took the stairs and the ferry has a nice indoor area to relax for the journey. This is the same ferry we took over when my parents were visiting as well.

Once we arrived in Sorrento we walked along the beach. It was high tide and much cooler temperatures than the last time we visited, so it wasn’t great for picking up shells. We managed to find a few. We went to Just Fine Foods (where we ate lunch with my parents) to have coffee and vanilla slice! The kids had little chocolate treats in the shape of animals. We browsed through a gorgeous fresh fruit and vegetable market. Everything was super organized and it was so colorful. There were huge platters with free samples (figs, watermelon, cantaloupe, pineapple) of the produce throughout the shop. The samples were huge-like a full serving! AMAZING!

The ferry that goes between Queenscliff and Sorrento

Sorrento beach and pier

Sword fighting with tree branches

Sorrento fruit/veggie market

Samples at the market (ie, fruit serving for the day)

Last time we were in Sorrento we were told as we were leaving that the back beach was definitely worth seeing, so we headed there next. Unfortunately with it being high tide we missed out on the rock pools, but we were able to hike around and see some amazing views. One of many highlights of the day!

View from lookout, Sorrento back beach

Our group (minus Mary and Sarah)

Jim and his sister, Madonna

The group hiking back down

Sorrento back beach view from lookout

We got back on the road and stopped at the Australian Gardens for a picnic lunch. We knew we had to keep going (to catch the Penguin Parade) after we ate, so we didn’t have a chance to walk around the gardens. It was a great picnic though and the kids got some of their wiggles out.

Australian Gardens, April 20, 2015

Phillip Island was about another hour or so from the Gardens. Phillip Island is about 90 minutes southeast of Melbourne. Some interesting facts about Phillip Island:
-There are 10,000 permanent residents on the island.
-There are 16,000 breeding penguin pairs.
-There are 346 species of birds and 50 koalas.
-There are 25,000 seals that call Seal Rocks their home and 6,000 seal pups are born each year.
-The island is roughly 10,000 hectares.

We stopped at our 5-bedroom rental in Wimbledon Heights area (called the Beach Shack) to drop our stuff and put our warm clothes on, then we headed to the Penguin Parade area, as it was recommended that we arrive at least an hour before sunset.

Phillip Island Nature Park is home to the famous Penguin Parade as well as The Nobbies Centre. According to our souvenir program, people have been coming to Phillip Island to watch the Penguin Parade for over 80 years. Each evening thousands of little fairy penguins arrive home from a day at sea and waddle across the beach to their sand dune burrows. The little penguins are the smallest of all penguins and are around 33 centimeters high and weigh about one kilogram.

It was so cold sitting on the beach, but we came prepared with hats and gloves for the kids. We shared some popcorn and waited patiently for sunset, which is when the penguins arrived. They would come onto the beach in little groups of about 15-20. Then the penguins would wait for a bit and scurry across the sand to the rocks and hills behind us (between where we were and the centre). After it got pretty dark and we couldn’t see them coming out of the ocean (and we were thoroughly freezing) we left to head back to the centre. We walked along boardwalks as we headed to the centre and you can get within two feet or so of the penguins as they head to their nesting boxes and burrows. This part was definitely the BEST of the evening. So amazing to see these little penguins walk around and communicate with each other. They were just so busy and noisy! We must have seen hundreds by the time we got back to our car. They recommend that you check under your car when you leave as the penguins hide under cars when scared, and Kiernan was more than happy to do that for us. No penguins under our cars thankfully! There is no photography allowed, so sadly I don’t have my own photos to share of this event, but I encourage anyone visiting Australia to do it. Such a unique experience!

Little Penguins (photo from visitphillipisland.com)

Little Penguin (photo from australiangeographic.com.au)

Lydia begging for stuff in the souvenir shop

We ate dinner (most of our group had soup) at The Fat Seagull in Cowes, then went home to get some rest.

On Tuesday we went to The Nobbies, which is another lookout point on Phillip Island. The Nobbies and Point Grant are located at the western tip of Phillip Island. The Nobbies is the name given to the two rock formations created by volcanic outpourings around 65 million years ago. As you look out from The Nobbies, Seal Rocks is to the west about 2km. It is the home of the second largest colony of Australian Fur Seals. Important fact-fur seals don't eat little penguins! PHEW!

The weather was chilly and windy, but it was sunny and a perfect day to explore. Kiernan and I saw a penguin still in the nest. If we squinted through the binoculars we could sort of see the fur seals on Seal Rocks. We also took some photos with the telephoto lens and you can just make them out when you zoom in on the computer. HA!

The waves crashing into the rocks were amazing to watch. They were so powerful and it was interesting to see how the waves have carved the rocks over the years. The boardwalk and green growth were unlike anything I’ve ever seen. It was definitely a very unique place.

The Nobbies, April 21, 2015

Boardwalk along the point

Grandma Mary, Lydia, Hannah and Barry

Little penguin still in nesting box

Hannah loved watching the waves

View to East

Gorgeous view!

The Blowhole at The Nobbies

Penguin burrow at The Nobbies

Waves washing over the basalt rock

Hannah peeking at two little penguins under the boardwalk

Kids and I at The Nobbies

After we left the Nobbies we stopped in San Remo for coffee and to let the kids play at the playground. There were a bunch of pelicans near the area too and were fun to watch (such massive birds). We had planned on driving through Melbourne on the way back, but we changed our minds and decided to drive back to Sorrento and take the ferry again. We stopped in Sorrento at the park for a quick picnic and then took the 3:00 ferry back to Queenscliff (Bellarine Peninsula). I also grabbed some fresh fruit and vegetables at the incredible market I mentioned earlier.

Hannah swinging at the park in Sorrento

We saw six dolphins on the ferry ride back to Queenscliff. They were playing on the sides of the ferry for at least 10 minutes. We took many great pictures of them and they were so fun to watch!

Dolphins playing alongside the ferry

Dolphin doing a belly flop

Barry stopped at the grocery once we got back to the Bellarine side to choose some steaks with his Dad. They grilled steak for dinner. We were all tired from our travels and it was nice to have a good meal and relax.

What a fabulous trip!

The girls chilling after our trip

Sarah