Phillip Island - Penguins, Pelicans and Chocolate (Australia Part 22)

After landing in Melbourne from Tasmania, we went straight to Phillip Island. The main attraction there is the nightly Penguin Parade, where the penguins come back ashore at sunset to return to their burrows. Since we were stuck in traffic in Melbourne, there was no time to check in at the hotel and we went straight to the western tip of the island to watch the Penguin Parade.

The penguins came ashore with the onset of dusk, as they were no longer visible to predators such as birds of prey. They landed in small groups in the shallow water and discussed whether they should go further ashore. If this step seemed too risky to them, they ran back into the water at an astonishing speed and waited a little longer.

At some point, the group dared and waddled closely together along the beach. However, it occasionally happened that one or two penguins found the situation too risky and left their group alone to disappear back into the waves. They waited until they could try their luck again with the next group.

That's how penguins come ashore on an evening. Unfortunately, photography is not allowed so that the penguins don't get frightened...

The next morning, we drove from Phillip Island back to the mainland and made a stopover at a chocolate factory, where we saw a chocolate model village, a chocolate waterfall, and chocolate penguins. There were small games where you could win wooden balls that could be exchanged for chocolate balls at the exit, so we left the exhibition with a little snack.

Chocolate village

At noon, there was a pelican feeding nearby. We arrived 15 minutes early - just like most of the pelicans. The birds were already crowded in the fenced area for them and were waiting for the fish that would be served to them at noon. They fought over the fish thrown to them and sometimes landed on the surrounding human spectators.

Afterwards, we had a salad at the picnic area located near the water. This was obviously a good choice because it wasn't as popular with seagulls. A family that brought fries eventually gave up and fled because the birds tried to steal their food from the table.

After that, we went to an exhibition area of the state-owned coal mine, which was operational until 1968. We visited the old buildings for workers and administration and took an underground tour.

We were in a tunnel 60 meters below the surface, but we only walked one kilometer out of the total of 42 kilometers that the tunnels stretch underground.