Escape to Phillip Island

As I have been focusing on making the good ‘ol Melbs truly feel like home,  I realize that my grandiose adventures have been a bit lackluster. Now this is not to say that my “seeing and doing” has ceased to exist, because honestly a daily run in my St Kilda neighborhood is truly an adventure in itself. But, an hour and a half spent on a return trip to the CBD just does not seem quite as interesting as a kangaroo spotting or an afternoon spent snorkeling at the Great Barrier Reef. But the beauty of the internet is that I can share things when I choose to, and so here are the results of a very very adventurous trip to Phillip Island yesterday (err or 2 months ago, either one!).

Now when you do a bit of research on what to see in Melbourne, the Penguin Parade at Phillip Island is always at the top of the list. Just a two hour drive away from the city, many travel the distance to watch as the Little Penguins return home at sunset. Making an afternoon of it, we loaded the car and decided to add a bit of a hike to the mix. Now in true Jewish fashion, we were running a bit later than anticipated. Though it certainly made for a beautiful backdrop to an already picturesque trail, this also meant that we needed to pick up the pace so that we weren’t surrounded by wild kangaroos in the pitch black. I am actually not kidding about that kangaroo part. The hike we chose included scenery that seemed like it was straight out of the Lion King and also had dozens of wallabies roaming around.

And though I could probably sit there and stare for hours, we forced ourselves to continue on as were fighting the clock. We made it to the last leg of our journey and had about 15 minutes of daylight left. But at that point, not only was time against us, but so was high tide! The trail that was too lead us to our car was now covered in at least a foot of water!

You know that saying that everything in Australia is out to kill you? I think I am a bit stronger of a believer that a lack of planning and common sense will do the job quicker!

We quickly realized that we were in for some soggy feet. And that was when our leisurely hike turned into a fast paced beach run! Returning to the car literally as the last spec of light disappeared from the sky.

who knows, perhaps a bit of his work helped us out?!

But if the sun was down, the penguins were coming home! And thus the haste continued as we rushed to watch the penguins parade back to their sand dune homes. Certainly a nice way to end an adventurous afternoon at Phillip Island!

Photos of the penguins were limited to this less than stellar snap.