Phillip Island, the home of lushes nature reserves and the raw power of Moto GP, sits about 140km south of Melbourne. We thought it was definitely worth the detour out of Melbourne before continuing our journey west along the Great Ocean Road. We spent around 2 half days exploring this beautiful island. We would highly recommend stopping in at Phillip Island either as a weekend road trip from Melbourne, or like we did, as part of a lap of Australia.
16 March | Melbourne to Phillip Island
Koalas, wallabies and penguins!
My mum and dad are still here for another week so they had arranged to hire a campervan to do the next leg of the journey with us. This morning we drove to the Mighty depo to pick up their campervan. On arrival, they were very pleased with their ‘Mighty Jackpot’ decorated with an Australian theme all over. The internal design was also very good with seating, pull down table, sink with running water and a pull down bed.
We had to at least try and show mum and dad some of the great Australian wildlife, alive! That being said we decided to drive down the coast to Phillip Island. The drive down the coast was long and uneventful but approaching the island we were glad we came. It is absolutely stunning, comparable to Isle of Man in the UK. Phillip Island is actually a little bigger than Guernsey (our island home) but nowhere near as built up with a small population of people and large population of wildlife.
We pulled into the Information Centre as we crossed the entrance bridge onto the island. Standing front and centre was a statue of Casey Stoner, a Moto GP legend. Shaun started getting excited about being here in the home of the Australian Moto GP.
At the Information Centre we bought our tickets for the Koala Conservation Centre and the Penguin Parade, the main animal attractions on the island. We headed straight for the Koala Sanctuary just before closing. It wasn’t quite as we were expecting. You walk through the shop and the interactive information centre and outside into walking tracks in the bush. Straight away we saw some eyes staring back at us, not koalas but wallabies. There are fenced off board walks where the koalas live. There are only around 10 koalas in total living here but we had bets on to spot the first one, I won! It was quite exciting to spot one as they are very well camouflaged as they are so still.
Koala Sanctuary
Then on to find a campsite. The campsite was pretty old and tired but fine for one night ($30 per site). We all jumped into mum and dads van and headed to Cowes, the main town, to try and find some fish and chips for dinner before the evenings Penguin Parade.
The Penguin Parade is estimated to a very specific time every night when the tiny little penguins emerge from the water after feeding all day and return to their nests on the land. As the light was fading we walked down the board walk to the beach. We were surprised to see two massive concrete stadiums placed on the beach. We found a spot a few rows from the front and waited as the sun set. We had a brief explanation from the guide about the penguins and told explicitly not to take any photos or make any noise. Any sudden noise or flashes could scare off the penguins who will then return to the ocean and their young will die if not fed. Just as the guide was talking a ‘swamp wallaby’ made an appearance wandering along the shoreline, very strange to see them in the water.
We waited and we waited. And then out of nowhere the tiniest little creatures appeared in the foamy shallows. Then more and more came. They appeared as if out of nowhere. One minute there was nothing and the next 2 penguins stood there. They were nervous, some even darted back into the water. As one appeared they seemed to wait for more penguins for back up. Once there were a few of them they waddled up the shore on the section of beach between the stadiums. They took turns waiting in line to go through the whole in the grass. We sat for hours and as more and more people left we jumped down the seats until we were at the front and could really see the little guys. Then before we knew it the guide came over and told us they were closing. We looked behind and realised we were a part of the handful of people left. Walking back up the board walk was a ruckus of noise from penguins calling out to the babies. Some of the babies were even waiting outside the nests. They are as big as their parents just grey and fluffy, not yet waterproof so they cannot swim.
Flash flash flash, of course the Asian guys were taking photos up close of the penguins. A lady said to them ‘no photos’, they continued, again ‘no photos do you understand’, reply ‘yes I understand’. Infuriating, I was so angry with them not following instructions and endangering these wonderful little creatures. There was apparently 472 penguins that came out of the water. We had counted maybe 20! Earlier in the season you are able to witness hundreds making their way to their babies.
It was late, we headed back to the campsite in the dark, careful to watch out for kangaroos. There is a lot of road kill here of all kinds of animals; kangaroos, wallabies, koalas and fox.
17 March – Phillip Island to Torquay
A snake, go-karting and more penguins
Early this morning we headed out to the Nobbies, a lookout at the end of the island. On route Shaun spotted something slithering across the road. We chased down mum and dad ahead and turned around to investigate. A snake! Alive, well for now, I think the car behind us hit it but it counts, we saw a snake.
The Nobbies, Phillip Island
As we walked along the board walk at the Nobbies we spotted some tiny little penguins nesting underneath. We were actually close enough to see them, and in broad day light. In fact, there were nests all over the cliffs. I have no idea how these little flightless birds get all the way up here. The nesting area also makes the perfect habitat for Copperhead snakes, luckily we didn’t see any of these. Neither did we see the sea lions that live on the Nobbies.
Baby penguins at the Nobbies
On route off Phillip Island Shaun wanted to stop by the Moto GP track. Unfortunately, there was nothing cool racing. Sometimes they have training and testing days for each company but today someone had personally hired the track. Nevertheless they still wanted payment to go inside the track. Instead of forking out to see the track we opted for go karting. The track, a replica of the real thing, is right next to the main track and you get a view of the bikes racing around. The karting was good fun with Shaun coming first, then dad, me and mum. Mum came last, even after all her talk about being a police trained driver, she was terrible and even got lapped!
Just at the entrance of the track there were a group of kangaroos hanging out. I have no idea if it was part of a park but they were just behind the fence in front of the carpark. This was pretty cool and made our visit to Phillip Island worth it. We have seen koalas, penguins, a snake, wallabies and kangaroos.
We finally hit the road and spent all day driving all the way back up through Melbourne and along to the start of the Great Ocean Road at Torquay. As it was nearing 6pm when we arrived after sitting in traffic for hours we headed straight for the caravan park, Torquay Foreshore Caravan Park. We paid $34 for an unpowered site. Grimo and Pamela (of Soaring Through The Sky) are also still here and had hired a car for the day and driven down from Melbourne to meet us. And it was Grimo’s birthday so it was really nice for us to have been able to meet up. We caught up over a few drinks before they had to head back to the city.
As we settled in with our beers we heard scurrying in the trees and we spotted a couple of possums. They even came really close running behind our chairs. It’s been an amazing couple of days wildlife spotting.
We are really looking forward to tomorrow to begin the Great Ocean Road.