Phillip Island, Australia

My first trip out of Melbourne was to Phillip Island. The place is a very popular tourist destination both for its scenic beauty and wildlife sanctuaries. The island is named after Arthur Phillip the first Governor of New South Wales and is only an hour’s drive from the city.

The Nobbies offer a scenic view of the island’s coastline.

There are many things you can do in Phillip Island. My itinerary included:

• Walking along The Nobbies.
• Lunch at one of the public barbecue grills. All you need to do is bring your meat and roast it over the electric grills. No coals required
• Visit to the Phillip Island Wildlife Park
• The Penguin Parade at sunset.

Australians love their barbecues and the country offers free barbecue spots in many public areas.

Australia’s mascot, the Kangaroo!

I loved the wildlife park as it gave us first hand access to Australia’s indigenous animals. The kangaroos were pretty tame and were used to being fed by visitors. Entry into the park is $17 and includes a bag of food for the animals.

More pictures from the park:

Koalas

Dingoes

A mother and her Joey

My lovely friends Rasha and Atheek took me on this trip. This is Atheek feeding a kangaroo.

Wallaby

At sunset we went to watch the Penguin Parade,  the world’s smallest penguins known as ‘little penguins,’ ‘fairy penguins’, or kororā in Maori. They grow to only about a foot high and are found on the coastlines of Australia and New Zealand.  They spend the day underwater catching food, and at sunset re-emerge to go back to their burrows. Apparently they can also be found in the city along  St Kilda beach.

Little Penguins