Day 4 : Phillip Island

Did you know that Phillip Island is home to Chris Hemworth? Well, I sure didn't know! Till now. Besides Chris Hemworth, it is also home to the smallest penguins in the world, aptly named the Little Penguins! And those cute little birds were what we headed out to see in the afternoon of our fourth day.

Phillip Island is about 90 minutes from Melbourne. On the way, we visited Warrook, a working cattle farm. There, we had the opportunity to feed wombats and kangaroos.

A kangaroo @ Warrook Farm

Visitors are free to feed the kangaroo here. You can even stroke and cuddle the kangaroo - if you dare. I didn't dare. Lol.

The next stop was at Phillip Island's Koala Conservaton Centre.

 Phillip Island Nature Parks

We spotted about six koalas perched high on eucalypt trees. They looked like fur balls from our position on the ground. All were sleeping except one which was busy chewing on the eucalypt leaves. These animals sleep 20 hours a day and feed for the next 4 hours. So I suppose, they are either eating or sleeping.

A feeding koala

At the Conservation Centre grounds were also wallabies. They roamed about freely.

A wallaby

Our final stop was at the Phillips Island Penguin Parade. Unfortunately no photos were allowed. We were supposed to stroll along elevated boardwalks to a special stand fronting the sea. There, we were supposed to sit and wait for the Little Penguins to come ashore.

No photography allowed ...

And so we sat, looking out to the sea, in winter and shivered as the cold strong wind blew at us. Hmn. It felt a little unwise, to pay a lot of money to sit out at the beach in winter to endure the cold. But as soon as the Little Penguins emerged from the sea, all discomfort was forgotten as we watched them totter to their burrows. So cute. We were told to stay for 20 minutes as that was the amount of time needed for the Little Penguins to reach their burrows, some locating directly beneath the boardwalk.

As my friend and I walked back to the Visitors' Centre, there were Little Penguins all around us on the beach beneath the boardwalk. They made really loud twittering sounds. Us, human beings, though, all squealed in delight watching the antics of the little furry birds. My friend PW and I tracked one Little Penguin right up to its burrow. It was really fun.

When we got back to Melbourne, it was already 8.30 p.m. We were cold and hungry so we walked into the first shop that caught our fancy. Your Thai, along Swanston Street. The waitress who took our order was a fellow Malaysian. She recommended us items off the menu. I decided to have a Seafood Tom Kha.

Seafood Tom Kha, AUD$13.50

I did not enjoy the Tom Kha because of the thick artificial-tasting coconut cream. I could tell that processed coconut cream was used and it had a very off-putting flavour for me. Seafood meant only 2 pieces of prawns, 2 slices of fish fillet and 2 pieces of mussels. My friends had Chiang Mai noodles and they too disliked them fervently.

Chiang Mai Noodles

We thought we'd make ourselves feel better by having dessert. We walked past this dessert shop called Dessert Story. The menu mounted on the glass looked interesting so we went in. Now this shop was packed with Asians! It seriously felt like being in Taiwan, rather than in Melbourne. Lol. Anyway, we had

It's a red bean soup with peanuts, sago pearls, and taro balls. We did not like it.

Mixed pudding with grass jelly and sago pearl

Hmn ... this one's rather ordinary ...

Hmn. After dinner and dessert, we SWORE OFF Asian food altogether!