Nov 14th 2011

Drove to Phillip Island - called in at Information Centre & bought a multicentre ticket. Started off at Churchill Island where there was a British settler's farmhouse set up- -v British - lovely old furniture, incuding grandfather clock & old carved fireplaces. Also a 'nursery' & children's toys. V British flowers in lovely , unstructured garden - roses, nasturtiums, busy lizzie, geranium etc. Also a kitchen garden with all usual Brit veg! There was also a blacksmith, stables, barns with old implements, Shire horse for cart rides, sheep for shearing, chickens with chicks, rabbits and guinea pigs. There were sleepy wallabies in a field too.

Then we went on to the Koala Conservation Centre where they have a Koala breeding programme running as so many get killed on the roads. Koala's sleep for 20 hours out of 24 (bet you wish George was a koala Em & Jon!! - only kidding!!) That's not 'cos they're lazy but 'cos their diet is such a low energy one (add some Lucosade to your diet, Ben!!!). They are sooooooooo cute. One had a baby. We didn't get v far with that tho' before it started pouring on us & we had to beat a hasty retreat. We got soaked!!

From there we went to Phillip Island Wild Life Park. There we saw Wallaroos, wallabies, Quallie (?) tigers (carnivorous marsupial), Tasmanian Devils, wombats, echidna, & kangaroos in pastures where we could walk amongst them. The grey kangaroos were v tame & friendly & would eat out of our hands! (Not sure if that's OK or not really as they're supposed to be wild animals) but it was a great experience all the same!! The 'Reds' were far more wary & they all stopped what they were doing & stood & stared at us - -including one huge male which was a bit intimidating!! But that's more 'natural' I s'pose. Sadly they also had a lot of beautiful wild birds in captivity - 2 beautiful sulphur crested Cockatoos which had been brought up as pets & said 'Hello'. They had Kookaburras which were definitely not laughing about being caged, some kestrels which were obviously v stressed and trying to break out. There were eagles as well 7they should definitely not be caged. Bit upsetting really.

The highlight of the day was definitely the Penguin Parade. The penguins were so sweet the way they came out of the sea and then ran back in the water several times. Then when they felt confident enough that it was safe they started waddling up the beach in groups. Such an amazing experience to be part of this. We were then able to observe them making their way through the dunes to their burrows - some walking as far as 1km.

As if that wasn't exciting enough as we drove back into our accommodation a possum ran accross the road! It's far more satisfying seeing theese native animals in the wild than in captivity.

Nov 15th 2011

Before we left Phillip Island we wanted to see the Nobbies. These are rocks in the sea off the Island. We learn't that these aren't what we thought they were but caves drilled out by the sea so that as waves rush in they bounce off the back of the cave causing a 'bang' & lots of spray. The scenery around there was amazing - a v blue sea with quite big waves crashing in against the rocks throwing up lots of spray & foam. There was a huge colony of gulls breeding on the headland. Many on nests and squauking loudly at us and other gulls. There were also a few v vulnerable fluffy chicks staggering around being v carefully tended by a parent. Reminiscent of Penguin Isl that we visited with Judith & Eric on our first day in Australia.

As we drove away from Phillip island a wild Echidnia crossed the road right in front of us - too quick to get a photo sadly. So good to see one in the wild showing total disregard for the fact that we nearly splatted him!!

We then drove to Wilson's Promontory - -25 miles each way! This had apparently suffered 2 large fires in 2005 & 2009 & then disasterous flooding in March this area. Several parts of the promontory are still inaccessable. We took a walk along the squeeking sands beach. You do have to work quite hard to get the sand to squeek BUT what a beautiful location. Again lovely clean blue water, quite big waves crashing against rocks either side of the bay & pristine white sand. V few people there - wish we could sit & read our books for a while - but 'places to go & places to see'!

On the way there and again on the way back we saw Emus - not at all fazed by our prescence. Amazingly we saw another brave lizard (about 50cm) crossing the road.

During our stay in the Phillip Island area we saw masked Lapwings, Sooty oyster catchers, Purple swamp hens, Rainbow Lorikeets, Pelicans, White necked herons & Black necked storks.

Arrived at our accommodation at 6.30pm Metung. Nice - -on the water front with a little patio & a stone's throw from a pub where we've had a nice dinner. Pretty reasonable too for Oz!!

November 16th 2011

Left our accommodation at 9.30am & headed for Lake Entrance (a place not a description!!). We walked over one of the lakes on the pedestrian bridge to 90mile beach. Beautiful sandy beach though, sadly, we couldn't see all 90 miles of it! We saw a welcome Swallow on the bridge and pelicans were flying overhead. Then we drove down Princes highway & turned off to Marlow on the coast. We then drove along the coast towards Cape Conran. An Echidna walked right across the road in front of us again without a care!! Had our butties at Cape Conran - beautiful quiet little bay. Sadly, lots of fish heads rather marred it!! We then headed back towards Princes Highway & joined it at Cabbage Tree Creek. Drove on towards Mallacoota. Saw a very dark haired Kangaroo at the side of the road. Mallacoota is a lovely quiet place with a council caravan site on the front. Lots of Pelicans here one being accosted by gulls as it was swimming peacefully along! We didn't realize that Pelicans liked to perch on poles until today! Saw several perched on poles around here - -a bit dodgy for a huge bird like that I would have thought! We drove up to our hotel - a Best Western - between Eden and Merimbula. Lovely big room with microwave so we were able to cook our own dinner withwine & ------- a PUD!!!! What a treat ------ sticky chocolate pudding!!

We are now in New South Wales.

We're off on a whale watching boat ride tomorrow!! Woo Hoo!

Nov 17th 2011

Left at 8.20am for our whale watching adventure. Saw a white faced heron & a welcome swallow on the quayside. Managed to get good seats on the boat - -outside at the front. Saw whales almost as soon as we were out to sea but still within the bay. We were amazed at how close to shore they seemed to go. Could mostly only see the humps and dorsal fins though (they were hump backed whales). Apparently the females had been up at the Whitsundays giving birth & were now heading south to the Antarctic. They feed mainly on Krill. The krill feed on algae that grow on the under surface of the ice. The whales have to feed the calves up so that they are strong enough to make the journey. The calves drink 500 litres of milk a day!!!! (and you thought breast feeding was hard work Emma!!). The milk is about 80% fat and has the consistency of yoghurt. The calves put on weight very quickly. Towards the end of our trip we came across a huge whale with calf & she obliged by bringing her tail right out of the water. We had previously seen a couple of quick breaches but this was what we'd been waiting for. Shame it was over!! We were cold & hungry & went to McD's drive through for coffee & fries!! Had our lunch overlooking Merimbula inlet where oysters are farmed.

Then we set off on our journey here. It was quite a long drive today - - 7hrs with just a short break at Tilda Tilda village - -lots of old fashioned stuff, lovely garden & tea room - -all very British but very expensive. The journey was again through National Park land of forest and farms. Saw 2 Kukkaburras on telegraph lines and also a Rainbow Lorikeet. We arrived here, Kiama, about 7pm. Lovely room with microwave & hob so we went to the local Woolworths for microwavable dinners which were really good. Followed up with fruit salad & some wine from our $12 four litre box!!

Tomorrow we arrive in Sydney.

Nov 17th 2011