While we were in the area, we made arrangements with the local backpacker travel centre to take a day trip out to Phillip Island - home of the famous Penguin Parade. One hundred and forty kilometres from Melbourne, Phillip Island is certainly a lot smaller than Kangaroo Island but by no means less interesting to visit - in fact, I would go so far as to say that any visit to Victoria which doesn't take in this small island simply hasn't been planned properly. Strangely, Phillip Island seems to be convinced that it is the Isle of Wight, the town planners having systematically gone through the island naming it's towns and streets after places there - here, you'll find places such as Cowes, Ventnor and Shanklin Street. If you overlay the map of the Isle of Wight onto a map of Phillip Island, Cowes is even in the same place. Finding names that are familiar back home is by no means unusual in countries which were either influenced by or once part of the British Empire, but to find so many streets and towns on a small island named after streets and towns on another small island is quite surprising - and just to make sure that nobody fails to notice the connection, there is even an Isle of Wight Hotel in Cowes.

There are plenty of chances to get close to nature on Phillip Island. For a start, the entire westernmost end of the Island would feel as though it had never been touched my man if it weren't for the ever present wooden boardwalks allowing people in wheelchairs to get out to the best viewing spots and the local government to sit back in the safe knowledge that nobody is going to trip over a stone on the way to look at a seal, impale themselves on a jagged piece of rock and sue them for everything they've got. Some would argue that risking being impaled on a sharp rock would be a small price to pay for the chance to see nature without all the man-made additions, but somehow I can't see the Health and Safety officials in Canberra looking at it like that.

One of the most advertised, and therefore most heavily visited, sites on the island is the region known, for no obvious reason that I can discern, as The Nobbies. As far as I can tell, the area is just called The Nobbies rather than being named after anything in particular, although there are some prominent rock formations just off the coast which, at a stretch, I guess somebody might describe as being a bit knobbly - so read into that what you will. The walk down to the coast along the boardwalk was a real experience, taking us through the so-called Sea Bird Gardens which were wide expanses of grass on either side of the walkway, covering the cliff tops, alive with colour. From what I can gather, these "gardens" are particularly spectacular in the spring, but to be honest I was pretty awed by what they looked like in December when we were there. Grass covered the entire cliff top as the different levels of rock carved out a natural garden around us, threatening to fall into the water at any moment - in places, large patches of small flowers sprouted from the grass, and as we walked through we were constantly aware of the cries of seagulls as they swooped past our heads and came in to land on every available piece of rock. In my minds eye, I could imagine that at certain times of year these gardens must be covered in nesting birds, and that's probably why they call them the Sea Bird Gardens. Part of me really wants to come back and witness such a spectacle - but the more intelligent part of me insists on pointing out that standing on a walkway surrounded by millions of protective Seagull parents taking off and swooping in to land would be a little too much like a scene out of Alfred Hitchcock's "The Birds".

One of the most surprising things for me, as we approached the coast at the Nobbies, was that Little Penguins would often appear from below the boards on which we were walking and peer up at us inquisitively. This was a different experience entirely from our encounter with penguins back on Kangaroo Island where we had been behind barriers and carefully scrutinised by a stern faced guide. Here, we were able to get really close to the penguins as they would literally wander out from their homes in the darkness under the boardwalk and waddle over to find out who was walking on their roof. For the first time, we were able to actually capture some photos of them which were taken in good light and weren't blurry or out of focus as the shots on Kangaroo Island had been. As it turned out, this would also be the last chance we would have to get the penguins on film at all, as we were very annoyed to discover that photography was totally banned at the penguin parade later. Probably one of the highlights of the trip, and we weren't even allowed to take photos. This struck me as rather unfair, especially as there wasn't even any concession for non-flash photography or using a video camera, neither of which could possibly disturb the birds.

Just off the coast at The Nobbies, a small rocky island known as Seal Rock is home to a colony of Fur Seals - the largest in Australia. In reality, Seal Rock is simply the largest and most distant in a collection of misshapen rocks which lead out some distance from the mainland and create the effect of a half finished causeway - the waves crash constantly against these rocky islands and Fur Seals splash about and bathe in rock pools created as the water recedes, using the rocks as a bridge between the colony and the mainland. Due to the sheer number of partially submerged rocks around The Nobbies, the tide can become quite rough at the western end of Phillip Island, and much of the water around Seal Rock is forced into a narrow cave opening at the base of the cliff before crashing back out again in all directions and covering anyone who happens to be leaning over the viewing point barrier at the time. A nearby metal sign (there's always a metal sign nearby in Australia to tell you what you're looking at) identifies this feature as "The Blowhole", although to my mind this would suggest that there should be a large hole in the top of the cave through which the water could be expelled high into the air as if from the blowhole of a whale. I suppose renaming it "The small cave" for accuracy might draw less visitors, though, so I can see their thinking on this one.

If Little Penguins and Fur Seals aren't your cup of tea, there are no shortage of other opportunities to experience Australian wildlife while on the island. At the Phillip Island Koala Conservation Centre in Cowes, visitors can wander through natural eucalyptus forests and see Koalas in their natural habitat - which is to say, fast asleep and perched in a tree wishing everyone would b***** off. The people behind the park have even gone so far as to make absolutely sure that there's no chance of the cuddly natives being too high up in the treetops to get a really good look at - they've carefully built walkways between the trees, high in the canopy, so that you can climb right up there on a staircase and have the unique experience of being able to say that you've peered at a Koala eye to eye while it was trying to have a nap twenty feet above the ground. Sometimes I'd like to be in the meetings when Australian politicians are discussing what they think is good for the local wildlife - it often seems as though, for every Australian who says that you shouldn't go anywhere near a Koala in case you frighten it, and should absolutely not think about cuddling one, there's another who will hand you half a dozen and invite you to toss them back into the nearest tree when you've finished. Koalas, by the way, don't like to be messed with - so don't let their cuddly demeanour give you the impression that you can just go up to one in a tree, take it down and cuddle it (as slightly odd people have been known to do, much to their regret) - you really don't want to be on the receiving end of those claws, and Koalas also employ the fantastic defensive strategy of clinging on to their perceived assailant, biting down hard and not letting go until somebody stops breathing. And if they think you deserve a warning beforehand, their chosen method of telling you to clear off is to piss on you from a great height.

About Simon and Burfords Travels:

Simon Burford is a UK based travel writer. He will be re-publishing his travel blogs, chapters from his books and other miscellaneous rantings on these pages over the coming weeks and months, and the entry on this page may not necessarily reflect todays date.