We headed to Phillip Island this weekend which is about 140 kilometres South East of Melbourne and is the home of the world famous Penguin Parade and the Australian MotoGP events. We left home at around 7am…..(it'll take approximately 3 hours to get to the island) and it looks like it will be a beautiful day.

The island has an area of about 10,000 hectares, and the landscape is slightly undulating with the highest point being Cape Woolamai at 109 metres above sea level. The island has approximately 100 k's of coastline with the south and part of the west coast being exposed to the open ocean, Bass Strait, giving it some great surf beaches and scenic coastline. The northern coastline is situated in Westernport Bay and has wonderful sandy beaches, while the western coastline has a number of bays and inlets that contain magnificent mangrove flats.

To get to Phillip Island we had to cross a bridge between San Remo, on the mainland, and Newhaven on Phillip Island and from there we headed straight to the grand prix race track. This weekend there is GT championship car racing on and today they were on the track practicing. It was pretty good as we got to see the cars up close due to us having a guided circuit tour where we had access to the restricted areas. We went into the Race Control box where we got a behind the scenes look at the running of major events. There were about 20 televisions set up so that they can see every point of the race without having to look out the windows; we then walked over to the corporate complex, passing the sheds with the GT's in them getting ready for the track, then up some stairs to the room where corporate functions are held and also where the media talk to the racing drivers after their race. The room is big and has huge glass windows overlooking the track with great views which and we could see GT's going onto the track…..they are really noisy!! The guide then took us up where every racer wants to be - the winner's podium. He handed me a huge magnum of champagne (empty!) and l stood on the podium, then it was up to the pit roof where you can see, hear and smell the race. It was a pretty interesting tour. Afterwards, Craig went full throttle on the go karts on a 760 metre scale replica of the Phillip Island Grand Prix Circuit. It's situated right alongside the Grand Prix Circuit and overlooking Bass Strait. He did really well and even got his lap time print outs at the end. Lunchtime and we decided to eat at the café on site. We took a seat facing out to the gardens and watched the lyrebirds put on a wonderful display with their tail feathers. Before the guided tour we had a look at the history of motorsport display where they depicted the nostalgic history of motor racing on Phillip Island. On display were cars from the sleek, vintage and classic, to the more contemporary machines.

From the track we made our way to The Nobbies where there is spectacular coastal viewing from the boardwalks and lookout points which are set amongst natural sea bird gardens which meant lots of squawking seagulls and seagull poop! One and a half k's offshore from The Nobbies are Seal Rocks, home to Australia's largest Australian Fur Seal colony. We took our binoculars but because they're not that strong it was very hard to see the seals however there were some there. We then strolled along one of the boardwalks to the blowhole, a spectacular sea cave that thunders during big southern swells. The swell wasn't that big today but we got the idea. Heading back we stopped for a look in the Nobbies information centre before making our way to the car. It was about 3pm by this stage so we decided to make our way to Silverwater Resort (our hotel) which is in San Remo. On the way we stopped at Phillip Island Chocolate Factory and took a behind the scenes tour. There are machines with buttons to push and levers to pull, games of skill where the reward is chocolate, and a hands-on chocolate making device where we made our own artistic creation which then travels along a conveyor belt and got delivered to us ready to eat... mmmm..yummy. I made my very own strawberry white chocolate bar from one of the machines. We watched a 400kg molten chocolate waterfall and tried to lift a 1 tonne block of chocolate by hopping onto a lift with a heap of other people. There is a 2 metre solid chocolate statue of Michelangelo's David, a 12,000 piece chocolate mosaic of Dame Edna Everidge, a chocolate village complete with working trains and the chocolate "Art Gallery". It was really interesting. After the tour l bought some chocolates at the shop for afternoon tea then we drove to San Remo to check into our accommodation. After unpacking we relaxed for a bit and then went to dinner at the resort restaurant. We had a 3 course meal which was absolutely delicious. For starters Craig had mushroom and vegetable soup while l had prosciutto wrapped chicken wings with corn done 2 ways and broad beans…..soooo yummy then for main we both had steak and for dessert Craig had the espresso crème brûlée, with hazelnut ice cream & chocolate hazelnut clusters and l had the cheese platter. Wow...it was a great meal and normally we wouldn't eat that much but the meal came with the accommodation deal which also includes a buffet breakfast tomorrow morning. So with full tummies we headed back to our room and crashed for the night.

After a beautiful breakfast on Saturday we decided to do a bit of exploring. Firstly we went to the historic Churchill Island working Heritage Farm which is set on about 57 hectares. We strolled through the heritage buildings and the lovely gardens. I found some lyrebird feathers so l thought l'd take them home. Afterwards we went to Cape Woolamai where there is a world-renowned surf beach. There was plenty of surfers out and about but not many waves. It is a really lovely beach but l'm not sure why it's so well known. From there we went to Forrest Caves which is a walk along the beach…..love that…and collected shells too. Then onto the Phillip Island winery where l would have liked to have bought a bottle of riesling or sav blanc however they'd sold out of both so off we went to our next destination - Cowes. We had lunch at Pino's Trattoria which was really good and afterwards we bought an icecream and wandered around for a bit while we ate it. We headed to Rhyll to have a look around - but there isn't all that much to have a look at. We scoped out the restaurant where we'll be having dinner, stopped near the pier to have a look at an historical marker and then made our way to the Purple Duck vineyard where l had a few tastings and bought a bottle of wine. Afterwards we headed back to the resort to get changed before heading out again to Summerland Peninsula to watch the penguin parade. We started our personal tour in the executive board room with nibbles and a hot drink while our ranger told us the history of the penguins on the island, then we walked to the penguin sky box (the only undercover viewing option at the Penguin Parade) to watch the worlds smallest penguins waddle ashore. Each evening just after the sun sets (at dusk) the little penguins or better known as fairy penguins, stroll up the beach after a period of time at sea to return to their burrows. They are soooo cute!! We viewed them coming out of the water and participated in the nightly penguin count with binoculars supplied by the ranger. Then we went onto one of the viewing platforms to get up close and personal with the little guys. They waddled so cutely it made me want to pick one up and cuddle it but you're not allowed to touch or even take pictures. We were really lucky with the weather as it was a clear night and wasn't really cold. The ranger said that you don't often get to see the penguins in the water before they come ashore so that was pretty luck too. We left there around 7.30pm and made our way to Rhyll and the Foreshore restaurant for a late dinner which was pretty good.

On Sunday after another great buffet breakfast we checked out of our accommodation and drove to the race track where sat outside the fence and watched the cars racing around the track for about an hour before heading off to Red Hill to meet at a winery for lunch with Craig's sister Janine and her partner David. It was a really nice way to end the weekend.