We took a coach trip out to Phillip Island situated to the south east of Melbourne.

Stopped on the way at a dairy cattle homestead but they had a few other rescue animals there like wombats, kangaroos, emus and numerous types of ducks. Although not the ideal setting we were pleased to see a wombat as have not managed to see one in the wild. We also went to a Koala sanctuary and took photos of several of them in their natural habitat.

Phillip Island reminded us a bit of the Isle of Wight not just because there were places like Cowes and Ventner but the inland scenery was similar. The coast, however, was very rugged and we went to one of the beaches to see an ancient ritual and not of the indigenous kind.

The little penguins are the smallest breed of its kind (about 12" tall) and every day as soon as it is dark they come out of the sea, up the beach in groups to return to their nests with the day's catch in their bellies to feed the young and the other half. Their burrows are spread all over the surrounding dune and some travel up to 1 km to get to their nest. We felt really privileged to see this sight. They swim in like a raft and will not travel up the beach until they are all together and feel safe. A few even stayed behind at the sea edge to wait for the next group to come in. This goes on sometimes up until the early hours. In the dunes you can hear and see the ones left behind calling until their mate comes home. It was amazing but I was worried that someone's mate wouldn't come back because they had met with a nasty accident like being eaten by a shark. Ray thought he was going to have to catch a few fish to feed them Any excuse to get the rods out. Think he was also relieved that the penguins were not of the chocolate variety and he had to eat hundreds - that would even make him sick.

Seriously, the sight left us speechless but just another little wonder of the world that is making this trip an unbelievable experience.

Hope you enjoy the photos and video clips.

Jen and Ray