We arrived in Philip Island yesterday and it feels we can finally relax ( it's tiring travelling). Our apartment is really nice and we have a balcony overlooking the beach.

Today we are having a tour of Philip Island. But first we went to get lunch which was interesting as we had to get to Newheaven to meet the bus, where nothing was open except the chocolate factory, which we thought was not to bad. We got in there and all they served was curry and it so became apparent why as we were the only white people there. It felt more like New Dehli then Australia.

Anyway we finally met the tour and the first stop was Churchill Island, this was a farm preserved from the first settlements. Here we saw sheep herding and shearing and got a close up of the local swamp wallabies.

Next up was Woolamoi beach where we paddled it was nice but not Port Soif. We also went to a Koala sanctuary where we got some good pictures. All this was really just killing time for the big attraction the little penguin. We however had one more stop before then which was actually a pleasant surprise. We got told the Noobies were just a set of rocks but it actually was the home to some of the little penguin so we got to see two chicks up close and also a copper head snake awaiting the return of its dinner (penguin).

2000hrs finally arrived and so did the start of our VIP tour of the pengiun parade. It started with an introduction talk to the pengiuns and the site. They have around 32,000 pengiuns. They are known as little penguins because when they are fully grown they are only 33cm in height. They are also not the most maternal of creatures and abandon their young at 12 weeks to fend for themselves.

After the talk we headed to the Sky Box on the beach which is an elevated platform where the head ranger sits and counts the penguins arriving on the beach. It gave us a clear view of the whole beach and the penguins. Their ritual for coming up the beach is actually very funny as they form big groups in the sea and they waddle out of the sea but if one gets nervous and heads back they all do and it takes a good few outings for them to actually cross the beach, they are basically like sheep.

We left the box and headed to a private boardwalk where we could get a close view of the penguins waddling home to their burrows (some up to 2kms). They are extremely cute but also extremely vocal little things. The chicks are already on land so come out to find their parents they however don't know who there patents are so attack every adult who waddles past it's actually quite brutal.

I could of watched these little dudes all night long but it was getting cold and late. It was probably one of the most awesome ways to spend Christmas Eve hanging out with penguins.