Our morning started off relatively well. We had to take two trams out to a place where we could be picked up but we were able to stop in this really cool cafe connected to this bike shop. It's a little hard to describe but the atmosphere was great and the coffee very good. We were the last ones so after we hopped on the bus and everyone had a chance to introduce themselves we were off! To our disbelief we drove right passed our house as we made our way onto the motorway that would take us south. Lindsey got the coveted seat up front and was chatting with our driver, Jason, and he said he would drop us off right there on our way back because we were the only one's in St. Kilda and he didn't need to go back that way :)
*side note: we saw an amazing full rainbow on our way too because it was raining in Melbourne, but slowly let up as we went further south.
When Jason's awesome playlist wasn't keeping us entertained (a playlist straight out of a 1967 chevy impala driven by two brother's) he would give us information about places we were stopping at or passing by. For example: Cranbourne is a town south of Melbourne and is an aboriginal word that means 'crane stalking through water.' In the 1850's people found a bunch of meteorites in that area and the largest weighed 3 1/2 tons, a world record at that time! Some people are still trying to find more even today.
Molly and I made a friend along the way. Her name was Evelyn and she was from New York! Yay America :) She was working in Sydney for 3 months but came to Melbourne to sightsee. She was much fun to be around and helped us take pictures with each other (we returned the favor of course).
Our first stop was just a rest room break at a place called Tooradin, which is another aboriginal word meaning 'monster residing at the waterhole.' Pretty creepy, huh? It didn't help that there was a lake right beside the restrooms and cafe. But, luckily, we survived and were on our way again.
Our official first place of interest was called the Maru Wildlife Park. It was super cool! So many animals and we got to feed the wallabies (soo soft and cute and adorable) and the kangaroos. Molly finally got to pet a koala and get her picture taken. It was an all around very fun place. Dingo's, wombats, peacocks, wallabies, koala's, kookaburra's, kangaroos, etc. We got to see them all.
Once our time with the animals was done we sat at the picnic tables out front and had lunch where we got to chat with some of the people on tour with us. There was a couple on honeymoon who were adorable. The woman especially was hilarious and so funny! She kept trying to feed the whole bus all the chocolate she bought at Haigh's the day before. Seriously though, she had a hoard and was just giving it away! I took the chocolate almonds :)
Which, ironically, led us to our second place of interest which happened to be along the road just after we crossed the bridge onto Phillip Island. The Chocolate Factory!!! mwahahahahahaha
The had made penguins out of chocolate :) I think everyone bought at least one thing. Linds and I got some Tia Maria chocolates that were soooooo delicious (we totally made them last for a good two weeks as we rationed them).
*a historical and important fact to know about Australia's history: the aboriginal people did not gain citizenship in Australia until 1967. Before that there is a whole era where children were being taken from their families to 'breed the color from them,' ugh, and they are called The Lost Generation because the aboriginal people passed down knowledge and history through stories and verbal accounts. Nothing was written down. With these children being taken from their families too young to learn their history or heritage most of the aboriginal culture has been lost.
Phillip Island was gorgeous and full of wildlife. We stopped at a wildlife preserve called Swan Lake and took a mini hike to see the swans and other animals. Wallabies were everywhere around the island, and we stopped at a place called The Nobbies which was absolutely stunning. It's along the coast line and you can look out to your right and see the bay where it leads up to Melbourne and to your left, the ocean. There were a few rock formations and the furthest out apparently has over 20,000 seals that live on it! We got to look through a telescope to see 'em lounging around :) There were also a lot of penguin burrows around because we were really close to the beach where the penguins come back after a day out at sea catching food.
Which brought us to the end of our day. It was getting darker and the penguins would be coming back soon so we made our way to the Penguin Parade! We caught a quick bite to eat and then got a seat on one of the benches on the beach. It was like those metal bleachers you would sit on at a soccer or football match at school, except we were on a beach waiting for the sun to set so we could see tiny little blue penguins :) It was great. The sky was gorgeous as the sun set and the excitement of everyone was so infectious. These penguins grouped together to form 'rafts' so that they could be safer together as they rode the waves in onto the beach. Then the would huddle there for a moment or two to assess things and if they felt safe they would make a break for the grassy surroundings and make their way to their burrows. We were also allowed to walk along the boardwalks they had and watch as hundreds of them hiked along their little worn paths back home. One even got on the wrong side and needed to cross the pavement right before the building. The park rangers and employees had to clear a space and stop everyone from leaving so the little guy could get across and under the rope. It was so cute :)
And that was it. It doesn't sound like much, but we made a lot of friends and had so much fun. It felt like a family by the end and we were actually sad to say goodbye. It was a really good day.
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