Penguin Parade

Sorry this blog keeps jumping around. Since I got behind, I'm trying to catch up, but I also need to blog about what's happening currently before I forget.

After Tasmania, Jim, Nancy and I flew to Melbourne. The day before we left was completely free, so we booked a day tour to Churchill and Phillip Islands. First, a shout-out to Geoff (who probably won't see this)! He was our bus driver and tour guide all in one, and he was the nicest, more hilarious tour guide I've ever had. Nancy and I just cracked up the entire time.

Our first stop was Churchill Island. There is an historic farm there, and a huge fenced in enclosure filled with wallabies! We walked around inside the perimeter of the enclosure while our tour guide (not Geoff, but the wallaby tour guide) walked right down the middle of the enclosure. Wallabies were hopping everywhere! They are so cute! They are little kangaroos, and their noses are rounder and less pointy than kangaroos', and I am here to tell you that they are FAST! I wish we could have just walked around and around and around watching them.

Next, still on Churchill Island, we got to see some cattle dogs herd some -- are you ready? -- turkeys! Yes, they had been imported. Also, a man got a miniature horse to do all sorts of great tricks.

Okay, on to Phillip Island. First we stopped at the Koala Conservation Centre. I could have stayed there all day long. They had boardwalks that wound about the Centre, and were up on stilts so that they were about half-tree height. There were koalas everywhere. I can't believe they are real. They are just as sweet and darling as they are in pictures. And they were all sleepy and hanging out in trees. But the best part was that there were two babies. The first one we saw was still in the pouch. The Mom was sound asleep in a tree, but we saw this strange wiggling and what appreared to be an extra koala limb. And it was! It was a little koala arm, followed by the rest of the baby koala who was turning and jiggling and climbing all over his mother (who never moved except to breathe, by the way). He was a little piece of perfect. Later, when I figure out how, I will post a little video of him. We saw another baby, too. He was bigger and out of the pouch, and he was spread out over his mother's tummy, her arms were wrapped around him, and both were sound asleep in a tree.

After being torn away from the koalas (Nancy and I were the last people on the bus), we headed to the Penguin Parade! Phillip Island is home to thousands of Little Penguins, the smallest penguins in the world. Their burrows are on land, but they spend all day in the ocean hunting for fish. There is a boardwalk at the top of some sand dunes where you stand. Then, at twilight, the little penguins begin to come out of the ocean. They stand in the surf until there are a bunch of them for protection, then they quickly waddle across the sand and into the grass, on their way to their burrows. They are only 12-14 inches tall, and they've literally spent the entire day eating fish, so they are very full and fat. They waddle right by and under the boardwalks, not more than an arm's length away. When they get to their burrows, the chicks come out (if there are any), chirping and calling for their parents. The parents have eaten enough for themselves and their chicks and, just like many other birds, regurgitate food right into their mouths (Nancy and I actually saw this). It's kind of funny, because the chicks grow full size in only 8-10 weeks, and they are furry before they get their real feathers. So many of the chicks seems almost bigger than the parents! Also, these may be the littlest penguins in the world, but they have some serious lungs! Then again, thousands of anything hollering at the same time are probably pretty loud.

All in all, it was a magical animal day. Australia has the best animals EVER.