Phillip Island

Day 4 in Melbourne is up. I only have 2 weeks left. Yikes! Time passes so fast, it's scary.

All right, today we took a full day's trip to Phillip Island. True to recent form, I fell asleep in the car. For almost the entire 1 1/2 hour journey there. I don't know if it's coz I'm not getting enough sleep or something, but my eyes are super tired today. I woke up with bleary eyes and no amount of cold/hot/warm water could make me look anything but half asleep. Sigh.

Anyway, we stopped at this cute little waterfront town called San Remo, just before the bridge to Phillip Island. There was a jetty and a few boats bobbing around just a few feet out in the water. Stepping out the car, though, was ... well, an experience. The wind blowing in from the sea was a) strong, and b) cold! It was impossible to face the wind for too long, my eyes were watering so much!

We bought a pack of seafood and chips (one serving with 4 fish filets, 3 prawns, 3 calamari and 3 mussels, and the 5 of us struggled to finish it! 0_0) but were forced to eat it in the car because sitting anywhere uncovered with food would mean... The Attack of the Sea Gulls! Lol. Seriously, there were dozens flying around, and the minute they noticed you had food on you, you'd be followed like the Pied Piper!

The rest of the day I'll divide into sections:

Churchill Island:
This was a tiny island off Phillip Island. There wasn't really much to see there, unless you like history. Like me. The history on display was of the first settlers on the island. They actually restored the house, stable, wash house, larder, cellar... that the settlers used!

And all rooms were decorated in typical 19th century style, in the way the occupants would have left it. Ooh, gave me the shivers it did! Imagine, a house long unlived in, but left in the way that it was more than a 100 years ago! Intriguingly freaky, would be a really bad way to say it, but I can't think of a better one. Sigh.

Woolamai Beach:
We stopped by at a surf beach after that... There was hardly anyone there, but the beach was littered with birds! Dead birds. Turns out they were called "mutton birds" and died trying to fly or start scavenging. They got too tired and landed on the beach, and couldn't make it back to safety. Aaww... :(

Koala Conservation Center:
We stopped here for a little while, just to see what it was like (and also coz we bought a 3 park ticket, and didn't want to waste 8.50 hehe). It was this place where we could view the koalas in their natureal habitat... Meaning we had to stare up into these HUGE eucalypt trees to look for them. That is, walk with your neck craned up to the sky permanently. Then slightly further on there's a warning sign "There are snakes here too, and yes, they will bite! So watch your step." I'm like, "Wha-?" Look up and look down at the same time????

We did manage to find about 4 or 5 koalas, and we saw two wallabies too! Pretty good, for only 15 minutes in the place. I wish I could've stayed longer and seen (or tried to see) everything. But my uncle was tired and it was little too lonely for me to wander around alone so... Oh well.

The Nobbies / Seal Rock:
This is where I have NO idea how to describe what I saw. It was heavenly, breathtaking, awesome, superb, magnificent... Right. We went there at almost 5 p.m. which was almost sunset. The sight of the sun shining over the open water... The 2 rocks that form the Nobbies silhouetted against the evening sky... Wow.

But that wasn't the best of it. The most beautiful part was along the coast and cliffy areas. Where the waves crashed into the rocks below. The sea was rough today, but colours and the foaming water gave image to the words "the angry, roiling sea"! The waves were so big, and the sight of them gaining momentum and then smashing into the rocks in a huge fountain of spray was completely breathtaking! For once I have no words at all to say what went through my mind during those moments.

Penguin Parade:
This was another highlight of a very very nice day :D The Penguin Parade is where humans sit in bleacher like things and wait for fairy penguins to come in from their fishing trips out to sea and head back to their burrows. These penguins are so cute and small you wouldn't believe it! They don't grow to much more than 30 cm in height! Can you imagine?

Anyway, the came up in little groups, one group at a time, each group coming in at different sections of the beach, depending on where their burrows were. It's amazing how they know exactly where to go! But oohh the way they walked was beyond cute! It was hilarious! I only wish I could show it to y'all, they were so cute!

Oh and a funny thing - it seems that autumn has similar weather conditions to spring. So the penguins get confused and actually try to mate! Lol! It was so funny to see all these tiny little things pairing up and the male trying to entice the female... Gosh! They're more like humans than we realize! Haha! :D

That's all about today, I guess. There was another place Cowes, that we visited. It was really quaint and overlooked the sea. I wish I could afford a holiday house there. Sigh. Well, I guess I can dream! :D

What I got out today was more than just memories of a beautiful place. It was an affirmation that there is a God and that He is great and very very real. After all, such beauty could not exist without a Creator - and the result of that creation is more than a testament to God's greatness.

More coming up, and pictures when I get back! ;)