Phew! We had nothing to worry about for our tour. We were picked up right on time from the hostel in a 12 passenger van. After one other pick-up stop, we quickly headed out of the city. I am so grateful that I booked with a company that only does tours with 11 people or less. There are tons of tour bus options but this was much more our style. Our tour guide, Shane, was a cool guy and did a great job accommodating everyone throughout the day. There was a sweet German lady, a couple from Poland, a family from Spain and then the two of us on the tour.
The government does not allow people to live in these bathing houses but some of them have electricity and most of them are passed down generation to generation. Many people use them to store their beach toys but some have couches, TVs and barbecues set up inside so they are ready to party as soon as their feet hit the sand! Can you believe that these "boxes" sell for $100,000-$300,000?! And you can't even live in it?! Crazy.
Now that our tummies were full, Shane felt comfortable taking all of us to taste 12 different wines at the Red Hills Estate. 12 wines for $5?! That's crazy talk.
Even though I felt full walking into the winery, 12 wine samples will make you extremely excited about having pizza for lunch! The restaurant we stopped at, Epicurean Red Hill was packed but one perk of being with this tour company was immediate seating. Shane ordered us 6 pizzas to share and they were gone before I could even snap a pic. You will just have to trust me, they were amazing... Even the pesto, spinach & potato one!
What amazing creatures! I could have spent all day feeding and playing with these guys. The koala we visited was sleeping high up in the trees and the dingo puppies were quite adorable but the interaction with the kangaroos was too much fun to spend much time elsewhere.
People are not allowed to take pictures or film during the actually penguin parade (an accidental flash can blind the Penguins leaving them unable to fish) so you will have to make the trip to see it for yourself! 32,000 little penguins live on this island and we were able to watch at least 600-700 of them waddle up the beach around 9:00! They are tiny little guys, the biggest of them probably a maximum of 12 pounds. We got a kick out of watching two baby penguins try to find their parents. They can not recognize their mothers, and they are waiting for food, so they would run up to random penguins only to be snapped at by adults carrying food for their own children. One of the park rangers told us that the parents may not come back for 3-4 days!
Our first stop was on a beach along the Mornington Peninsula, known for its iconic bathing boxes.
Our second stop was quick but was a great lookout!
We then made our way to 2 Macs Farms for a lesson in bee-keeping and some fresh goodies!
The couple who runs the farm could not have been more passionate about what they do! It's impressive how much people have discovered about these small critters and just how important they are to human life and our food resources. I could have stayed there all day eating those scones and sampling all of their jams, honey and relishes!
I typically don't enjoy red wine but I didn't want to miss out on half of the samples! We ended up buying their cider before we left but haven't tried it just yet.., we will have to update you later!
This area reminds me so much of Prince Edward County in Ontario. So many wineries, so little time!
The next stop was a Strawberry Farm where some of the group opted to pick berries (you have a choice when booking to do the wine tasting or berry picking). It was only $9 to add on the picking but we chose to eat fresh ice cream instead!
Best part of the day?!
Feeding the kangaroos and wallabies at the Moonlit Sanctuary & Conservation Park!
Once they dragged us away from this magical place, we made our way to Phillip Island for the penguin parade, an equally magical place.
You will have the option to purchase "penguin plus" tickets for better viewing but I would skip that and reserve a good spot along the boardwalk for the best view like we did! There is an amphitheater you can view their swim and their walk out of water but you will want to scurry to grab a spot after that ASAP!
All in all, the day kept us very entertained and we were exhausted enough to sleep a bit on the 90 minute drive home. We returned around 11:30 and went right to sleep thinking about bouncy kangaroos and wobbly little penguins. Tyler said I was laughing in my sleep and I'm sure I was hanging out with these silly creatures in my dreams all night long!
XOXO
Elissa
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