Fur and Feathers

At 10:50am, we were the first passengers to be picked up by the Bunyip bus for our 12 hour tour to  Phillip Island.  Proceeding up and down Melbourne CBD in rush hour type traffic, we gathered the other 22 people for the tour.  We set off to the south with our first stop at the Moonlit Sanctuary here we had a variety of homemade sandwiches for lunch.  Passing through the entrance, we could pet and have pictures taken with a Koala ( for $10.00).  Following the pathway, we viewed and fed wallabies.  In the Tasmanian Devil pen, we saw 2 devils awake and having a fight!! 

Feeding the wallabies

From here we boarded the bus again to the Churchill Island working farm.  The ranger was just beginning his commentary and demonstration of sheep shearing as we arrived.  We wandered through the heritage house and watched the whip cracking demo and boomerang throwing. We each bought some really nice lanolin hand cream made from the wool from the farm.  With a few minutes to spare, we were able to find the cache in the parking lot!!!

Next stop was the Koala Sanctuary, where the Koalas were sleeping high up in the gum trees as we walked around the boardwalk.  It was a very peaceful setting to view the animals.




Just hanging out!




Look at me Mom!!

















We travelled on to one of the premier surfing beaches, Woolamai Beach.  The view, waves and sand were awesome.  Walked in the sand, got our feet wet in the southern ocean and enjoyed watching the 100+ surfers in the waves.  It was hard to leave this setting.  Then off to dinner in  of San Remo, in a park beside the bridge leading to the island.  We went to the Nobbies, to view the seals but saw only seagulls on the rocks and penguins under the boardwalk.

The unknown surfer

Under the boardwalk

Last stop was to view the penguins coming onshore and crossing the beach after dusk.  The heavy rain held off until we had seen 3 'raffs' of penguins cross the beach.  They suddenly appeared from the waves, congregated in small groups (raffs) and crossed the beach together.  Back on the bus for the 2 hour ride back to the city and we were the last to be dropped off at our hotel.  A glass of wine tasted good!!