Phillip Island and the little “fairy” penguins!

So today we decided to head to Victoria Market since the first time we tried it, it was closed. We had arrived to Melbourne on a Wednesday and the Market just so happens to be closed on Mondays and Wednesdays….of course! We headed down and had some crepes and fruit salad (strawberries, bananas, cantaloupe, honey dew and kiwi). After we had finished we headed toward the market. Guess what?? It was closed! Of course it was! It was boxing day after all and turns out it was actually closed for a while. I guess we will have to try and catch it on our way back when we stop in Melbourne while on the cruise. So since we couldn’t do the market and since we called the tram car restaurant and were able to get a reservation for the day we are back with the cruise we decided to call and see if we could get a tour to Phillip Island to see the little fairy penguins. Score…we were able to get in…something was going right today after all.

The tour started at 1:15 and took us up to see wild Wallabies and wild Kangaroos. It also took us out to see some furry seals…although you had to pay an arm an a leg to see them through binoculars so we just decided to pass on the furry seals. I mean if you’ve seen one you’ve seen them all right? After all, we really did this tour for the penguins, everything else was just extra. Of course what we didn’t know was that Boxing Day is the one of the busiest days to go see the penguins….of course it is.

So on the brochure it said we’d get back around 9:00 – 11:30pm. Of course we just looked at the 9pm and then while on the tour he mentioned that we wouldn’t be getting back til after midnight. What? We had to try and get a tram and then pack and get up for our flight to Sydney in the morning!! Oh well, we then realized that it did say “seasonal” next to the times and realized that it was the summer over here and it did get darker later. And we learned that the penguins don’t come out til it’s dark.

Now these little penguins are called “fairy” penguins, but now they just call them “little” penguins and they are the smallest of all of the penguins….and instead of black and white, they are black and blue. So basically what they do is they go out in the morning and swim and look for fish all day and then at night they come in from a long hard day and they go and meet their loved ones who have been back home all day and they go and mate! So the penguin parade is basically watching the penguins come in at night from the the water on the beach and make their way home. Unfortunately I couldn’t take any pictures because they are sensitive to the camera flash and it can kill them. So the postcards will have to make do. I have to say this was an unexpected highlight of the trip! The penguins were so cute and who knows if I will ever be able to see something like this again. These little penguins came out of the water in droves! The night before they said some 2,000 penguins come out of the water and I can totally believe it!!

If you are ever in Melbourne and anywhere else that has a penguin parade you must do it. It is worth every penny. And maybe you can be like me and have lots of souvenirs too. It was very cold and rainy so I am now the proud owner of a penguin parade blanket, poncho, and socks!! I think penguins are my new best friend!!