Day Fifteen - Phillip Island

I could, and I want to live here!  Everything about this place ticks my boxes.  When I visited Port Douglas on my last trip to Australia I said the same.  However, I think that Phillip Island is very much my happy place.  The bed here was very cosy but I did not sleep particularly well as I was mulling over in my head the details for our next destination.  Lovely walk in shower with wonderful toiletries first thing and then we had decided to go out for breakfast and save the breakfast the host had provided for our check out day.  We drove to San Remo which is just across the bridge off the island and found a lovely eatery there where we had breakfast and lashings of tall black (Americano) coffee. Fed and watered it as time to watch the pelicans being fed.

This happens every morning, so we thought, at 11.30am, and so did the pelicans as they were there for 11.15 just swimming up and down.  However,

the notice on the boarding said 12 noon.  We think it was originally 11.30 as our host had left us information about it and that it had been changed, but the pelicans being clever, still rocked up for 11.30.  They were massive and there really is something prehistoric about them.  The local coop fishery feeds them some scraps every day. This entertains the tourists who, many of them, then go to the restaurant for some dinner; as well as feeding the birds.  It was good to see that they did not feed them too much so that the pelicans become reliant on being fed.  It really was lovely to see.

Back in Bonnie and we were off.  Phillip Island is not big.  There is one main road that runs through the island with a few other smaller roads leading off it.  This weekend is a Bank Holiday weekend in the Melbourne area so it was quite busy.  We went to Phillip Island Wildlife Park.  For the princely sum of $19 (around a tenner), plus a free bag of food you would walk around and see indigenous animals!  Needless to say, I purchased four extra bags of food and then went back for 4 more.  They

were only 50c a bag (around 25p) and if I had my way, I would have a 25kg sack of food!

I made my way to the wombats.  Wombats are my spirit animal!  I adore them. They are just so cute and obviously indigenous to Australia.  I remember walking to work when I was 18, pass the little shops that represented each state of Australia that used to be located in the Strand and seeing a soft toy of a wombat and not knowing what it was.  I found out more and have totally adored them ever since.  Those of you who have followed my travels may remember me meeting a wombat on my first trip to Sydney.  She was called Meg (of course she was).  Well nothing has changed, I love them just as much.

When I arrived at the pen there were two at the fence and one sitting back.  Then another appeared from the burrow.  Four wombats in one day!  I was beside myself with joy.  Talk about being a child.  I was stroking their ears and

trying to give them a pad.  They are so lovely.  Other people were coming up to look at them then going away;  I just wanted to stay there.  The woman who initially served us as we arrived said they had around 20 and there were some babies.  Unfortunately, we only saw four and no babies, but it really did not matter.  It has made me very, very happy.

We then walked around looking at other animals and made our way down to where the kangaroos were.  It was a huge area and there must have been over 200-300 there!  You could approach them and feed them!  That was it, I turned into a child again.  There were all

different breeds there and some of them, the male ones, were massive and I mean massive.  The average size one was the same height as Andy (5 foot 7 inches) and they were quite happy for you to feed them and in my case, squeeze them!  In the end we went round twice.  I sat on a tree branch and fed a kangaroo and I itched its neck and it just turned into a dog, nudging my hand to continue. It really was a wonderful experience and one that I will always, always remember.  We then saw mothers with babies in their pouches.  The babies just had their heads hanging out and in one case we just saw two little arms hanging out. We even managed to feed the mother and I was so close to the little baby.  I cannot tell you how much I enjoyed this and it is something that if I had not come back to Australia that I would have had the opportunity in the UK to experience.  I could quite happily just stay here.  I love this little island so much and the whole way of life.  The Wildlife Centre was a very small, I suspect, family run affair which was so good to see.  We arrived at 12.30 and left at 5.00 and did not see one employee.  We were just free to roam around seeing what there was and feeding what wanted to be fed.  

They had koalas who were just sleeping, Tasmanian devils, dingos, reptiles, yes snakes Lee, emus, lizards, numerous varieties of birds and goodness knows

what else.  It was an amazing place all for £10 I mean really.  You would be hard pushed to get a sandwich and a coffee in London or Australia for that amount!   They do not have a cafe there and I would love to just go and live there and run the cafe, I loved it so much.  It really is going to be my new happy place!

We have learnt now that Australia does not do late, so we went to a local restaurant called The Boathouse for, what is for me, a very early dinner.  We both had pizza, a different one each and shared half and half. We were so full that we have brought some cake home with us to have later.  So all in all, yet another memory day.  Phillip Island is stunning.  I can see why Chris and Liam Hemsworth have a property here!  I guess I can keep wishing and hoping that one day I will have house here too.

As always, with my love x