A couple of scenic hours’ drive southeast of Melbourne, Phillip Island is famous for the Australian Motorcycle Grand Prix, a rev-head’s paradise each October. For the other months of the year, this little island punches well above its weight in tourism offerings.
San Remo, the gateway to Phillip Island and a hot spot for plucky pelicans. At noon each day near the San Remo pier, wild pelicans get their Pavlov’s Dog on, jostling for position on the foreshore as they await their fishy feed. The San Remo Fisherman’s Co-op provides the grub and PSA’s on pelican diet, lifestyle, and how we can improve conservation and environmental efforts to protect these little Aussie icons.
Over the bridge from San Remo, hang a right, cross a small bridge, and the Cape Barron Geese honk their welcome to Churchill Island. A unique ecotourism attraction, this 57-hectare island supports the Churchill Island Heritage Farm. Conserved to resemble its appearance when it was a working farm, it features historic buildings, a lush lavender garden, and offers farming demonstrations that include blacksmithing, working dogs, whip cracking, cow milking, and sheep shearing.
Seriously photogenic Highland cattle graze on emerald grass, juxtaposed by a sapphire blue ocean. You can snort the serenity here! Meander pretty bay trails, spot wetland birds, or simply take in the majestic views from the rustic Farmhouse Kitchen, with a locally fermented Purple Hen wine in hand.
Awe-inspiring photo ops are ubiquitous on Phillip Island, and Cape Woolamai is extra. Mother Nature did everything right here. A wild and woolly promontory walk, with staggering coastal views, waves crashing on ancient pink granite Pinnacles, surf not for the faint-hearted, it’s an aesthete’s feast! There are four trails of varying lengths and degrees of difficulty, all commencing at Cape Woolamai Beach car park, and all a snapper’s delight!
Not to be outdone by Cape Woolamai, the Nobbies has its own flex. The Nobbies Centre overlooks Bass Strait, and from here, there are breathtaking clifftop views, a winding, wooden boardwalk that takes in an explosive blowhole, natural seabird gardens, the Nobbies, and Seal Rocks. If you are lucky, you may see penguins nesting under the boardwalk.
Next stop, Penguin Parade! Phillip Island is home to the largest colony (approximately 40,000) of little penguins on the peninsula. Weighing around 1 kg, they are characterised by their blue and white feathers. Fun facts: These penguins can spend over four weeks at a time at sea and can eat around 25% of their body weight daily (so lucky!).
The penguins arrive just after sunset every night of the year, and you can google a handy “Penguin Arrival Calendar” that gives you a heads up on what time they will be there. Arriving an hour earlier is recommended so you can meander at leisure through the Visitor Information Centre before making way to the grandstands.
Penguin Parade offers different levels of viewing that include general admission, Penguins Plus, and a subterranean observation platform called the Burrow. As it was our first time, we joined the rabble in the tiered stands fronting Summerlands Beach. After the ranger gives an informative talk, you wait and wait and wait. The tide was out, and when the penguins finally appeared, they were tiny dots in the distance, announced by the excited tittering of our fellow sightseers.
Gathering offshore, they wait for dusk before crossing the beach to avoid predators. Huddling together for protection, when they felt they had the numbers, they made a run for the safety of the sand dunes. Sometimes, due to perceived threat, the run stopped dead. When this happened, they banged into each other like some Laurel and Hardy slapstick, pivoted, and fled back to the safety of the ocean. Regrouping, someone would make a forward trajectory, and they were off again. It was super entertaining and gave us many lols.
Once they are on land, you can venture down the raised wooden walkways and observe them trying to locate their burrow amongst the 3,000-odd in the dunes (there must be a penguin version of Google Maps in their heads to find the right burrow). They waddle through the dunes, chittering to each other; chicks scream for their parents to be fed; fights over nests; it’s a riot not to be missed.
There are wineries, forest caves, a Vietnam veterans museum, wildlife parks, hikes, a Koala Conservation Reserve, a plethora of pristine beaches, working farms, lookouts, shipwrecks, a chocolate factory, whale watching, bird watching, national parks, feisty pelicans, little penguins, and so much more. A very cool island that needs way more than a long weekend to explore!
