Phillip Island Archives - Escapes From The Little Red Dot

Phillip Island 2017 Day 5 – Inverloch, the Caves beach and Penguin Parade

Posted on May 3, 2017February 4, 2018 by ziyi

The usual morning routine took place as I made milk for K and he continued to snooze at 7am while mommy got up to make lunch for K. Today was a free and easy day as there weren’t any plans yet, as mommy claimed that there were many things to do on Phillip Island and was up to me to decide.

Mommy made breakfast too, frying 2 eggs to complement our ham sandwich while K had a little cereal, bread and half a banana. After we were done, we got dressed and prepared to get out, almost 1030am already. K wasn’t wanting to get onto the car and had to be manhandled, being cranky about car rides and wanted to go to a playground without the car.

The first stop, when we weren’t sure where to go, was to get to the visitors center just a couple of minutes from the apartment. I helped K changed his diapers in the toilet as he didn’t want to do it before leaving and I brought K into the info center while mommy went to Coles to get water. The staff at the visitors’ center introduced the main highlight, which was the penguin parade, and other stuff that costed money. Lightly spoke about the Amaze N’ things park and the Chocolate factory. We didn’t get anything initially and went to the bells outside for K to strike.

After discussion, I went to purchase 2 adult tickets for aud50 each with time to reach at 515pm, which was considerably more expensive as the one we did in New Zealand that was free. This however was the upgrade one compared to the normal one which was about half the price because I thought we were going to spend time to brave the cold night sea wind we had better be able to see something, where in New Zealand we couldn’t see anything as it was dark and the penguins were tiny. We could only hear and experience the electrifying atmosphere as the nest all sounded with chirps of baby birds waiting for their parents return.

Without any place else to visit, we decided to visit Inverloch instead, since we weren’t able to yesterday. It was a 50mins drive on the same route and we turned on the music for K to keep him distracted and was prepared with a plastic bag on hand.

We arrived at the small quiet town and again parked at the visitors center. Mommy went to ask what was available and again, there wasn’t much as well. She was introduced a beachside visit, the Caves dinosaur dig beach was indicated on the map, and so we drove along the coast for about 15mins to get there and parked at the public parking. There were just a few cars there and from the parking, we had to walked a small wooden platform to reach the beach front, along the sides where info boards talking about dinosaurs. Didn’t really read them as we walked to the beachfront. Low tide exposed a huge area of sand and rocky surface. As it was difficult to walk on the rocks and while mommy and K tried and fell on their bums, they stayed at the wooden platform while I walked around to “find” dinosaurs. Actually there wasn’t much to see here (and didn’t know where to look), whatever was found didn’t leave any specific traces. The rocky surface had some interesting pattern due to interactions with the tides but those were all. We left soon after as K wanted to have his pasta and play in the playground.

We drove the same route back and parked at the public parking near a playground near the Esplanade. As mommy fed K his pasta in the car, I went to buy lunch, fish and chips (Inverloch Fish & Chips) for aud9.9 for mommy and I got myself a burger 6.7 of beacon and cheese (Inlet fish N Chips) from 2 different stores. These weren’t fast food literally as they took some preparation time while I go snap some photos of this small town.

After getting the food, I returned to the car to find K almost finishing his meal and I quickly munched on my burger, which was pretty good and brought K to the playground while mommy had her giant size fish and chips at the free to sit BBQ tables next to the playground.

K had fun with the swing and the slide and bridge and we spent our time there till it was 230pm. Then we had to return to Phillip Island soon to meet the Penguin Parade timing. Before getting onto the highway, we visited the small jetty next to the Esplanade road for a short photo snaps (just calm waters and nothing much to see except some small fishes) and then we left.

On the way back, K expectedly fell asleep. We decided to take a detour to see a bit more of the island by driving to Rhyll. It was the eastern end of the island and near the coast, the waters were extremely calm with black swans floating atop. The cafes were closed and nothing much to do so we drove back to the apartment.

After parking, mommy went ahead to prepare the meals for K while I sat in the car. K woke up really grumpy at 430pm and after turning on the TV for him, he finally became better. We left at 450pm and headed for the Penguin Parade, with all the necessary cold wear.

It was about a 15mins drive and there was a huge carpark available but those nearer to the entrance have already been parked. We actually wanted to go to the Nobbies to have a look but didn’t have the time. With the ticket in hand, we were informed to proceed to the sitting area. Within the center, there was a cafeteria, a souvenir store and a theater, we just headed to the exit towards the sea.

The wooden walkpath brought us to 2 ticketing check points along the way, and the final one was either to the Penguin Plus that we bought, a sitting area near the beachfront or the underground viewing which gave people a chance to see the penguins at their level, by being underground.

We arrived at almost 520pm and the best seats were all taken. Best seats were those facing the sea so that you could see them do the beach landing and still close to the ground to see the penguins up close and personal. We were seated well away from the sea view but close to the ground. Almost immediately we saw a penguin, which was extremely early in daylight and quickly took a photosnap of it. Photography and videography was strictly banned during the parade itself so it was a rare shot that I had.

The penguins started to come later, though there were exceptional early comers. The main bulk that came in staggered groups of 5 to as huge as 30 penguins and K had fun watching these “bunches” of penguin walked past. We could also see penguins in groups climbing the hills as they made their way to the nests. There were some of the nests close by which we could see the penguins entering and exiting them. We thought we saw a pair of penguins mating as one got on top or another and some squabbering happening between 2 birds.

K lost interest nearer to the 630pm mark and started climbing up and down. As I climbed with him to the top platform, I saw penguins at the beachfront in different “waves”. Somehow reminded me of a beach attack by soldiers in “Saving private Ryan” as they landed and charged up to their nests. We could see pretty clearly because unlike the one in New Zealand, the place was lighted up with a warm orange light and that helped us to see them without confusing these birds, which would be disastrous as this location was their natural habitat.

We left at about 645pm and en-route along the wooden path we could still see penguins marching back, and some of the houses were just next to the walkway. We even saw some getting onto the roads as they walked as close as next to the building.

We headed to the exhibit hall inside the main building as mommy visited the toilet. K had fun jumping on the stairs and going through some parts of the exhibits, such as looking at the height of the blue penguin. Next we popped by the souvenir store where mommy bought a head warmer and a tee for K and K was having fun touching all the stuff around him. Before leaving, we took a photo with a giant size penguin stuff toy.

By the time we got out of the place it was almost 730pm, and I checked under the car, as advised, just to make sure that there weren’t any penguins there before we were on our 15mins trip back to the apartment.

Changed K diapers immediately since he pooped during the Penguin Parade and turned on the YouTube for him to watch as mommy cooked macaroni for all of us. Tonight was mushroom soup for us and chicken soup for K. K continued to watch TV where Simpsons were on and I fed him while he ate, which was surprisingly a lot.

After dinner was about bathing and again he pooped. Quickly clean up before taking a warm bath and getting ready for bed. As the dishwasher did the dishes, we had more time to relax in bed, K playing his new wooden rocket toy that mommy bought for him just that morning for aud35 in Philip Island town. Afterwards it was then bedtime stories and lights off.

Phillip Island 2017 Day 4 – Belgrave to Sneaky beach and overnight on Phillip Island

Posted on May 2, 2017February 4, 2018 by ziyi

The daily alarm sounded at 7 and I woke almost immediately to make milk for K whom was a little restless (heard something about not wanting to sleep anymore in the middle of the night) and milk could get him to continue to sleep. Soon after drinking, true enough K continued to sleep. I continued to blog, trying to keep up with backlog by writing on the day itself or on the day that just past, so that I could put it on as soon as I return back to Singapore. I woke mommy up at 830 and she started to prepare meal for K for the journey today. I packed the rest of the items into the luggage as much as I could.

When we were done, we tried to get K out of bed who was still sleeping soundly. Quickly replaced his diapers and changed him out of his pyjamas before we got out of the apartment at 930am. The breakfast was provided for free at the accommodation and was on the 2nd level where the landlord stayed. We met her at the door and when given a choice to sit outside or inside, mommy chose inside, afraid of the morning chill.

There was a huge rectangular wooden table and prepared for us on nice glass cups were bowls of cut fruits. K had the same but with only rock melon and kiwi. There was also a large jar of cereal and a cup of cold milk for K to eat, which he took a little as he rather spend time exploring the place, trying to play with the toys that belonged to the landlords’ children. Fortunately there was another pail of blocks that the landlord so kindly offered K to play. We had a long breakfast, chatting with the hosts as they spoke about different people and their different lives and what they did before while we shared ours and ate the yummy multigrain toast with butter. After finishing with my coffee and my wife with her tea, it was already 1030am and we bid farewell to them and their shy daughter whom was celebrating her 3rd year old birthday and offered K a chocolate cupcake to takeaway.

We continued to pack as I finished up the luggage and mommy finished up packing the meals into the containers (and K his cupcake) we only manage to leave the apartment at 11am. Our initial plan was to visit the coastal town of Inverloch which was 1.5hrs away. Punched in the location on Google maps which mommy had downloaded the whole map already and we were on our way.

All seemed well and I drove within speed limits to avoid any road sickness but 30mins into the drive, K puked. We were prepared as mommy tried to catch whatever that came out with a plastic bag but there was still splashes in the car. Fortunately it wasn’t stinky, probably because what came out weren’t milk but the fruits that he ate. I stopped by the roadside for a quick clean up and then we were on our way.

K then fell asleep which was good, as that meant that I could speed up a little and not worry about the vomiting again. We then changed our minds to visit squeaky beach instead, as that was at a much further distance, 2hrs additional to be exact. It was a very long drive, mostly on single lane roads and as at some places, there were multiple bends. Along the way, there weren’t much views to mention about, the usual rural ones like farms with horses, large green grassland dotted with houses. Mommy too fell asleep in between as I drove. The irritating thing was the weather, it seemed to be either raining most of the way or gloomily cloudy.

I tried to get to a station close to the park to get lunch for ourselves, so as to minimize stoppage and disturbance to K. But the whole journey I couldn’t see any, and the last big town was a fish creek which we left for 20mins already so I was a little worried. Thankfully at Yanakie there was supposedly a bakery (which was closed on arrival) and a Lance Moon park with a playground and most importantly, a tiny Shell station with a shop that sold warm pastries. K played in the playground even though it was cold and the wind was merciless but he couldn’t do the slide as it was still wet from the rain. After convincing him to leave, we stopped by the station stall to buy hotdog bun and pie for aud12. I didn’t think we needed to pump any gas now and wasn’t sure if it was too expensive to pump here and so continued our drive to the national park.

We reached the entrance of the Wilson Promontory National park in about 15mins and as there were counters there, we thought we had to pay. The counters were closed but there were instructions on the board to pick up an info paper and also information saying that there was no need to pay for day visit. Then another 20mins of 30km drive within the nicer roads of the national park, this time flanked by lots of greens. K was well behaved, listening to children songs all the way till we reached the car park of squeaky beach.

It was already 230pm and we were all famished, especially K as he had vomited out his breakfast. We lunched in the car with the parents having the pastries and K having his chicken soup pasta. Although we wanted K to finish his food and not be hungry, we were worried that overeating can cause him to puke again on the return journey. We made sure that he was really satisfied before keeping the rest.

After we suited up, we walked the 300m to the beach, braving the very cold and strong wind. K had fun crossing the 2 small wooden bridge saying that he was scared to fall through the space between the planks but it was too small for that to happen. As we reached the beach, we found a huge area of sand and I carried K so that we could get slightly closer to the waters ( and the sandy areas looked a little wet). Thunderous waves were crashing onto shores which told us not to approach but the chilly wind coming from the sea did the job even better. There were some huge boulders near the shore, which reminded me of some beaches in Mauritius and could make a pretty picture. But most importantly we couldn’t hear squeaky sounds from the beach and felt cheated! This was the main reason why we came ( as who in the right frame of mind would visit the beach during winter?) curious to hear the beach squeak! K loved making footsteps on the sand but we could only stay 10mins before it was about the rain again. On the way back, K again wanted to cross the wooden bridge on his own and the skies held till we got back to the car.

We played the children’s music ( the one mommy had in the phone and was playing it from the park to the national park) in the car before starting the long way back. Just minutes from the carpark were 2 viewpoints where I alighted to snap quick pictures before jumping back to the car. Then the next stop was back at the playground. We wanted to break the journey to minimize puking, and I thought I would just pump gas. Dropped off K and mommy at the playground and I went to pump gas myself. At aud1.28/ liter, the tank was full which ended up with Aud30 costs. I bought drinks for about aud6 and left for the playground. Spend some time with K on the swings and we left after 20mins spent there.

Panoramic view from Wilson Promontory NP

It was the same route back and it was a really long drive, my back already aching. We passed through the town of Inverloch but we weren’t stopping. It was a race against the Sun which set at 6pm as we didn’t like driving in darkness. Days were especially short during winter and nothing much could be achieved in this short period. K fell asleep 30mins from arriving into Philip island, after munching on some cracker and cheese. Relieved to see the bridge linking the main island to Phillip island and we arrived at Coles supermarket at about 630pm, already dark and the town already looked dead. Mommy got off to shop first while I waited in the car with K, whom woke up after a while. Since I knew mommy would take quite a while, I brought K to the supermarket too, and it was huge. There were 2 buttons on the wall near the frozen chill fridge that had sounds of chicken and cow when pressed and K had some fun pressing them there. I tried to look for beer but couldn’t find them.

We drove to the Seahorse motel some minutes drive away and mommy got off to check in at the recept. It was a single storey apartment with a carpark in front of it, like a chalet. I felt it was quite a nice accommodation, which even came with a kitchen and a backyard with tables to chill.

Mommy prepare dinner while I went to the recept to buy wifi (as indicated in the guest info book) for aud2 each device for the entire stay but was given free. I also got a picture of a seahorse for K to do some coloring. Returning back to the apartment K spent some time on YouTube which we promised to let him watched. But we were finding it hard for him to keep his promise on the length of time spent on the device.

Mommy cooked macaroni for all for dinner, difference was ours came with sauce and tomato soup while K was plain with chicken and carrot soup. After dinner, I bathed K and even though I managed to warm up the room closest to the toilet, it was still cold as he left the tub, shivering. K had some FaceTime with granny and more video time after his bath (and again having trouble returning the phone to us) and it was bedtime stories before lights off at 11pm.