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

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.