Phillip Island Tour (9/10/2025)

Wednesday, September 10, 2025
Today's tour did not begin until 11:45, so we walked over the Spencer Street bridge to Southbank.

Crossed the Yarra River aka Upside-Down
River because of its muddy color

Melbourne Exhibition Centre (1996, by Denton Corker
Marshall firm with their characteristic "blade entrance" (KSS)

Crown Centre (1997 as an entertainment hub
that includes a casino)

Gayip (2005, by Nadim Karan) stands at the ceremonial
meeting place of the different Australian Aborigines clans,
where they would interact with each other through stories,
dance, and story telling; the sculpture is part of the
Travellers series on Sandridge Bridge on the right 

Travellers (2005, by Nadim Karan), five of ten sculptures
representing migration of cultures: Urban Wheel (European
migration); Running Couple (refugees); Butterfly Girl (Asian
and Middle Eastern migration); Technoman (students
and professionals); and Walking Sun (multiculturalism)

Eureka Tower (2002-2006, by Fender
Katsalidis Architects) is Australia's
tallest building at 297.3 m/975', which has
Australia's highest public observation deck

On Eureka Tower is Queen Bee (2007,
by Richard Stringer) representing the
urban hive of Melbourne as a city

Breakfast from McDonald's, but had to
get chocolate milk

Looking north across Yarra River at Sea Life
Aquarium (1998-1999, by Peddle Thorp architects
to resemble a ship moored to the river)

A row of figureheads at The Enterprize Landing Memorial
(1985) commemorating the 1835 landing of the ship
Enterprize to begin the first settlement of Europeans (KSS)

Another view of the figureheads

Doryanthes excelsa/Gymea Lily

At 11:45 we boarded another Autopia tour bus to head to Phillip Island, about a 2-hour trip.

When we arrived in the town of Cowes, we five passengers
were  given time to get lunch on our own;
Nat's was recommended for local fish 'n' chips

Inside Nat's Fish & Chips

The fish and chips came wrapped in newspaper

The fish was Mustelus antarcticus/Gummy Shark or Flake

Walking back to meet the tour bus, we saw a girl put food
on the boy's back to attract the gulls, which appeared
to be Chroicocephalus novaehollandiae/Silver Gulls

Cowes main street allée of Hesperocyparis macrocarpa/
Monterey Cypress Tree (KSS)

Koala Conservation Reserve (est 1996 to find a
balance between world-renowned conservation programs
and quality ecotourism experiences)

This time we were on treetop boardwalks for
a closer look at Phascolarctos cinereus/Koalas (KSS)

Koalas sleep quite a bit, because their diet of
eucalyptus leaves takes immense energy to digest

This koala is munching on the eucalyptus leaves

Another sleeping koala

A male koala is bigger with a bigger nose

Dacelo novaeguineae/Laughing Kookaburra

Wallabia bicolor/Swamp Wallabies kept hopping across our path, but they are very fast.

Sun breaking through the clouds at the west end of the island

At Sunset Lookout, the guide knew where to find nesting
Eudyptula minor/Little Penguins aka Fairy Penguins (KSS)

We had to dodge a Cereopsis novaehollandiae/
Cape Barron Geese

Kent spotted another snail shell,
Lunella undulata/Common Warrener (KSS)

This was our tour bus, with only five tourists today

The Nobbies Visitor Centre (1999) was closed due to
structural damage, needing safety repairs

The Nobbies rock formations with Seal Rocks
in the foreground; this was not the season for seals (KSS)

Near the Southpoint Lookout, we spotted
a couple swamp wallabies

You can see a penguin track where they come out
of the sea at dusk and climb the hill to their burrows

Looking down on the Penguin Parade location,
with special seating to watch the little penguins;
we paid extra to upgrade our seats for a guarantee
to see the penguins, since this is only the very
beginning of the breeding season

Donations help pay for little penguin jumpers/sweaters;
if the penguins get caught in oil, they try to preen
off the oil and ingesting the oil can kill them, thus
they are supplied with jumpers until rescue workers
can wash their bodies clean of oil

This was our view of the beach, where the penguins came in groups from the left side and
crossed the beach to either climb the hill or climb the hillock in front of us to burrows

Photography is absolutely forbidden, because the penguins have very sensitive eyes that can be damaged by any lights and especially flash.

To compensate, professional Penguin Parade photos were available through a QR code (penguins.org.au), including a link to a YouTube video.

It was darker when the penguins came ashore,
but you could see the glow of their tummies

The little penguins are 30-33 cm/10-13" tall

We brought leftover falafel dinners to eat on the bus on the way back to Melbourne. Home by 21:30.

Next: Melbourne IV