Tuesday morning we flew to Melbourne. Then we rented a car and drove 2 hours south to Phillip Island. It was Tom's first time really driving on the left hand side of the road. He did really well, but said it was definitely a lot more stressful (and tiring) than driving on the right. We also got a good cleaning of our windshield every time he wanted to change lanes. They have many roundabouts in Australia. They use those at intersections instead of 4-way stops. They only have traffic lights at major intersections. It took us a few tries to figure out what lane we needed to be in, but by the end he was negotiating them like a pro.
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| Travelling through the Qantas walkway at the Sydney airport. |
We checked into our hotel. The kids were excited to see how big our place was. In Sydney, we had done Airbnb because I had a hard time finding a reasonably priced hotel that would fit our whole family. Everywhere else, I had no problems finding places with plenty of room. My search would always either give me a 2 bedroom suite or a 1 bedroom suite with the kids on a pullout sofa. Australia is an easy place to travel for families. Then we drove down to the esplanade to get some dinner and see the beach. They had a very family friendly beach with calm waters which was great for the kids. Charlotte had a great time practicing her swimming (it was a little cold for me) and Tommy, of course, spent a lot of time playing in the sand.
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| The kids were excited to have their own room |
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| We had a good sized living area as well. |
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| The kids loved the outdoor space |
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| Fun at the beach |
Phillip Island is where you can watch the penguin parade of the little penguins. Every night the little penguins, the smallest specie of penguin with an average height of 13 inches, gather in groups to make their trek across the beach to their nests in the sand. They wait until nightfall and move in groups to help protect themselves against predators, namely large birds that could easily swoop down and pick one of them up. They are not going to their nests to sleep. They catch quick catnaps throughout the day and night and do not have a solid block of sleep. Instead, they return to their nests to mate and socialize. They also leave their penguin chicks there until they are old enough to join them in the ocean. The mothers return at night with a belly full of fish to feed their young. We weren't allowed to take pictures of the penguins, but they were cute. The walkway to enter and leave the area is elevated above their nests so you can have a good view of them as you are leaving in the evenings. We had a great time seeing the penguins. It was one of the highlights of our trip.
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| We also saw some wallabies that live near the penguins |
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| Waiting for the penguin parade |
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| The little penguins are still way out in the ocean |
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| You can see the size of the little penguin in the middle |
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