I had a wonderful day tour ( Phillip Island Eco Tour & Penguin Parade) with Bunyip Tours, a long day, but one full of variety. Phillip Island is located 90 minutes out of Melbourne. On this tour you will see loads of Australian wildlife and beautiful scenery. The highlight of course, is the Penguin Parade held everyday at sunset. I guarantee you will fall in love with them!
1st stop
Our first stop was Moonlite Sanctuary where you can get up close and feed some of the wildlife. This is a lovely place and not too big. Be sure to buy a bag of feed on arrival as you will come across a lot of hungry animals as you wander around the grounds. There is also an option of paying $21 to go inside the koala yard and have your photo taken with them. In Victoria, it is against the law to hold a koala so you can only snuggle up to it as it sits on the branch.
The animals
You get to see and feed animals such as kangaroos, wallabies, koalas, wombats, dingoes, emus, birds and reptiles. They have daily shows in many of the areas and they are well worth stopping to watch, what you learn is fascinating. Time passes all to quickly and we are on the move again.
2nd stop
We drive through some pretty countryside to Churchill Island, our next stop. It is a heritage farm and museum and is also an operating farm. Daily shows let you have a look at how things were done long ago. It is beautifully maintained and well worth the visit. As we drove along the driveway we came across Scottish Highland Cattle, unusual in appearance but very wooly and cute.
3rd stop
Next it was off to see more koalas at the Koala Conservation Centre. It features a tree top boardwalk so you can stroll among the koalas.
The tour does stop at a surf beach on the spectacular rugged coastline and also at Nobbies where it is possible to see fur seals but due to the heavy rain we had all during the day we didn’t stop at these sites. We did however take the scenic coastline route to the Penguin Parade.
Last stop
For me, this is what I was waiting to see, the Little Penguins or also known as Fairy Penguins returning from the sea at sunset. They gather in small groups at the water’s edge and waddle across the beach to their homes in the dunes.
There are different vantage points to watch this spectacle from, some at additional cost. Firstly, there is the original viewing area on Summerland Bay, next there is the Penguin Plus, an exclusive viewing area and private boardwalk ($25) and underneath this area is the Penguin Plus Underground ($35). This is where you watch them walk right past you at eye level. I chose this option and was so glad I did. They were so tiny, so funny, some fat, some thin, some walked fast others slow, they all had little personalities. One came up to me and stared through the glass. I wonder if he was attracted to my red lipstick! There is another option which is a VIP option ($45), an elevated indoor viewing box with drinks and canapes.
Fun fairy penguin facts
- Smallest of the world’s 17 species
- About 40cm tall
- Weigh around 1kg
- 1 day at sea, adults travel up to 20ks for 240 grams of food
