Front seats to the penguin parade

A section of beach on Phillip Island near the penguin parade

The penguin parade on Phillip Island is an unforgettable experience. No photography is allowed so I will have to describe it in words.

Each evening, just after dark, groups of little penguins march ashore from the sea. They return to their burrows to sleep and feed their young after spending all day hunting for food in the sea. They waddle across open areas in groups to stay safe from predators. Then they continue their arduous march uphill, stopping to rest along the way.

The young penguins in the burrows are hungry after a long day of waiting to be fed by their parents and they impatiently call out to them, urging them uphill. It's a mass of noise and stoic procession of the little penguins very much like a show or a parade as they advertise it.

Tourists are able to view the penguins emerge from the water on the beach where seating is provided just like on a stadium. The penguin procession can be followed from wooden walkways that have been built all over the area so the penguins can go their way undisturbed underneath.

Autumn in Melbourne

Federation square

Melbourne is one of the prettiest cities I've visited. The central area is small enough to be walked easily, the streets are easy to navigate, it's clean and has lots of greenery. The city is very friendly to tourists with a free hop-on/hop-off sightseeing bus, lots of information and brochures and last but not least, the local language is English, making it super easy to get around.

Shopping center, built around a historical tower

It's autumn now in the Southern Hemisphere so the weather is getting cooler, the leaves are falling and it was raining. Nevertheless, I managed to visit the major sights. It's obvious that Melbourne is full of immigrants. There are Chinese, Italian and Greek neighborhoods. The markets and shopping centers offer food from all over the world. I was surprised to discover that you can buy Slovenian sausages at the market where they call them European Kransky. There was also Radenska mineral water and Gea pumpkin seed oil.

After four months of traveling through Asia, I was really tired of eating rice and stir fried food most of the time. In Melbourne, I can walk over to the Italian neighborhood and have all the delicious salad and focaccia I want and still adhere to my belief that I should eat local food when I travel.

Melbourne Cricket Ground

Another aspect of Melbourne is sports related facilities. They host the Australian Open tennis grand slam tournament as well as the Australian Grand Prix Formula 1 race. This year, the Formula 1 season debuts in Melbourne on March 17th and the area around Albert Park is already roped off.

They have the Melbourne Cricket Ground, home of probably the oldest sports team in the world, the Melbourne Cricket Club. In addition to cricket, the stadium also hosts Australian Football League matches.

Rowing on the Yarra river

Among other sports, I noticed rowing activity on the river, there are bicycle paths with bicycles for hire, there are numerous swimming pools, joggers on the sidewalks and probably much more.

Great ocean road

The Twelve Apostles

The Great Ocean Road is truly a great sight to visit and experience. It's hundreds of kilometers of road along a scenic coast in southeastern Australia. The road winds near frequent landmarks where visitors can stop, walk around and admire.

Footpath near the Great Ocean Road

A helicopter may be hired to ride above the sights.

Sightseeing helicopter

One of the most famous sights is the Twelve Apostles, a collection of massive rocks sticking out of the ocean. There aren't actually twelve of them because due to the ongoing erosion, the coast is constantly changing and some of the rocks have eroded away. In addition to the Twelve Apostles, there are many other interesting rock formations. One of them is the London bridge, which unfortunately has fallen down. It used to resemble a bridge but it is no more.

London bridge has fallen down

So many ships have shipwrecked through the years that a section of the coast is named the Shipwreck Coast.

Shipwreck coast

There are hidden beaches such as the one in Loch Ard Gorge.

Beach inside Loch Ard Gorge

And the coast is perfect for surfing.

Surfers

Down under

Koala

It doesn't happen often that I enter not just a new country, but a new continent. Here I am, down under in Australia. This time, I'm not just a backpacker. I'm visiting a friend and she is showing me around. For starters, she drove me on the Great Ocean Road and I can't help but to compare it to South Africa. It reminds me so much of the Cape of Good Hope with the ocean, the flora and fauna. The vegetation and the wild animals are completely different of course, it's the experience of driving by the ocean along vast stretches of land inhabited by wild animals that is similar. I was amazed by what nature has to offer.

I saw scores of koalas on branches of eucalyptus trees. I even witnessed two koalas fighting high up on a branch without falling down.

Koalas fighting on a tree branch

I never realized that cockatoo birds can fly around in the wild. Until now I have only seen them in zoos. The birds boldly approach tables where tourists are having lunch, hoping to get a snack.

Wild cockatoos

My friend owns a pet cockatoo. I think he approves of me.

Pet cockatoo

There are kangaroos, of course, but what we saw along the road was actually a wallaby. It looked like a kangaroo to me, but was too fast and I didn't catch it with my camera.

Echidna

And there was the hedgehog impersonator that ran into the bushes. There are no hedgehogs in Australia, it was an echidna.