Queen's Birthday Weekend

Monday was a holiday - the Queen's birthday - and Anthony didn't have to work. So, we "hired a car" (which means we rented one) for the day and drove to Philip Island. (Notice the driver side is on the Right - an experience in itself!) The little island is packed with so many fun things to do. We didn't have time to do everything, but we got in a full day of fun!

First, we went to Cape Woolamai - one of the best surfing beaches in Australia. It was beautiful and reminded us a lot of the Oregon Coast. There were some huge waves and lots of people out surfing. We got a short video of one surfer, but it's a little far away...sorry! :)






Next, we went to the Koala Conservation Center. It was one of the neatest things we've done! They have built boardwalks among the eucalyptus trees so you can walk along and see the koalas. Most of them were sleeping, but we did get a some video of one of them eating. It was so cute!



Aren't they so cute?! I can't believe how close we were to them. Apparently, they bite and scratch, but they look so cuddly!! :)



This one had a joey (baby) in her pouch. I didn't know they had pouches, so I learned something new!



We had fun with the ones that didn't bite or scratch! Anthony didn't want to sit on one, but I couldn't resist the fun photo-op!



These next pictures were at Pyramid Rock. The landscape was just beautiful and reminded us a bit of Hawaii.






The last item on the agenda for the day was to watch the Little Penguins (that's their official name) at sunset. Funny story about how they got their name... it's because they're small! :) We went down to a lookout point by the beach and as soon as the sun went down, hundreds of Little Penguins popped out of the water and ran across the beach as fast as they could. They are scared to cross the beach, so they cross in groups for safety. Then, they stop to groom a little and then waddle off to their burrows. They mostly stayed in couples. It was so amazing to watch. Unfortunately, they didn't allow any cameras because the flash frightens the penguins. However, earlier in the day, we actually saw some Little Penguins while we were walking around, so we have a few pictures. For reference, they are only about 12" tall. Cute!


This was just outside the Penguin Center:



This was the only picture I could take at night since they didn't allow any pictures at the beach.



We also saw our first wallaby while we were waiting for the penguins. It was a little embarrasing because we actually had to ask some people what it was since we'd never seen one in person. It kinda looked like a mini kangaroo when it was on it's hind legs :) It turned out to be a really relaxing trip - full of lots of new things!