February 11, 2024 Phillip Island, Australia Day 53 of 138 days

 We are pretty excited. Tonight we get to watch the Penguin Parade on Phillip Island. We wake up to small islands on our side of the ship, and Australia on the other side of the ship. We also have cargo and cruise ships very near. We learned that one of the ships is our sister ship the Neptune. It is also doing the world cruise suppose to be just behind us. We will end up in Sydney together on our last day there. You ask what difference 3 days make, just check out the different itineraries.  This is members of our crew that were taking a selfie with the Neptune in the background to send to their friends and co-workers on Neptune.

These are not the penguins we will see tonight. We had a craft an one is mine and the other is my friend Susan's. Today we learned quilling.                                                                                                                                                                                                         Mike and I got some time in the sun as it is a beautiful blue sky, sunshine day. 

On our way to the Little Penguins, Mike had just seen a Kangaroo crossing sign. We were discussing it when our bus hit something. Of course we immediately thought it was a Kangaroo, but ended up a large branch. It was a loud bang, and things were flying along the sides of the bus. In the end this is what our bus looked like, and the one behind us looked the same. The other buses were warned of the issue, so it sounds like it was only the two of us affected.

The little penguins did not disappoint. This was on our arrival

The little Penguins are only found in Southern Australian waters, with the largest existing colony here at Phillip Island. These penguins are the smallest of the 18 known species of penguins and is unique in that it waits until sunset before coming ashore. They are unique in color as they are blue and white.

This is a wallaby

You walk along this boardwalk, and see burrows in the ground everywhere. The Penguin only comes on land to molt, mate, bear and raise their young. The young remain in the burrows during the day, and the parents return at night and feed them. They return to the ocean in the morning before first light and spend all day feeding. Above we are sitting beach side waiting for dark and the show.

No pictures are allowed after dark to not scare the penguins and allow them to get to their chicks. The penguins come sliding in with the waves, gather in groups to make their way across the sand, and return to their burrows and chicks. We returned to the ship around 10:30 pm. tired, but impressed with nature.