Penguins big and little

I’ll be doing one last post on Melbourne and I’ve saved my favorite for the last.

Well it’s hard to really pick a favorite because the entire trip was filled with the most incredible experiences and seeing all those places through the kids’ eyes have been just awesome. I hope you enjoyed reading all the posts as much as I did writing them.

Anyhow, top of the list goes to Phillip Island Penguin Parade. This phenomenon happens only at nightfall and Phillip Island is one of the few places in the world where you can get up close to witness the Fairy Penguins crossing the beach on the way back to their burrows on the island.

They don’t allow photography on the beach, so these stock images come courtesy of Tourism Victoria.

The cover of night gives them a bit of camouflage as they scuttle across the beach back home and apparently, it’s the most terrifying thing they have to do in their lives.

Because they’re so tiny, it takes them many steps to make it across and in that time, they’re most susceptible to predator attacks. And it’s not like the poor penguins are physically equipped to run very fast so it’s very cute to see them put in so much effort to make that one crossing. Some of them cross halfway, then freak out and run back to the ocean.

The kids both fell asleep just as the penguins came out so they missed the whole thing. We tried waking them up like “Kids want to see penguins? Wake up quick!!” Tru took one look at them, then climbed back into his stroller to sleep. Kirsten woke up to peer at them for a while and decided to throw her duck duck over the barricade “to share with the penguins.” Good thing the ranger managed to rescue it or that would have marked the unfortunate end of yet another duck.

Speaking of penguins, we saw some King Penguins over at the Melbourne aquarium. They’re much bigger than the little ones (yeah, DUH!) but no less cute.

Also, I realized I haven’t talked much about the first leg of the trip with the other bloggers. So just a quick shout out to the folks at Tourism Victoria, OMY and Jetstar, who went to great lengths to make the trip unforgettable. And to the rest of the bloggers who went for the trip, your company made it so much more special.

One last thing, Episode 3 of Olay 360 is out here, bringing you the importance of hydration and tips on what to eat for healthy skin by Dr Leslie Tay.

Alright, that’s the lot. Have a good weekend, folks!