Victoria Day 3 : Penguin Parade at Phillip Island

Assalamualaikum. G'Day Mate

Am back after weeks of hiatus. Bolehlah diabaikan previous entry itu. Jiwa orang tengah kacau; haruslah entry pun bunyi ala-breakdown gitu. No worries, alhamdulillah I'm good now. Biasalah bila lama sikit di tempat orang, hati jadi sensitif tiada sempadan. Thanks to my super awesome friends untuk keprihatinan yang tiada bernoktah. Semoga Allah SWT reward korang banyak². 

And back to my Melbourne trip. So we reached Phillip Island a little late than our initial plan hence we had to forego few activities. Previous entry (here). Bila travel ni memang banyak kejadian luar dugaan (teknik terbaru cover salah sendiri).

28 July 2015
Phillip Island - Penguin Parade

We didn't pre-booked our ticket. We bought them at the counter on the day of the parade itself. Luckily we still had like 30 minutes before we're allowed to enter. That at least gave us more time to wander around & learn more about this cute flightless bird from the educational displays at the visitor center. 

#1 The entrance

#2 The ticket counter

#3 One for the album

#4 The rare species penguin around the world. Also known as the mutant all-black penguin

#5 A juvenile Emperor Penguin (pale yellow breast less visible) 

#6 The Emperor Penguin (pale yellow breast); the tallest & heaviest of all living penguins species. 

It is the only species that breeds during the Antarctic winter. Bear in mind, the male Emperor have to withstand the winter for more than 2 months to protect his egg from extreme cold. While waiting for the chick to hatch, they do not eat anything therefore explain why they tend to lose about 12 kg after incubating. 

There are plenty of information about different type of penguins in the world. Love reading them all. And I also played some of the games (guessing penguin age, origin & etc). Didn't take many pictures at the visitor center though as I was totally into reading the plaque. And unfortunately had forgotten what I've read. Sekian.

#7 View of the Summerland Beach from where we were seated. 

#8 Two pretty ninjaS patiently waiting for the penguin to waddle up the beach to the safety of their homes in sand dunes. 

We chose to watch them penguin from the tiered seating platform (Ticket Price: AUD 26.20). To those who wish to have a little up-close viewing complete with ranger commentary, u can choose the Penguins Plus (a little bit more expensive than our ticket).

We're briefed beforehand that noise & camera flash would scare them off. So I kept my camera inside my bag. Sejuk lagipun tiada masa lah mau buka gloves bagai. We waited for almost an hour before we started spotting 'tiny black shadows' coming out from the waves. Mau keluar cara comel jak semua. We watched quietly yet in awed; the penguins waddled up across the beach to their sand dune burrows. Truly a magical experience for us. Spent sometime on the bench watching them until we spotted no more shadow from the beach.

While walking upon the boardwalk to the visitor center, we spotted loads of the penguin waddling underneath us. Rupanya boardwalk tu runs alongside the penguins' pathway. Patutlah masa ni baru meriah nampak penguin. As more people crowding the boardwalk, the penguins quickly made their move to their burrows. Masa nilah nampak penguin seketul-seketul. Too cute! Yang datang ni kecil jak, yang paling besar we saw was the size of a little kitten. Adalah juga visitors yang less prihatin, sibuk lah menggambar budak-budak tu. Lagi parah, siap on flash. Bikin lah panas perangai.

Nasiblah sedar diri gerak awal dari viewing point. Else memang kami bertukar arca. Sejuk bedi hingga ke tulang. I remember how amazed I was towards Ms G cold-endurance at that time. Langsung tiada complain whatsoever. I reckoned she enjoyed the parade & decided to simply embrace the cold.  

#9 Fashionista penguins

#10 Too cute isn't it?

#11 And we thought jumper means fashion as well. 

Not until we saw this. They were forced to wear the jumpers as to prevent oiled penguins from wallowing the poisonous oil as they clean their feathers. Stop those illegal oil discharges at sea already!

After the parade, it's time to go to our motel. Dari Melbourne terus pi tengok penguin haruslah belum check in. Nasiblah masa sampai tu, receptionist belum balik. I felt guilty though sebab lepas jak aku kutip kunci, diorang terus tutup office. I should have email them earlier. Thoughtless gila kau Bie. 

Campak segala barang dalam rumah, and straight we went out for some groceries shopping. Baru sedar kelaparan gaban semua. And luck was on our side once more. Sebab Woolworths belum tutup. I totally forgot shops in Australia close early. Some even closed by 6pm. Apart from groceries, kena beli charger juga. Gara-gara bijak si Err, semua kena beli baru.

On the way to Phillip Island, we stopped by to refuel the car. Pastu ada singgah supermarket so adalah beli plug bagai. Nearly 20 minutes after leaving the mart, baru perasan salah beli plug. Apalah nasib.

Masa tu juga terjadi sesi muka masam muka between us three. Semua penat...dari pagi berdrama salah subway & bus kan. Masing-masing ala melayan blues sendiri. Tiada kejadian bertekak or tinggi suara because we're professional like that. Sudah tau perangai & limit marah masing-masing. We've been travelling together for years; kalau lah bertekak macam joyah for some "salah beli plug sebab miscommunication" kinda thing....haruslah lame gila. Boleh benam diri dalam tanah. Sebenarnya ndak lama pun silent moment kami dalam kereta. Tunjuk rajuk & protest? Tiada siapa peduli sebenarnya. Hahahaha!

#12 Masuk supermarket pun happy (sebab tau bakal beli barang sumbatan perut)

#13 Si Omnivor. Mesti cari sayur else meals jadi hambar

#14 Masih jakung with self service counter. Ka rindu jadi cashier?

#15 Long receipt. Usah ditanya apa dibeli sebab bab groceries shopping ni memang favourite kami. Macam semua mau dikasi masuk basket

#14 Cepat & express. Alhamdulillah kenyang!

After dinner...semua pun jadi ular sawa. And because electric blankets on Ms H & my bed weren't working, we had to pull our mattresses to the living area where Ms G's bed is. Itu jak area yang ada heater. Memang akan beku kalau kami tidur juga dalam bilik malam tu. Blanket rosak, heater pun rosak. Mau complain pun malas because it was already late when we realized all the malfunctioning stuffs. Lagipun memang tiada siapa di reception. We put our mattresses right in front of the wall heater. Tu pun memang mencari nahas kan. Nasib jak kami ndak rentung malam tu. Sobs. 

Malam tu ndak berapa lena tidur sebab kena tunggu turn to charge my handphone. We bought the plug with only 2 usb ports (tu jak yang ada) hence kenalah bergilir guna. Handphones mau charge, camera pun sama, wifi modem lagi. Memang gigih bangun every couple of hours to check which gadget was fully charged & recharge the one that needed to be recharged. Demi!

Next morning, bangun on time. Fuh! The power of time management during travelling. Salute toing-toing. 

And for Day 4, will be continued later. Wassalam.

eryantierdabdulkarim