Hooray, I managed to blow dry my hair this morning. Small things and all that!  The first thing that happened was that I have located a living relative but they are out of town! It is so exciting to find some one after all that research!

The tour started by being picked up at 11:20 for the trip to Phillip Island with GoWest. We then met another small coach and then we were on our way.  I managed to knit the whole way.  We had a rest break at this clock so our guide could phone through our lunch order.

 

As you can see the weather was cool and cloudy!  The worse weather I have since I have been here!

We had  lunch at Rhyll Trout and Bush Tucker Farm and I chose rainbow trout and chips!  The flesh was pink which seemed to put some of the dinners on my table off.  After lunch we walked round the Bush Tucker trail and smelt Crimson Bottle Brush, Lemon Tea Tree, Kangeroo Apple and Lemon Myrtle.  We also talked Old Man’s Salt Bush and Native Spinach – edible but not my taste!

  

The next place had these little creatures.

 

   

There were at least ten koalas up in the branches of the eucalyptus trees at Koala Conservation Centre.  It was amazing to see them so close up and there were a lots of wallabys hopping about too!

  
Once we had walked around two boardwalks looking at both these beautiful creatures we got back in the bus and went to our next stop Phillip Island Wines via the Grand Prix Circuit!   There were motorbikes on it when we went past and close by there were….

  
Kangaroos!!!!  So now my blog title makes sense!  When we got to the winery we were treated to five different wines three whites and two reds.  Here are the details especially for my Dad in particular!

  
  
I decided to buy a bottle of Bob!  Which I shall drink during my stay in Melbourne this week.  The wine was accompanied by some bread and cheese – both put a chilled feeling to proceeding.
Next stop was The Nobbies – a collection of Islands of the farthest western point of Phillip Island.  We walked around the boardwalks trying to spot Penguin chicks and taking in the scenery.  It was very blowy and that made it quite cold!  I warmed up in the gift shop and spotted a lovely scarf which I purchased.  The tour guide then drove us around a coastal road where we saw more wallabys and unusually an echidna and a wedge-tailed eagle.  We also saw lots of penguin burrows and boxes and pathways from the sea.  We were getting closer to seeing the penguin parade.

For supper we were all taken to Cowes (and yes this Island is also called the Australian Isle of Wight!) and given 45 mins to eat so I had the quickest pizza and glass of wine ever! And then we went to the penguin parade.  I purchased a penguin plus ticket so went to the boardwalk and sat with another person from the tour.  As we were at the back of the searing we were out of the wind so it wasn’t too cold.  As dusk fell the Penguins began to waddle past.  You are not allowed to take photographs here but they provide an app with photos so here is one that resembles what I saw.

  
Once I had watched lots of penguins walk past and people had started to leave I moved round to the front where I could see the sea.  Penguins were still coming out of the water and standing on the beach preening before walking to their burrows or boxes.  It was blowy here so much colder – I managed to watch for about half an hour – they are so cute!

It was then time for the long journey back to Melbourne – fortunately I was the first to be dropped off so was back just before midnight!

It was a long but enjoyable day.

Quote: You can learn something new every day! Here are the words to one of the songs we were played on the bus during the tour!