Our round the world trip (6): Melbourne and penguins
Day 7 (Monday) was a public holiday in Melbourne because the state of Victoria celebrates Labour Day on the second Monday in March (each state and territory decides when to hold the holiday) and there is local festival called Moomba (the name comes from an local Aboriginal language and means something like ‘having fun’). The weather was beautiful with a temperature of 36C (97F) and Roger & Vee were interested to receive a text from a friend back home advising us that it had just snowed in London.
It was an intense day of sightseeing with two tours.
The morning tour was part of our package and it was a three-hour introduction to the city of Melbourne with our guide Manuela. The city was named after Lord Melbourne who was British Prime Minister at the time. Vee’s twin sister Mari and her brother-in-law Derek lived in Melbourne for a few months in the mid 1960s and it was fun for Vee to be in a city she never at the time imagined visiting herself.
The Economic Intelligence Unit’s worldwide cost of living index for 2013 puts Melbourne as the fifth most expensive city in the world and yet it is frequently rated as one of the best cities on the globe in which to live. It was not hard to see the appeal: it is a charming, clean, civilised place with wide roads, lovely sandstone buildings, and plentiful recreational areas.
The city tour involved three stops: St. Paul’s Cathedral, Fitzroy Gardens & Captain Cooke’s Cottage, and the Royal Botanical Gardens & the Shrine of Remembrance. Other locations pointed out to us ranged from historical sites like the execution of Ned Kelly and the first parliament building to modern sites like Federation Square and the Melbourne Cricket Ground. Also there was the pub with the most unusual name: “The Elephant And Wheelbarrow”.
We had barely half an hour back at the hotel before we were off again.
The afternoon tour was one of the options on offer and cost those of us who chose it AU$ 126 (£85) each. We were away 10 hours and a guy called Carey was both our driver and our guide. Heading in a southerly direction, our first stop was at Warrook Cattle Farm for “Devonshire tea” (a large scone with jam & cream) and the chance to hand- feed small kangaroos. Then we reached our main destination of Phillips Island which is roughly 9 km by 26 km. The second stop was at the Koala Conservation Sanctuary where, in spite of the stillness and brownness of the animals which rendered them hard to spot up in the eucalyptus trees, the furry-faced fellows were a delight to observe.
After an early dinner in a place called Cowes, named after the town on the Isle of Wight in England, we drove on to Summerland Beach to observe what is called the penguin parade. We were advised that there are 17 species of penguins worldwide – all in the Southern Hemisphere – and we were going to see the only one in Australia which is also the smallest one – hence the name the Little Penguins. Having spent all day out at sea eating fish and squid, each evening they parade up the beach back to the safety of their burrows, but they only do this once the sun has set so that they are not vulnerable to predators.
We were advised to take our seats about 7.45 pm and expect the little characters to waddle across the sand around 8.15 pm, giving us an hour to observe them before the coach had to leave at 9.15 pm. Of course, animals have no regard to tourist schedules and we waited and waited and saw virtually nothing in the pale light. Vee spotted a few penguins but Roger’s eye sight is poor and he could see only the vaguest of shapes. Fortunately, having abandoned the beach and walking along the boardwalks back to our coach, we managed to see several dozen of the cute little fellows waddling to their burrows which made the visit worthwhile.
It was a two-hour journey back to Melbourne, but any chance of sleep was countered by the driver’s suggestion that we should watch a very Australian film called “Red Dog” which will never win any Academy Awards but rounded off a fun day of animal loving.