Back to Melbourne

Calder wanted me to get a sweater clad penguin, but I resisted.  A picture is a good enough memory.

After all of the excitement, we headed back to the bus.  On the way we encountered a wild bandicoot.

Calder took his picture  while I stood very still so I wouldn’t frighten him.  He got closer and closer and then he chomped
down on my foot.  I squealed and shook him off.  He didn’t
break through the shoe.  It felt like when you push on the toe to see if the shoe is big enough.

The ride back to Melbourne took about 2 hours and then we drove around to drop everyone off at their hotel.  Calder and I were 2nd to last.

We took hot showers and fell into bed totally wiped out.

Really penguins

Unfortunately, I can’t show you the real parade - photography is VERY STRICTLY FORBIDDEN!  It frightens the penguins.  I was amazed at how far they travel.  Our ranger guide issued each of us earphones and binoculars and first took us to a good viewing spot at the beach near where the birds would come out of the water.  Everyone was scanning the beach.  Finally, off to our right, the first group of about 50 came out of the water and scrambled over the rocks.  Then a few went across a wider section of the beach.  Depending on the tides, they have a longer or shorter way to travel before they start hiking up hill.  We watched birds coming ashore in groups for about 20 minutes and got pretty good at hearing them calling from the water and getting organized to come in.

Then the ranger moved us to another spot where we could watch them waddle along the path.  They have very short little legs, so it took them the 20 minutes to get to that spot.  It looked like they were playing red light.  A whole bunch of them would surge forward and then abruptly stop dead.  Some of the ones coming after would keep going and pinball through the stopped ones.  The waddlers were pretty quiet, but once they got to their burrows, they had to greet and be greeted and share all the gossip.  As they went along, some would split off on steep trails to get home.

 We walked along with them.  We were on a board walk and the penguins were on both sides of it.  When we got back to the visitor center, there was a group of about 5 who realized that they were on the wrong side.  The people traffic was stopped so that they could cross in front of us.  It was pretty funny, because they dithered and stopped and started while several hundred people waited.

On main trails there are weighing stations where the penguins naturally go through.  The birds are microchipped so they are studying how often they come ashore, how long they stay, how much they feed their chicks, etc.

Penguins

After arriving at the island, the driver took us around so that we could get the lay of the land in daylight.  It was 29 degrees celcious when we started and 20 when we finished 3/4 of an hour later.  That’s 84 to 68.  By sunset it was much colder and raining a little.  (Calder and I were good, we had raincoats that protected us against the worst of it.)

We all split up in the town of Cowes for dinner.  We chose Pino's Italian.  

 Calder had a large Tropical, aka Hawaiian and I had a small one with greens.

3/29 Phillip Island Penguin Parade

Phillip Island has a large colony of Little Penguins (formerly known as Fairy Penguins.)  By large, I mean 32,000, of the little suckers.  Many of them come ashore at sunset to return to their burrows.  This is not the best time of the year for them because it is molting season, so they have to stay in their burrows for about 3 weeks and then since they are really hungry, they stay out to sea for a longer time.  But there are always some.

We signed up for a tour that picked us up at noon, took us to Maru sanctuary for a quick visit, toured the island, stopped for dinner, and finally the big event at sunset. We opted for the ranger led tour and were really happy.

We were picked up on time and taken to a central meeting place.  Our driver decorated his bus, so it would be more recognizable.

This stuffed penguin is about life size.  The reason it is wearing a sweater is because a couple of years ago there was a major oil spill and after cleaning the birds, they needed the sweaters to keep warm.  A call went out to knitters World wide.  They got so many that they dressed the stuffed ones in the extras.  (I remember when it happened.)











Our first stop at Maru was not really important.  An opportunity for a bathroom break, snacks, something to see and a way of regulating the timing.  They did have albino kangaroos and good dingoes.

3/28 On to Melbourne

Really pleasant and uneventful trip to Melbourne.  We Ubered to the train station (since it was still sprinkling.)  Made an earlier train than planned, but that was good because then we had lots of time to  turn in our Go-cards and get my money back and have a relaxed breakfast.

We used Urber again to get to the hotel Mercure on Therry St.  We are going down hill.  This room is billed as a “studio”, so it has twin beds, a sofa, a small bathroom and a kitchen area just as you come in the door.  It also has the fabulous feature of having to have the room card in a slot in order to have light - except for a line of lights underneath the kitchen cabinets that have no way of being turned off.  I finally found the plug hidden behind the toaster in an upper cabinet and ripped that sucker out, but we slept with it on the first night.

One of Chuck's former grad students lives here.  Moshi and Mariam took us to a Greek restaurant for dinner.

Lots of Greek food:

3/27 Down Town Brisbane

For our last day in Brisbane we walked across the bridge into the shopping district.  There were two malls.  One was a mall like we are used to, i.e. a structure with lots of shops arranged around a central core.  This was the Meyer mall.  The Queen Street mall on the other hand, was a covered street with lots of shops.  Calder needed to see the offerings in athletic shoes and tried on some.  He loves shoes and knows all the names in all the brands.
 
We stopped and watched a dance performance.

And then, since it was raining hard, we went to see Captain Marvel at the cinema in the Meyer mall.

For dinner we had fish and chips at the closest restaurant to our apartment.  Tomorrow we leave for Melbourne so packed and got ready.

Lone Pine #3

We did get to see Wombat poo.  Unfortunately, captive wombats don’t poop the cubes.  The keeper wasn’t sure why, but she assured us that she had seen some wild wombat scat, and it was indeed cubes.  

We went to Julius Pizza for dinner.  Calder had found it before we left and thought it looked good.  He made a good choice.  The first time we tried to eat there it was full with a long wait.  This time we arrived at 5:30 and could get right in.  It filled up in no time.  Calder had a prosciutto pizza and I had pappardelle with duck ragu.

Lone Pine #2

 We were able to see them prepare a koala for an operation.  We had a good view of the keeper shaving the spot and then using a lint roller to get all the little hairs.  He was then covered with a blanket and a sterile sheet with just a little hole so we couldn’t really see the operation.

With a lot of effort and many tries, Calder was able to get a picture of a platypus.  The room is dark, the tank is dark, and they are dark.  They are also very fast.

3/26 Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary

Another day- another animal experience.  The Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary may be the only place where you can actually hold a koala.  I was here in 2006 and the park is the same, but the holding has been enlarged.  The first time only one person could hold at a time.  Now there are 3 stations with a keeper at each one, a photographer moving from station to station and a director moving people briskly through the process.  The Koalas are only allowed to work 1/2 hour in a two week period.  Most of the ones being held are males because they can do it for many years and can get used to the routine.  The females can only work until they have a baby and then they are retired.

 We each held this koala.  His name was Max.

We took this small boat up the river.  The skipper first had to add air to the pontoons.  (Made me just a little nervous)

We had a very high step up to the ramp when we got off.  Calder realized that I was going to have problems, so positioned himself so that he could give me an extra push to make it up.  He is really good at helping me and makes me feel cosseted.  I was glad that we were taking the bus back, I never would have been able to get back into the boat.

Crikey #4

The best thing for Calder was that he was able to see Robert Irwin.  They were filming that day for their show and we happened to be in the animal hospital when he was being filmed there.  The boys traded smiles and small waves.

Almost too tired to move when we got home, we then realized that Monday is the day most restaurants are closed.  After showering the hot, sweaty grime of the day off, we walked a block to the Pig & Whistle sports bar and both had burgers.  I had a small beer.  When I said that I liked a lighter tasting one, they first offered me Coors.  I chose another one.

Crikey #3

  Bindi's mirror ball from Dancing With The Stars was on display.  

The croc show was a bit hokey, but when they got around to to actually showing how fast and sneaky they were it was interesting.  There was a jumbo screen with clips of Steve Irwin face to face with many dangerous animals.

Crikey #2

 Calder took the Segway behind the scenes tour.

 We saw the baby rhino.  Calder had seen his dad who wasn't on exhibit.

3/26 Crikey, The Australia Zoo

We were up really early to catch the 6:52 train.  This was a bit of an adventure.  We had to change trains and then get ourselves to another platform in not much time.  The train system here has a really good online journey planner which gives you each step.  At our stop, the FREE shuttle bus from the zoo took us the last leg.  The driver explained carefully what the options for leaving were, so we knew exactly when we needed to meet him again.

 I was able to pet a kangaroo.  There was a very large area where they roamed free and would let you come right up and touch them.

Calder preferred to watch from a distance.

3/24 Brisbane day 1

Calder and I started off on our big Australian adventures.  We arrived very very early. Our flight was long but fine.  We got Go Cards and took the train to a station near our hotel.  We arrived around 8 am and couldn’t check in until noon at the earliest.

It is very hot and very humid, so we went to the science museum and walked along the riverfront.  This was the last day of the World Science Festival so there was a lot going on.

Calder at the river.

When we finally checked in, our apartment was lovely.  2 bedrooms, living room. Kitchen, washer/dryer and 1 1/2 baths.  While we are getting over jet lag, it is nice to have more room.

After a nap and shower we walked to The Charming Squire for dinner.  Calder had rib eye. I had lamb and we both had the same veggies.

Painted ladies heading north

I was lucky enough to capture these photos of the Painted Lady butterfly.  It was really hard because they were not stopping.  

 First I took it from a distance

Then it came closer.  Yoshi was being very cooperative and sitting nicely while I did this.