Rosemary's travellog: Melbourne and more penguins

Sad farewells to Chris last Wednesday. Hobart suits him so well we don't know when we can expect to see him again.

So we're back in the city again and quite impressed with Melbourne, loving the Victorian cast iron balconies and porches and the vibrant city centre.

We took a half-day tour which included Phillip Island to see the little penguins. Because they are moulting at the moment, there are fewer than usual, but we still saw over a hundred (that was just the start- they go on coming in over several hours - over 1400 were counted the previous night) and were thrilled to see them really close up. They emerge from the waves in a small group, to size up the safety situation. They dither around for several minutes, often taking fright and dashing back into the sea, before finally gathering in larger numbers and marching up the beach to the dunes. Walking is quite hard work for them and they pause frequently, seemingly unaware of the admiring throngs watching them, so you can get a really good close look at them. Cute is the only word, I'm afraid. No photos though as it's forbidden.

Phillip island nature park had residential properties until very recently, but the government bought up each house as it became available and the last one was bought only 5 weeks (Months?) ago. Once acquired by the nature park the houses are demolished and the land returned to nature.
Also on this tour were visits to a cattle farm with various rescue animals and a koala park