Phillip Island

           This afternoon trip that ended around eight in the evening was terrific.  I went to see kangaroos, koalas, and penguins. 

            I started with seeing kangaroos at the Warrok Cattle Farm.  Not only did I see kangaroos, but also their cousin the wombat.  Wombats look like a small bear that are longer than they are tall.  The rest of the farm had animals that one can see at home including sheep and cattle.  The area was definitely farmland with the green pastures, flat plains and occasional trees.

            After the farm, the Phillip Island Koala Conservation Park came up next.  Koalas are very particular about their environment, from the temperature to the food source.  The Blue Mountains has Eucalyptus trees (which gives the Blue Mountains its color), but it is too cold for the koalas.  What makes Phillip Island so wonderful is the temperate climate along with the particular Eucalyptus trees (which are a species of gum trees) which they feed on.  As the day started to wane, more koalas stirred as it was time to eat.  These guys sleep about 18 hours a day and eat for the other six hours of the day.  This park tries to stabilize the population, since there are no natural predators on Phillip Island.  The biggest concern tends to be the eating of the eucalyptus leaves faster than they can grow back, which means there is a strain on the food supply for the koalas.  The boardwalks can give you a look into the life of a koala.  This was a great experience, since it gave me the opportunity to realize the human impact on the island severely harmed the koala population.

Finally, it was the penguin’s turn to impress.  The tour ended by going to the Phillip Island Penguin Parade.  As the sun began to set, the little penguins came out of the water for the night.  This unique type of penguins can only be found in Australia.  The little penguins enter and leave the land by dusk and sunrise to avoid predatory birds.  I ended up seeing the former, in which heaps of penguins would leave the water to come upon shore for the night.  One penguin “leader” would waddle onto the beach first.  If the penguin feels it is safe, it calls to the rest of the “platoon” of penguins to come upon shore.  The penguins would waddle together in a group and eventually get into the brush for cover.  At this point, the little penguins finally go to the path towards their home.  Once there, a little penguin would cry out to let the rest of the family know of its arrival.  The unravelling of this event is simply astounding.  It looked like the storming of Omaha beach, ducking for cover when they could and burrowing into their little foxholes for the night.  I could not get a picture of this outstanding event that unfolded, since it would blind the birds.