As per usual for this “vacation,” Caytie and I woke up early and hit the road, just not as early as the previous day! We were on the road by 7:30 am, and headed towards Phillip Island via the Bunurong Coast. We got to Inverloch before most everything was even open, but we were able to go into the Information Centre and grab some brochures and get some information on the area. We were told that one of the marked stops on the Bunurong Coast map, The Caves, has caves (appropriately enough) where dinosaur bones have been found. The site was discovered in 1991 and has yielded more than 6,000 bones and teeth of small dinosaurs, mammals, birds, turtles, and fish. 
We hit the road to drive along the Bunurong Coast (stretch of road between Inverloch and Cape Paterson) and stopped at almost all of the lookouts along the way. This was our first day in Australia at a “beach.” Although we were on the ocean in Sydney, we never made it to a beach, so this was the first for that. Too bad it was cool and windy!
The coastal drive is along the Bunurong Marine National Park and is a series of coves and points. Our first stop was Flat Rocks to look out at and island (with a lighthouse) and sandbar. This was the closest stop to Inverloch, and was still within the city as several houses are across the street from the parking area to the beach.We moved on to The Caves in hopes of being able to explore them a little. We got to the car park and hopped out and took a few pictures from the top viewing platform, and then went down the stairs to the beach.
We hiked over rocks, but the only way to get to the caves where the dinosaur fossils have been found is during the three to four-hour window around low tide. We were there at high tide, so we were not able to walk over to them as they were around the point and over in the next cove (we were able to see them from the next stop though). We explored around the rocks and picked up shells, as well as watched the waves crash the shoreline, before we headed out to the next stop.
The next stop was The Eagles Nest, so named for the limestone rock pillar off the point that houses an eagle’s nest! This stop had both a lookout and steps down to the beach. We went out to the lookout, and walked part-way down the steps to the beach, but decided not to go down because if we went down to the beach at every stop, we’d be there all day! Our final stop along the Bunurong Coast was Twin Reefs, which was beautiful! The whole coastal drive was a little bit out of our way (a jog off the Bass Highway) in our mission to get to Phillip Island, but it was well worth it!
From Cape Paterson, the road turns inland to Worthaggi where we could get back on the Bass Highway towards Phillip Island. Just outside of Worthaggi, however, we made another stop.
We went to the State Coal Mine. It is no longer a working coal mine, but a State Park that we could tour. They had re-built the “town” to give visitors a picture of life at “tent town” where coal miners and their families had lived from 1909 to the 1968. 
It was free to tour the park top-side, but there was a fee to go underground and tour the mine. We decided to skip that as we did want to get onto Phillip Island in order to do some of the things there. We did walk around the restored “town” and got a look at life in the ‘50s and how coal was mined. It was pretty interesting! They even had Cobber, a “pit-pony.” Cobber was the type of horse/pony that was used in the mining operation; they pulled the coal in the “skips.”
Next, we headed into Worthaggi for lunch at McDonald’s, and then proceeded on to Phillip Island. The drive was easy (and anything would be after McKillop’s Road!), and we got to the round a bout on Bass Highway heading over to the island fairly early in the day. We stopped off first at the hostel we were staying at, The Island Accommodation, which was on the main road of the island. We paid and got a map of the island they had there, and the front desk guy highlighted the map in areas that he said were worth going to. We had a pretty specific plan (you know me) about where we were going and what we were doing for the day, but we did hit one spot he marked that we were not already going to…Woolami, a beach, 
complete with sand dunes growing plants! It was beautiful!Next, we headed over to the Koala Conservation Centre. It was a very interesting place. They have an outdoor nature preserve with dirt walkways to follow in search of Koalas. There are no fences except on the outer edge of the park to keep the Koalas in. In the center of the park is an “enclosure” with raised boardwalks around various trees, guaranteeing koala viewing!
We started out in the centre where there were educational displays about koalas. It was pretty interesting. There was one display that had a picture of a male koala when he does his mating call, and audio of both the male’s sound and the female’s reply. It was weird, if not a little creepy sounding, but interesting to learn! 
We left the Centre and headed out onto the pathway around the grounds. We started out, and first thing we see, not 200 yards from the center, is a koala! It was hard to get his picture because his back was to the sun, so his face had a slight glare! But, he was just the first, not the last! Again, the vegetation in this area is very California-esq (obviously because of the Eucalyptus trees. Another of the things we found out in the educational portion of the centre was that there are over 700 species of Eucalyptus tree, but only 12 that Koalas will actually eat from.) We walked the outside loop, and only saw some birds.
We got back towards the beginning (near the enclosed boardwalk area), and saw some people stopped and looking up. We joined them to watch a Koala sleep. What was pretty cool was that this one actually woke up while we were there (which is unusual as Koalas usually sleep between 18 and 22 hours every day)! This Koala was not only lazy, he was pretty inventive! 
There were no longer any leaves on the branch he was napping on, so he reached over to the next tree, grabbed the branch and pulled it over to him so he could eat! It was totally funny! We also saw a cuddly pair of Koalas. It was hard to tell them apart, but you could see the extra arm and the body looked just a little too thick for one koala.
We entered the enclosure section with the boardwalks and saw 11 Koalas inside this portion! Two of whom were a major hit with Caytie and I! The first Koala we say when we came into the enclosure was close enough to touch, but she was blocked off. She was sitting on the railing of the boardwalk eating. There were several people hanging around her, so it was very difficult to get a good picture, but I was able to get a couple. 
The other Koala that was pretty exciting to see was a male. He was on the other side of the enclosure, and looked to be sleeping at first glance. However, after a minute or two of watching him (and yes, taking pictures of him), he stood up on the branch and started bellowing! It sounded exactly like the audio we had heard in the centre of a male’s mating call! It was so cool to hear in person. We even got to see his scent glands as he stood up and stretched out his neck to make his call! After that, the rest of the Koalas in the enclosure were somewhat of a let down!
From the Koala Conservation Centre, we headed out to the tip of the island to The Nobbies. (I have no clue as to why it was called this!) This point was rocky and had some beautiful scenery of the water crashing onto the rocky coastline. The rocks almost looked volcanic, they were so black. 
There is a very small island off the tip of Phillip Island with a colony of Australian Fur Seals, but would have cost us $2 to use the telescopes, so we didn’t get to view them. Caytie and I walked around the boardwalks to east-end of the point. It was gorgeous out, but very windy. There were also a TON of sea gulls. It was interesting, because their sea gulls are much smaller than those in California (or those in Minnesota for that matter)! When we were done and walking back to the parking lot, we came across this young sea gull that wasn’t able to fly well, and he couldn’t lift off of the boardwalk and over the rails to get away from us. 
So, Caytie and I pretty much “chased” him all the way up the walkway. When we finally got to a point where the walkway diverged, the sea gull was able to fly away because it was a platform that had stairs down. It was sad, but pretty funny at the same time.Now, instead of going back to our hostel and changing cloths for the evening, we headed over to the Penguin Parade center directly.
Both Caytie and I were wearing Capri pants and T-shirts, but we did have sweatshirts as well. However, we were going to be down on the beach sitting on cement bleachers to watch the Little Penguins come up out of the ocean and onto the land after sunset, and the day hadn’t exactly been warm. It wasn’t freezing, but it was VERY windy. Well, we at dinner in the parking lot, in the car, and then headed inside. There were supposed to be various displays and information boards, so we were planning to look through everything.They were remodeling, and the only things open were the café and the movie room. We decided to go and watch the movie. It was about 10 minutes long. We still had about 1½ hours before the doors even opened to go down to the stands, and about 2½ hours before sunset, when the Little Penguins came on shore! So, we ended up sitting in the movie room for a while writing out journal entries and post cards. Then, we went to the line-up area and sat there. I finished my journal entry for the previous day and this day (up to the waiting point) while waiting for the doors to open. We also picked up our audio tour MP3 players while we waited.
Well, we finally got to go outside to sit and wait in the bleachers, which were made out of stone, so pretty chilly on the butt! So instead of waiting inside in the warmth, we waited outside in the cold, windy dusk! While we waited, I listened to the audio commentary about Little Penguins. I wont bore you with all the (very interesting) details, but the commentary was about 45 minutes long. It was quit a while before the penguins actually came up on shore, and by that time, Caytie was freezing, and I wasn’t doing much better!The penguins themselves were adorable, and pretty funny to watch! They are between 14 and 18 inches tall, and have a blue/black and white coat. A small group of about 10 to 20 Little Penguins would come on shore, and waddle up out of the waves, but the instant one of the penguins saw any sort of movement, they would scamper back into the water. They did this back and forth, in and out of the ocean thing for about 20 minutes before one brave penguin just kept going.
The rest of them, not wanting to be left behind, followed behind quickly. Then it would start all over again as the next group came along. There were about three or four groups of Little Penguins spread out along the shore in the little bay area we were sitting in. After about a half hour to an hour of watching the penguins come onshore, I left the stands to go back to the center and to see them all waddling up the hillside going to their burrows! At that point, baby Little Penguins were coming out of the burrows to look for their mom and dad! It was totally cute. I did see one set of twins too! It was a really awesome experience, but sadly, we couldn’t take any pictures. The penguins were so cute and fun to watch, but no photos!
We left the Penguin Parade center and headed back to our hostel, Island Accommodation. We were alone in our 4-person room, so that was really nice. We both took the bottom bunks, and got right into bed as it was about 10:30pm or so. I wrote the rest of my journal entry for the day, propped my foot up, and went to sleep. (P.S., this was the most colorful day my foot had!)
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