The Marshalls take Melbourne, Part 1

Colin's mother Mary and brother Peter came for a visit at the end of July. Neither had been to Australia before, and it was a treat to show them around. We have a bunch of pictures, so this will take a couple posts.

Here they are with Naomi, trying their very best to look cheerful while staring directly into the sun:

Phillip Island

For the past year, we've been hearing about two places to the southeast of Melbourne: Phillip Island and Wilson's Promontory. Braving the 'winter' weather, we decided to take M&P there. 

They brought just enough of the North America heat wave with them to give us some clear skies (off and on). Our first stop was at a town by the bridge to Phillip Island called 'San Remo.' 

We got there just in time for a pelican feeding. The feeding seemed to be sponsored by a fisherman's co-op fish & chips place. Somehow, the idea was that watching pelicans eat fish would put one in the mood to eat fish oneself. Though the general principle "inspire people to eat by having them watch birds eat" is a bad one, it worked in this case.

We had two main animal-oriented stops on Phillip Island (these being the Island's main tourist attractions). The first was a koala sanctuary. Inside the visitors' center was a giftshop, some informational signs, an espresso bar, and the largest, saddest-looking stuffed koala we'd ever seen:

Perhaps the stuffed koala was sad because it hadn't been treated well. The signs told us several things not to do to the koalas:

Our first thought was, "what kind of jerk would shout at a koala, or shake its tree?" But then we spent a while gazing up and the (mostly) motion-less grey furballs high up in the trees, and started thinking about how long the drive had been and how much admission had cost. Then it started to make sense.

Fortunately, a couple koalas were awake, and not at the tops of the trees. Here's the hands-down winner of the cuteness contest: a sleeping baby koala peeping out from under its sleeping mother's arm:

After the koalas, we drove to the western tip of the island, where the above picture of M&P&N was taken. Very dramatic waves. There were seals on some rocks called 'The Nobbies' off in the distance, but we couldn't quite see them.

Here's Peter at the scene:

The penguin viewing is a massive event. Up to 3,000 squeeze into bleachers along the beach, waiting for groups of penguins to appear out of the waves just after sunset, and waddle up to their homes. On the way home, they sing their weird, sort of charming, 'snoring duck' song.

No photography was allowed of the penguins, unfortunately. But you can see some pictures on the official Penguin Parade website here.

Wilson's Prom

The next day, we drove west to the southernmost point on the Australian continent, a park called 'Wilson's Promontory.' Melbournians rave about the place, and we'd been eager to see it. Rain clouds were floating around, but we were spared. We started with a walk through a gum tree forest. Here's M&P next to an area where there had been a massive landslip (i.e. landslide) only a couple years ago.

Wilson's Prom reminded us of the Freycinet Peninsula in Tasmania: dramatic beaches against massive granite hills. Here's a characteristic view:

One of the beaches is called 'Squeaky Beach,' because, we were told, the beach squeaks when you walk on it. Here's Colin and Peter on the sand.

We didn't hear any squeaks. But we were later told one had to be barefoot for that. That wasn't an option when we were there - far too chilly.

Next time: Around Melbourne

Next time, we'll have more about the parts of the visit in Melbourne proper. But here's a hint: a silhouette of Peter cooking behind some first-rate granola he made for us. In other words, our main focus was food... it runs in the family.