philip island

two days ago we spent the day visiting philip island (120km se of melbourne). we took a small bus with a bunch of likeminded touristas.

our first stop was a winery. the "tasting" was more of a relay race to sample everything in time. the bar woman was eager to get home i think after her shift. there was little explaination for the wines. she just kept churning them out - chardonney, shiraz, port, etc. i had just enough time to fake like i knew what i was doing in between glasses thanks to seeing sideways. i am more of a jack i think when it comes to wines than a miles. i could have used anne-marie's knowledge or mark's enthusiasm ("other side of the winery sucks!").

next we visited a wildlife reserve and got to see aussie's famous fuzzies up close: koalas, wambats, dingos, cros, emus, etc. highlight of the place was that you got to hand feed the kangaroos. they get quite excited as they chase you around looking for more to eat. lydia got a little souvenier scratch on her wrist, but nothing serious. we liked the little ones the best then the big boys who would smack each other and you for food.

after lunch at san remo we went to cape woolamai, home to the awesome breakers and arguably the best surfing in australia. there were lifeguards there to rescue surfers who got pulled out in the rip tides, and they keep an eye out for sharks. the other day a 3m great white was spotted. i have never seen such surf. massive waves towering out of the ocean to collapse from opposite ends. when the collapsing ends meet in the middle there is a crash and water sprays everywhere. after seeing the surf we visited the nobbies rock formation and its famous blowhole. again there were massive waves, but this time they met rock. water spraying everywhere, pooling on rocks to trickle down in different shades and patterns. it was always different with each wave. you could have watched for hours.

lastly at night we visited australia's second largest tourist attraction to ayer's rock - the penguin parade. we waited on a beach as 800 penguins came out of the surf to return to their burrows. later we left the beach to walk along the boardwalks where you can stand a few feet from them as they waddle along. some are so engorged with fish that they have swelled up to make moving difficult. they have to rest often, often falling flat on their face. we placed bets on different groups as they moved, making their progress a race. lyds and i seemed to connect with a family visiting from sydney, who seemed "keen as mustard" to us. it may become a place to stay when we head that way.

happy chinese new year.
boom boom.