We couldn't have asked for a better day for our day tour, sunny and warm 32 degrees. We had booked a day tour through Bunyip tours.
http://www.bunyiptours.com/ . Our day tour included going to various places along the way. Our first stop was at
http://www.pearcedale-conservation-park.com.au/ where we had lunch. After lunch a python was brought out for anyone to hold both Alan and I passed on that one. It was now time to look around the park it is here Alan got to see his first Koala up close and personal. As the weather was warm the koalas are not keen, first Koala they had out said I ain't hanging around for all these photo's and people and dismounted his perch and walked away. So another Koala was brought out for us alot bigger too.
The fur of the Koala is soft but as Alan found out they do smell. Koala says "who is the ugly fella? You think I smell but have you looked in the mirror lately?" Koalas sleep about 20 hours of the day. This is because the gum leaves have no nutritional value at all it is just enough to sustain them. The life expectancy of a Koala is 14 to 16 years.
Around the park were all Aussie animals there were geese running around free. Below is an Emu Australia's largest flightless bird. Not so friendly though if you get to close they will reach out and probably bite your nose off.
As we were there during the day we don't get to see the animals active as they are nocturnal they were all sleeping. Here you see a wombat see his two big front teeth, you can't see how big and round the wombat is and people think they are slow moving due to their size but when needed they can and will move fast.
The Tasmania Devil are very small in population and on their way to extinction due to it is hard to mate them in captivity although there has been one successful breeding. Closely related to the Tasmania Tiger which is now extinct, the devil gets it's name because of the noise it makes when it eats it prey but it not only eats the prey meat but everything bones and all.
The Wallaby, smaller and cuter cousin of the kangaroo. When we went into this area there were quite a few but they were small this Wallaby larger and was very friendly, hopped straight up to us. We had purchased a bag of feed and as you can see they eat straight out of your hand.
kangaroo's were not anywhere to been seen, although they were somewhere but hiding. So we were fortunate that we had seen the Kangaroo's at Hanging Rock because we didn't see any kangaroo's this day.
Our next stop was at Churchill Island which is a smaller Island off Phillip Island.
A male peacock. This photo was hard to get due to the peacock spent most of the time faced away from us. Apart from a few cups of tea in the morning it was not until we got here which was at 4 to 5pm that Alan got his next cuppa Tea.
Our next stop the Nobbies and Seal rocks. It is here we are able to take photo's of the fairy penguins the smallest penguins in the world. Later when we watch the penguins coming in we are not able to take any pictures or video.
Alan and I on the boardwalk with the Ocean behind us.
Waves coming in and hitting the rocks
We finished the day just after sunset going to see the penguin parade. We were unable to take any photo's here as it affects the penguin's. When the penguin's go out in the morning they go alone but when they come back into shore you see 2 or 3 come out and then go back into the water until they have a group of 20 or more then they march up the shore. Their burrows are all around us, so Alan and I went and stood on the boardwalk and we watched them walk right under us. As you walk back up the boardwalk they are everywhere walking back the babies lag behind and the parents come back to give them a kick up the butt and get them moving again. There was also a section of road blocked off and you see the penguin's walking there too. When we got back to the bus and started to leave you see even more, there is a warning to check under your car before you leave. It is truly a site to be seen they are so cute you do just want to pick one up. The night before there was over 1,800 that had come walking back in. Not all penguin's go out for the day. The babies were in the process of losing there baby feathers so they were easily spotted because of their different colour.
