More Phillip Island Adventures

Several nature walks provide excellent opportunities to wander along the coastline, wetlands, and forests on the island. Bird hides (we call them blinds) are available along several of these walks. We took advantage of a few of these. We are just a week or two early for the big influx of migrating birds. Over half a million short-tailed shearwaters arrive from the Aleutians and the endangered Hooded Plover will begin nesting on the beaches sometime this month. We did see a lot of swans at Swan Lake including several families. Cape Barren Geese have been in the family way for a while now as we saw families with all ages of chicks.

Every day at noon, they feed the pelicans leftovers after cleaning the day's catch. We were joined by five buses of schoolchildren on tours of the island. The kids were as wild as the pelicans.

A silver gull waiting his turn. 

The Antarctic Journey and Penguin Parade are just two of the areas now cared for by Phillip Island Nature Parks who control about a quarter of the land on the island, protecting the natural environment from the encroaching urbanization of the region. Another of these areas is Churchill Island. Churchill Island, connected by a one-way bridge to Phillip Island is a working farm open to the public. To call it a working farm is probably a bit of a misnomer since its purpose is to show farm life and to preserve the naturalness of the island. The old farm buildings are all preserved and open to visitors. They also do demonstrations of farm activities. Visitors can also try out milking a cow and cracking a whip if they are adventurous enough. We weren’t offered the opportunity to shear a sheep or run the dog corralling the sheep. We learned a lot about both of these activities talking to Peter after he finished the actual demonstration.

The manor house. The pine tree was planted when the house was built 200 years ago.

Different wallpaper in every room.
This is clearly a child's room. 

In front is a potato digger.

All about the photo op for this lady

After we had our turn this orphan calf got to eat.
She refused to take milk from a bottle.

I think sheep are embarrassed after their haircuts.

Rip is anxious to go and hard to control

In his element

A Black Swan at Swan Lake

And of course there are wineries. We enjoyed both the tasting room and the views from Purple Hen Winery.

One opportunity we saved for another visit is the world class Grand Prix circuit. They held the first Australian Grand Prix on the island in 1928 and have been racing here ever since. Pino’s Trattoria, an excellent Italian restaurant, is almost a museum of memorabilia from the motorcycle racers. The track is open every day with simulated rides and go-karts for all ages. Some days you can even get a tandem ride with a real race driver.