Melbourne & Penguins

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(Dec 27 - 29, 2005) One thing we will all remember about Melbourne is the continual annoyance of flies, circling, buzzing, landing on us or our food. We were constantly waving our hands to shoo them away. Jan says she plans to put a fly on the corner of every Melbourne page in her trip scrapbook.

The weather was more comfortable, still warm in the high twenties, but much less humid. So, getting out and about a walking was much easier. We all felt more comfortable than we did in Cairns or Brisbane.

Just at the corner of the hotel was a free “City Circle Cable Car” that allowed hop on and hop off service to many of the highlights in Central Melbourne. I spent two afternoons exploring around Federation Square which features some innovative modern architecture (only the architect and his mother could really like it) and is surrounded by some buildings featuring architecture I like (See Pics). Jan Jennifer went shopping.

For me, the highlight of visiting Melbourne, located on the southern coast of Australia, was a trip to Phillip Island to see the Little penguins, formerly called the Perry penguins They are about 13 inches tall and the smallest of the worlds 17 different penguins. They come ashore at dusk to avoid predators and so their young will stay in their nests until dark as they wait for their evening meal of regurgitated fish. The parade of penguins, as they call it, has been going on for thousands of years and it is an amazing natural spectacular to behold. The cries of the young standing outside the nests way up on the hills and the waddling gate of the penguins as they climb was a thrill to see in person. Photography is not allowed but we have photos taken by rangers that I will scan and post when I return.