Penguin Parade

Today I went on one of the 'must do' trips out of Melbourne - an excursion to Phillip Island, home of the fairy penguin and the incredible Penguin Parade.
Until a few weeks ago, I had absolutely no idea that there were penguins in the wild in Australia. Kangaroos, yes. Koalas, certainly. Crocodiles, of course. But penguins? I thought I would have to go to the south pole to see penguins in their natural habitat. Australia is a sun-drenched and generally warm climate, surely? But these penguins are native Australians and this is their natural home - and the incredible spectacle I was about to see had been going on since long before there was a Melbourne, a Sydney or anything much else.
Phillip Island is about a two hour drive from Melbourne - almost due south. I took a tour bus, along with about a dozen other visitors to Melbourne and we set off at 3:00pm. Our driver, Dave, was extremely knowledgeable and liked to keep us informed, using his microphone headset, of all the places of interest that we passed. This was fine as we drove out of Melbourne, where he pointed out some of the great buildings, the Rod Laver tennis center (home of the Australian Open), Albert Park's Formula 1 motor-racing track, the old Olympic Park and the nearby Dandenong Mountains. But he wasn't done yet - even on the many miles of the 'M1' motorway. Dave then gave us a never-ending narrative about the history of the roadways, dual carriageways and overpasses. It was when he excitedly told us that "this stretch of road now has three lanes in each direction - and it only had the two lanes last year..." that I decided enough was enough and sought refuge in my iPod.
I amused myself for the final hour of the journey by trying to only play music by Australian artists - so it was Crowded House, INXS, Men At Work, Midnight Oil and even Kylie Minogue that kept me going until we pulled in to the parking lot at Phillip Island at 5:00pm (which, Dave told us enthusiastically, had recently been expanded to hold up to 1500 vehicles).

The sun was already beginning to set - so it was time to get down to the seafront and wait for the arrival of the penguins. This natural phenomenon happens every day at dusk. Fairy penguins come ashore, having being at sea all day (or, for some, several days), to find their nests for the night - and next few days. They deliberately wait until this time of the day, as in the near-darkness it is the safest time for them to cross the exposed sandy beaches, avoiding predators. A group of us waited patiently on a boardwalk right on the beach. For a few minutes, I wondered to myself whether there might be some nights when the penguins go somewhere else - or perhaps we'd just see one or two. But then, out of nowhere, as the waves crashed on to shore, there suddenly appeared out of the foam a huddle of about fifty penguins! It was unbelievable and quite magical.
They continued to waddle out of the sea, closer and closer to where we were watching in silence and awe. I have certainly never been this close to a penguin - let alone fifty. They continued their journey, marching by us and onwards - up on to the hillsides to find their nests, calling to each other all the way and occasionally pausing for a quick preen of their feathers. But there was more - and I mean more penguins. Just a few minutes later another wave crashed ashore carrying another group of penguins - and this happened twice more, perhaps with about twenty or thirty penguins in each of these later clusters. It was, quite simply, awesome – and something I will never forget seeing. My evening was made complete when, walking away from the beach as the last of the penguins disappeared into the darkness of the scrubland, I looked up at the sky. Never before had I seen a night sky like this. There were so many stars - all of them so bright and perfectly clear. Tonight was a stunning display of nature at its best and most beautiful. This, alone, was worth the journey to the other side of the world.