Travel Journal: Getting to and Around Phillip Island

Today we travelled out to Phillip Island to go see the little penguins which come ashore each night. After checking the ferries it turned out to be cheaper to get a bus via the massive bridge at San Remo and so we  spent two hours on a coach getting to Cowes on the north side of the island. We had one change on the way which was at a place called KuWeeRup “in the heart of asparagus country”, apparently. From what I’ve seen of Victoria so far it is far less green than NSW but I am told that Melbourne’s surrounding area is often in a period of drought.

After arriving on Philip Island we quickly realise we can’t do anything without our own car – fantastic. There is no public transport at all and therefore we are stranded at Cowes unable to get to anything we had already pre-paid for. Through the hostel/caravan park where we are staying we organise a group taxi to the penguin parade which ends up going to cost $15 each, which is more than it cost to get here from Melbourne, but we don’t really seem to have a choice.

Waterfront at Cowes

After a bad start on Philip Island we finally manage to hire a car for the following day even though an unhelpful tourist info man tells us it would cost around $120 a day and that we would be unlikely to get one at such short notice. The car ends up around $30 and there was no problem hiring so we plan for a very busy day tomorrow. In the mean time we spend our afternoon organising things and go a quick walk down the Cowes waterfront before penguin time.