Penguin Parade is a "MUST VISIT PLACE" when visiting Phillip Island !
I chosed World Heritage Network to do this guided day tour to Phillip Island because they are highly recommended by my friends. In addition, the Tour Director, Rorne Tan, was also very accommodating and helpful in our enquiries. Initially I thought we were just going to visit the Penguin Parade period but it was more than that. Before we reach the Penguin Parade Centre, our guide took us to Moonlit Sanctuary and Noobies & Seal Rocks. At the Moonlit Santuary, we really had a great time. To me this is the most interesting part of the day tour because you could actually see and touch the charming kangaroos at its sanctuary. It was the first time I see and be with a Kangaroo when I fed it with nuts. It felt like I was feeding my own dog. These Kangaroos were so quiet and adorable when they tried to come near you thinking you have something for them to eat or thinking you will feed them. Maybe because there are lots of tourists coming to visit this sanctuary on daily basis and feed these kangaroos, it becomes accustomed for these domestic animals to expect being fed each time they see tourists. Having able to touch these Kangaroos gently and feed them is a wonderful feeling of being one with animal and mother nature. Our next destination after that was to Nobbies & Seal Rocks to see the ocean and also to explore the visitor centre to understand more about the local penguins. When the sun is setting, our guide brought us to our last destination to the famous Penguin Parade centre. We got ourselves the Penguin Plus seats as we were hoping to watch penguins coming out from the sea and walk along our viewing platform to the hills. At first I didn't believe that penguins could do this every sunset and walk in a single file. It is just not possible in my mind. After waiting for half an hour when the sun started to set, we actually saw 2 or 3 penguins struggling to get to the shore from the sea and then reluctant to continue their journey because of the noise from a huge crowd at where we were seating. I thought it was going to be a no show that night until 10 minutes later when suddenly there are a lot of little penguins coming out from the sea all walking side by side in single file along our viewing platform. The crowd were giggling and laughing with amazement. I too found a big smile on my face witnessing God's creation greatest wonder. These little penguins REALLY walked in single profile oblivious of the crowd and towards the inner part of the beach. Some proceeded to the nearby hills and some towards the inner conservative shelter for penguins in the Penguin Parade Centre. Wow! seriously you have to see it in order to believe it. Witnessing this phenomenon of penguins walking in single file was our most unforgettable experience in our vacation in Melbourne. Every tourist who visit Melbourne must go for this Phillip Island Day Tour and see these little penguins. They are extremely funny to watch!
....commented by Grace Tan, Singapore
Apparently the Penguin Parade at Philip Island is the third most popular natural attraction in Australia (behind Uluru and the Great Barrier Reef) - since I like penguins and we don’t get to see Eudyptula minor in any great numbers in any one place, I thought this would be worth the trip. Rolled up to the Day Tour online booking via World Heritage Network but paid a bit extra for the viewing platform and ranger commentary. Why pay the extra ? You get a viewing platform which also abouts on to the boardwalk which is on the area that the penguins waddle up. You are literally at touching distance from them. There are only 150 tickets available per night. You can take a punt on turning up with an ordinary ticket (which gets you admission to the main beach where the penguins march up) but it is likely to be booked out and the reason for the 'plus' is because the viewing platform is in the area where the vast majority of the penguins arrive at ! Sure it is a good show at the main beach but I did keep an eye on proceedings and I am sure they didn’t see as many as we did. It was amusing, though. Right on the dot of 7.00pm, the first ones turn up on the beach, they hung around and then went back into the water. Then more of them land, hang around and also head back in the water. This happens for a good quarter of an hour. After there are sufficient numbers (we assume), they start waddling at speed for the beach and grassed areas. By the time I went back to the bus, I had seen at least five 'rafts' / 'waddles' (whichever is the correct collective noun) of penguins and at least 15 or so in each group - not counting the odd groups of three or four as well. Up the path they waddle until about half way up the passage. They then stand around and seem to drip-dry themselves off. And they start waddling up the hill again. Apparently, this goes on all night (however the show is over by about 8.30pm if you are on a tour bus - it takes nearly two hours to get there from the city !). As does the noise - being mating season now, it's a bit more noisy than usual. Current penguin population is about 60,000 so they outnumber people about 6 to 1 on the Island. If you like penguins, definitely worth the trip. If you are indifferent or don’t care, don’t go. Travel tip: take warm clothing and get a hot chocolate before heading out to the viewing platform. Photography of any kind is strictly verboten. Lastly engage an efficient tour company like World Heritage Network to bring you there !
.....commented by Aaron Brockdale, Auckland, New Zealand
My greatest adventure ever! Thanks to World Heritage Network!
This was one of the reasons I included Melbourne on our trip to Australia and I was not disappointed. The journey out and back was tough...we drove ourselves and the ride out there due to rush hour and construction took us 3 hours and the ride back about 1 1/2. Thank goodness we left extra early so we made it on time.
We booked the Phillip Island Day Tour with Penguin Plus Viewing Platform from World Heritage Network which was totally worth it for us since though there can be up to 10 people in a group we lucked out and it was just the two of us. Our ranger gave us a brief introduction about the history of the penguins and their existence on Phillip Island and walked us down to the viewing areas giving us explanations along the way. We started off on a prime spot on the sand in front of the main viewing platforms so that we could see the penguins come off the beach. As part of it, our spots were reserved so we didn't have to wait for the hour or so before to save our spots like everyone else had to.
After about 20 minutes of watching the penguins come ashore from that spot, our ranger led us over to the Penguin Plus platform so that we could see more of the penguins. We were fortunate to be visiting during breeding season with many chicks having already been born. We were able to see a fair number of the chicks waiting outside their burrows for their parents to return with their food.
From the Penguin Plus viewing platform we were able to see the birds preen themselves as they entered a more protected area, some attempt to mate, some feed their chicks, and others just waddle along their way home.
We watched the penguins until they kicked us out and then took time to look at some of the exhibits inside. The best part of the exhibits was being able to see into some man-made burrows that were actually inhabited by some penguins so that you could see what goes on inside.
Overall it was a really amazing experience. If we were to go again we'd probably just opt for the Penguin Plus but the Private Tour was perfect for us to learn a lot for our first time. A great thank you to World Heritage Network for this incredible tour.
.... commented by Alley White, California, USA
