Koalas!

Well, for those of you that have been asking us about Koalas: here they are!  We took a road trip down to Phillip Island, south-east of Melbourne, last weekend for a quick Halloween getaway.  On the way, we stopped at a Koala sanctuary and finally saw some of the little guys in their natural habitat.  Unfortunately, they don’t let you hold them, as they smell terrible and bite.  Other than that, they sleep in trees for 20 hours a day, and generally don’t do much.

We also saw penguins on Phillip Island at the Penguin Parade.  The island is home to the world’s smallest species of penguin which nests in the dunes on the south side of the Island.  Every night at exactly sunset, hordes of the little guys come in from the ocean, parade up the beach in groups (hence the Penguin Parade) and return home to feed their chicks.  Unbeknownst to us, this is a major tourist attraction, and the beach gets up to 3000 visitors per night to watch.  The area is owned by a nature conservatory which has set up raised walkways and a big amphitheater on the beach, but they don’t allow pictures because it spooks the penguins.  Here’s a picture off the internet to give you some idea:

Here are the rest of the pictures from our trip.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/40458422@N02/sets/72157622723093736/