Phillip Island> Magda and her koala dream

Australia » Phillip Island> Magda and her koala dream

The Golden Trio has been split up for a while but we are still doing our plan, namely discovering new places and enjoying our time on temporarily different coasts of Australia. Andrzej and Jess are still in Perth waiting with excitement for the World Sailing Championship to officially begin. Before that they are participating in some workshops for volunteers in order to get an idea what it is all about and what kind of tasks they will have to deal with.

Meanwhile... I (Magda :)) have arrived to Melbourne... After 2.5 months of constant tropical temperatures and humidity I experienced 25 degrees to be freaking cold!!! At first I thought I would definitely have to invest in a coat but I'm getting used to it... slowly ;) I arrived to Melbourne after uncomfortable overnight flight with Virgin airlines but I quickly cheered up when I saw my uncle and cousin waiting for me at the airport. It is the first time we have seen each other outside of Poland. They have a lovely house in nice and peaceful neighborhood in the suburbs. There is a huge boat in front of their garage waiting to be finished and taken to the water. I guess Andrzej will be more than happy when he will come ;) I fall in love with three important members of the family- two sweet dogs and cat ☺- who are guarding everything to make sure everything is ok.
Obviously I was excited about everything, but to be quiet frank I couldn’t wait to go and see the koalas. I have been waiting for this moment since I was a little kid. I used to receive postcards with koalas so I always wanted to see them in real life. Yes, everybody has their small dreams. Therefore my cousin Kasia took me to Phillip Island mostly famous for The Penguin Parade. It takes about one hour to get there from Melbourne. On the way we stopped by Shelley Beach that I found really beautiful and extraordinary - perfect for a walk and taking some nice shoots (see below). When it comes to admiring views and landscapes, Australia has everything you need and I look forward to confirming it personally ;).

Later on we finally reached the place – Koala Park!!!! Wuuuuhuuuuu!!!! ☺ Literally I thought I was going to blow up from excitement! I was running like a crazy person through the park, keeping my head up trying not to miss any of these cute creatures. To be honest my cousin and me had expected to see them only on the trees while they are sleeping. To our surprise, we could see a mummy koala with her little baby. So close that I was able to reach out and touch both but it was better not to mess with big mommy and her big claws;) We decided to stay away and observe how they were eating eucalyptus leaves. We took hundreds of photos just to catch that moment. I found that a koalas’ pregnancy period lasts 3 weeks and it takes babies around 9 months to grow and become self-dependent. Normally koalas live 10 to 16 years, most of them on the East and North Coasts of Australia.

We continued exploring Phillip Island with great satisfaction and we went to Nobbies to see ocean view. It was really cold and windy over there so we made it a short visit and ran back to the car for a cup of hot tea. We were waiting for our last attraction of the day - The Penguin Parade - that usually starts after sunset. To see the penguins coming out of the water we had to sit on the beach and wait patiently. After 1.5 hours we first saw three black spots poking out of the water. They were so small that it wasn’t easy to notice some of them. They were coming out in groups; some of them were coming back into the water at least 10 times. The way they move is just hilarious! We were asked not to take any photos as it was forbidden due to the fact that the flash of the camera might hurt the penguins’ eyes. When it got dark we took the short walk back up to the tourist center and saw which direction all the penguins were going back up the hill to their burrows. In the end we were asked to check if there were any penguins under the car before driving home. You have no idea how happy I was that day. If only Jess and Andrzej could have been there… I will definitely take them to the penguin show as soon as they get here. Can’t wait to see their photos from the first days of the event ☺