Eager to get back to nature, Will and Leah aimed me in the direction of Phillip Island. It is a small area, a little over an hour south of Melbourne, famous for its Koala Sanctuary, and its Penguin colony.
Every evening, just past dusk, the penguins line up on the water's edge, and get ready to make a break for the foliage at the edge of the beach. Nimble and quick in the water, but slow and unweildly on the land, crossing the sand beach is when the penguins are most vulnerable to predators.
It is a great experience to watch, very reminiscient of kids first earning to play sports. They huddle together in a crowd, and inch forward as a group. One brave penguin might make a break for it... only to turn back seconds later to rejoin the safety of the group. Eventually they summon the courage to inch ahead to the grassy knolls, where they meander through the tiny little paths in the rough tufts of grass to find their own little burrows. Unfortunately, camera use is prohibited on the tour, so I don't have any photos to share.
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