Great Ocean Road to Phillip Island

We continued our journey along the Victoria coastline eventually ending the day on Phillip Island.  We made a stop at the Cape Otway Light to climb to the top of the lighthouse for a breath-taking view of the shoreline (the climb to the top was a bit breath-taking as well).  This light is the second light built in Australia and first lit in 1848.  It is the oldest light still standing but it no longer serves as an aid to navigation as a modern automated light built next to it now serves that purpose.  We had a long, informative introduction to the lighthouse and shipping in the area by a local guide.  The trip from Europe and the US East Coast to Australia during the 19th Century would take on average three months and the Cape Otway Light was for most immigrants their first sight of Australia.  We also discovered our first koala bear lounging in a tree alongside the road leading to the lighthouse.

Little Penguins - a.k.a Fairy Penguins

Cape Otway Light

Koala Bear

We continued our drive down the coast and arrived in Queenscliff just in time to catch the car ferry to Phillip Island.  There we watched the penguin parade where we observed the Little Penguins (a.k.a. Fairy Penguins) emerge from the sea just after dark and waddle to their burrows to sleep.  We got a close up view as we walked the boardwalk over the sand dunes back to the parking lot.  We also caught sight of a wallaby just before dark while walking to the penguin viewing site.  We spent the night in a cottage only a few hundred yards from the beach.  With the window open, you could hear the waves throughout the night.  It was a wonderful day in Australia.

Wallaby