Saturday, March 3, 2012

20. Wonthaggi & Phillip Island

We left The Prom and headed for Phillip Island. Again getting sidetracked and went into Inverloch for a look. It was raining but that didn’t stop us from finding a lovely clean park on the waterfront and cooking up bacon and eggs for breaky, along with a hot cuppa.

After packing up we headed off, not too far down the road again to Wonthaggi, where we had our minds set on doing the State Coal Mine tour. Unfortunately we missed the underground tour but for free did get to walk around the museum grounds. We spent a couple hours there and both found it quite interesting. Lucky for me the lady must have been new as I also picked up a beautiful polo shirt for $10. There were also replica houses there with a huge vege garden in the back yard. We asked if we could buy some and she said yes. So we went and picked some fresh veges and she only wanted $4.00 – bargain!

We arrived at Phillip Island and set up. Keen for a swim in the heated spa the boys changed straight away and ran over to the spa, only to find out you have to pay $20! I don’t think so. They returned disappointed but I told them to have a warm shower, which they did.

We went for a drive over to Cowes to get groceries and have a look around. We stopped at the Information Centre still not sure about whether we would buy Penguin Parade tickets as the weather was not the best. We did however find the chocolate factory.

We returned home and had dinner early and decided to attempt to go to see the penguins even with the rain hovering.

We sat and waited for the penguins and just as they started coming on shore the rain started. Lucky for ponchos and hats! Yep we looked like idiots but I didn’t care. After a handful of penguin groups came ashore we moved up to the broadwalk to watch the penguins up close. They were soooo cute. I even witnessed three penguins have a fight, chest slapping each other and they ousted one penguin. It was so cute. The storm rolled in and we headed home.

The next day we got up and finished all our washing after the clothes needed doing and Puddy vomited on our bed L

We arrived early to the chocolate factory. Rod wasn’t overly keen to do the self guided tour but with the price of the family being better value for money, he came along. It was actually quite good. The “arcade” section was a hit with the boys. You had to test your skills and were rewarded with a chocolate. Needless to say they had pockets full. We were even lucky enough to meet Panny the owner of the chocolate factory and we got a photo with him. Very nice man.

We left there and headed for Phillip Island GP Circuit. Again we just missed the tour of the track and pits and after already seeing Bathurst we decided not to see the museum. They weren’t overly friendly there; they wouldn’t allow us to even have a sneak peek at the track. So on the way out we stopped and stood up on the car to watch the Californian Riding Group practice a few laps. Even I got a little excited.

We left there and headed for Rhyll Trout Farm, hoping to have a go at trout fishing; until we found out the finer details. It cost $30/family, which was fine, but for every fish you caught you must pay $18/kg. There was no such thing as catch and release. SO thinking the day would end up costing us $100 or more we chose not to participate.

We left Phillip Island and headed for Melbourne.

PHOTOS: Wonthaggi & Phillip Island

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