We began the day with a visit to The Nobbies beyond Penguin Parade. Sadly there wasn't much to see so we drove back into Cowes and wrote our journals of yesterdays events in a disorganised cafe over a cake and hot chocolate. The food was good but the service was a bit slack, surprisingly really given the four staff it required to serve its eight customers. They even managed to get that wrong.
Out on the beach Ian calibrated his GPS and I sat in the sun for 10 minutes being plagued by flies and soon began to feel the heat of the sun.
On our way out of Phillip Island we went to visit the Koala Conservation Centre which was home to eighteen koalas. The trouble is we had to find them whilst avoiding the snakes... The koalas are homed in a forested area and in the centre is erected a boardwalk at treetop height so visitors can see who lives in the canopies of the gum trees. Before entering the boardwalk area between us we had spotted three koalas high up, resting in the tree branches, looking very cute and cuddly from a distance. Within the confines of the fenced boardwalk area the marsupials were far easier to identify. They naturally rest near the boardwalk where they feel safe so you get quite close to them, close enough for you and far enough from them so you are not encroaching on their space. They have the ability to move very quickly across the tree branches if they feel the need to do so. I was raptured at the sight of them, it was superb. All of them were very photographic and didn't seem too bothered by photographer tourists shoving their protruding lenses in their direction although one of them did seem to look a little less than pleased! I think I may have captured that expression!
When we left the enclosed boardwalk area we wandered through the forested enclosure and were stunned to see a kangaroo bounding across the path in front of us and dart into the hidden network of trees! It was a bit of a shock. All the while we were walking I was carefully looking out for snakes on the ground and Ian was staring into the treetops in search of more koalas.
It was a stinking hot day and we made for Melbourne getting no further than Wildlife Wonderland just outside of San Remo. This was home to kangaroos, emus, wombats and a giant earthworm. Deterred by the entry price, again, we left but soon paused at the end of the road by an enclosure of emus. I leaped out of the car with my camera, and with hindsight the wrong lens, and approached the fence cautiously. As I did so, to my surprise, the emus reacted differently to I expected and from the other side of the fence one adult approached me. I began photographing it and then another one approached me and then two young ones and another adult. They were very inquisitive and as long as I showed interest in them they remained interested in me! It was a very private, personal encounter...which Ian filmed.
Then followed a pretty dull drive into Melbourne and we located our digs for the night pretty easily. They were pretty grim, situated in a pretty grim part of town. We paid up for two nights and left a hefty key deposit instead of the requested passport or driving licence, which sounded a bit unreasonable to us, especially as the lock on the bedroom door was far from secure. Straight back outside we went on to the streets of Melbourne in search of some cyber cafes. We sussed out a couple at the expense of our sense of smell! We stumbled across Queen Victoria market in the process and found out what a repulsive stench the market homes. It made me want to retch! We located a reasonable cyber cafe that offered AUD 3 per hour to members but also a 13 hour day for AUD 20 which was very good for us. To become a member cost AUD 5 which also gave you a free hour so we had an expensive Chinese meal and then signed up with N2C to become members thus entitling us to a free hour session tonight and earning us a value day tomorrow. We stayed for 2 hours despite us not being able to download anything or worse still unable to save files locally nor edit html files which cost us a staggering AUD 8 each. So, we wouldn't be returning for 13 hours tomorrow and now we belong to a useless membership club. At least I was able to finally view the e-cards people had sent me for Christmas.
We strolled back to the pit and marvelled at the restaurant trams that were circuiting the city. Ian had decided that he didn't want to stay at our hostel for another night, we had actually booked and paid for two nights, and discussed the state of the place with me. The facilities are poor. The ladies are clean enough but for one floor we only have one toilet, one washbasin and two showers. For the gents, I understand, there is one toilet, two showers and two washbasins. Hmmm. We arrived back at the hostel at 23:30 and despite the chap saying on checking in that our bedroom key would get us into the bar (what?) it didn't and luckily the side door was left open so we could gain access that way. On the flip side of that is that once we were inside who is stopping unauthorised people getting in? Ian had really taken a dislike to this hostel so I had to agree to move on tomorrow, not very reluctantly, although I also had to remind him of the disgusting caravan shed that we ended up in in Batemans Bay on our first night out of Sydney for a staggering AUD 120! That was worse, definately worse. [Editors Note: The next day, over a late lunch and writing our journals, the horrid memory of Toni's Guest House in Tonga came back to me and I reminded Ian of that dispicable pig sty of a dump!]
We travelled 177 kilometres from Phillip Island to Melbourne today.
I set the alarm clock for 08:00 so we could leave in the morning having checked out and reclaimed a refund for the accommodation surrendered. It was hot and the other guests were making a lot of noise as was the external air conditioning unit for the adjacent building.
Copyright 2003 Helen Fuller. All rights reserved.