cloud296

We will be in Melbourne for 4 days May 24 to 28 and want to see the penguins on Philip Island. Should we book a bus tour in advance of arrival or are there enough tour companies to choose from once we are on the ground there?? How long is the trip there? Seems I am reading different travel times. Some say 90 minutes others say 21/2 hours? We will be staying in St Kilda.

shandy

I would certainly allow 2 hours. It takes about 90 mins to get to the island itself and then about another 30 mins over to where the penguins are.

There are a number of competing ccmpanies offering tours to the island and as you are not travelling during a popular time I would think you could safely wait until you get here and see what the weather is like. Also I occassionally see tours to the Island going cheap at the Half Tix Theatre shop (next to the Melbourne Town Hall) but it would mean travelling that day. Also have a look in the sightseeing brochures around as discount coupons are not uncommon.

The time the tours leave Melbourne vary throughout the year as you need to be at the penguins before dusk. This means that in late May you will be leaving the city relatively early. There are also quite a number of whole day tours which include the penguin parade if you want to include other things. Just do a search for Melbourne day tours and penguin tours.

nelsonian

Make sure you take lots of warm clothes!!!. We loved it but hired a rental car from Melbourne, and stayed the night at Philip Island.

cloud296

Thank you for the info. We'll be sure to leave plenty of time and take warm clothes! Glad you suggest not to book in advance. I was hoping that would be the answer. Really looking forward to this trip. We will be 6 days in Sydney, 4 days Melbourne and 3 days up in Port Douglas before we fly back to the states. I'd do this trip in reverse if I had my way but.... this is partially business so we are squeezing in as much as we can for sightseeing.

wlzmatilida

Hi Cloud,

definately book in advance as this tour is on every tour operator's itinerary; as you'll see when those 50 passenger motorcoaches start rolling up!

Regards,

Melodie
Certified Aussie Specialist

shandy

Cloud, I rang the tourist office on Phillip Island and they said they thought you could quite safely leave your booking until you arrive in Melbourne. There are so many companies and being, almost winter, hardly the most popular time of the year for visitors. Howeever, I would be checking them out when you first arrive rather than waiting to the last day.

Incidentally, she said the penguins should be crossing at about 6pm. I would assume that means the tours would be leaving earlier afternoon to allow plenty of time to get down there, over to the penguins, talk, people out to the viewing stands etc.

Hope it is not too cold for you, but at least you shouldn't have a crush of people. The best time to get photos is after you leave the viewing stands and walking back to the Centre - you will be able to get within a few feet of them.

nelsonian

I didn't think you were able to take photos of the penguins at all, or was that just when you are on the viewing stands. Also don't sit in the middle of the stands, the far ends are the best, as the penguins go right past.

Bokhara2

You just can't take photos from the viewing stands when the Penguins are coming out, Nelsonian. They're very skittish little chaps and the flash lights frighten them back into the water.

Agree about sitting at the end of the stands. There's a gap between the last stand & the next one and if you can find a seat on the inner edge of either of those, the penguins go through between the gap.

I still think they look like a bunch of Masons heading off to Lodge on a Friday night

shandy

Yes, that is right that flash photos are not allowed as you will scare the penguins and it is very bad for their night vision. However, after you leave the stands and watch them near their burrows there should be just enough light to take photos minus flash.

I stayed on Gabo Island several years ago which is the largest breeding ground for fairy penguins in the world just off the coast from Lakes Entrance - there were so many we had to constantly watch where we were walking in the dim light to make sure we didn't step on one. Not only was flash photography forbidden, we even had to have our torches covered over with red cellophane so as to not upset the penguins.

If anyone is seriously into fairy penguins and/or getting away from it all this is the place. When you make a booking you get the entire island to yourselves, apart from the lighthouse keeper. It was a fabulous experience, wild seas, hundreds of colourful fish to keep you company when swimming, walking out your front door 50 metres or so with some wine glasses and a bottle of wine whilst you waited for the penguins to come by, laughing at the antics of one penguin acting like a sargeant-major waddling back and forth making sure all his brood were together and chivvying along the shirkers and the splendid isolation of not having to share it with anyone else.

nelsonian

Well why didn't we think of that, about taking photos without a flash. We never took any. Oh well memories will have to do.