The hottest day in Australian History!

News reports claim that our second day in Melbourne could have been the hottest on record! We rose early so that we could be whisked down to the Market. The market is outside but is under a huge roof so that everything is shaded. There are many produce booths but even more things-you-can't-leave-without booths! Prices in Australia are high and the market was a great bargain place to shop.

At 11:30am we were picked up for our tour of Phillips Island. This island is accessible by a bridge but it is 90 minutes from Melbourne. Once we got to the island and had fish and chips near the bridge, we toured the Panny's Chocolate factory. It is small and kind of hokey but chocolate is always entertaining. However, because it was so hot, we couldn't buy any chocolate or else we would have had a hot mess on our hands...and everything else!

Our next stop was the Koala Sanctuary. By this time it was really hot but we were rewarded for our endurance by being up close and personal with koalas in their habitat. Of course all they were doing was sleeping but they are so adorable!

A local vineyard was next on the agenda. They had a nice covered porch and served us bread and cheese and had us taste 5 of their wines. We were introduced to Sauvignon Blanc - not the wine but the dog! 2 weeks ago the owner told us that this beautiful dog showed up on the property and was soon determined that it was abandoned. After spending some time at the pound and then the vet, this lucky pup was adopted by the vineyard owners and aptly named. Don couldn't resist giving him a quick look over and informed the owner that he was about 5 months old and going to be very big!

The next stop was the Nobbies. This is a coastal outlook that fortunately had a little bit of an ocean breeze to cool us down. There are many nesting seagulls and a few Little penguin burrows. It is a beautiful place to enjoy the ocean scenery.

We then were driven to Cowes which is the commercial hub on the island. It is summer vacation for Australians and it seemed that this was one of the popular locations for beach time. Finally it was time to board the bus once again and make our way to the highlight of the tour - the Penguin Parade.

Each night at sunset, the world's smallest penguins, the Little penguins, return back to shore after a day of fishing out in the ocean. This is a huge event for tourists to sit in the bleachers and watch these little birds swim to shore and then waddle their way up the hill to their burrows. They started arriving at 9:15pm in small groups. They wait until dark when their predators, raptors, are asleep. It is really interesting to hear them greet each other when the partner that has been gone, returns back to their babies and other parent. As you walk along the boardwalk you can watch them at their burrows. It is amazing that these little animals swim so far out into the ocean and then use their little legs to walk a great distance on the beach and then straight up steep hills to their burrows. We could have stayed there a few hours to watch nature at its best. It was a full day and didn't get back to our hotel until 1:30am!