For our last day in Australia we did another coastal road trip. This time we headed to the southeast to visit the Mornington Peninsula, which is home to many of Melbourne’s upscale suburbs. We made a few stops for lunch, a beach walk, and some Christmas ornament shopping.

After that we drove another 90 minutes for dinner and some penguins! Kim’s top goal for this trip was to visit the daily Penguin Parade on Phillip Island. Every day just after dusk, hundreds of penguins come in from their day of fishing and visit their burrows to sleep and feed their chicks.

After the parade is over, visitors can loiter on elevated walkways to watch the penguins interact and wander around the hillside. This was actually more interesting and rewarding than the parade itself. We were able to get very close to the birds and their babies. And no, they don’t smell that bad at all. So for those of you who tried to ‘warn’ us, that isn’t a reason to stay away.

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