Phillip Island and Healesville

A couple more photos from Phillip Island before we move on - we really had quite disappointing weather after that first day, with rain and cold blustery winds (yes while everyone at home was still in the heatwave). We visited the chocolate factory, which was fun with a sideshow alley and a cool zoetrope. On our last day we ventured out to the Nobbies at the Bass Strait end of the island to see the seal colony from the distance. As a bonus we saw a couple of penguins in their nest boxes.

Our next stay is Healesville.  The park is very nice, with a stream running through it. It also has the most amazing amenities block I've ever seen, boasting in floor heating and rainfall showers. I'm tempted to go and take some photos and start a new blog on ammenities blocks around Australia :-)

Naturally our first day was a trip to the Healesville Wildlife Sanctuary.  What a fantastic place!  We had a wonderful day learning about the sanctuary's work to prevent the extinction of the 20 most endangered species in Victoria.

We were reading the sad tale of the Marysville Leadbetter possum colony and watching the cute possums darting about in their red lit enclosure when we also got to watch a team from Totally Wild filming the possums and the bilbies being weighed. Sorry, I didn't get photos - it was very dark in there.

There were two excellent shows, one focusing on platypus, and the ubiquitous bird show.  The barking owl was the star of the bird show, flying so close to the audience it felt as though it was going to catch us for dinner.

A beautiful environment, and a wonderful, educational day out. Well worth a visit.