OK, I don't have to remind you how we usually wake up in time for lunch during the holidays. So, yes, we woke up in time for lunch. We, or rather Auds drove us to Box Hill so that we could have the infamous 'swimming-in-the-sauce" roast duck rice that Shaun can't get out of his head. And seriously, it was good, way better than what Eastwood's bbq one serves. It was literally swimming in sauce as they serve so much more sauce, a bigger serving, better service, more VEGIES and to top that off, super spicy chilli sauce! And no, it's not the cheesy chilli sauces you buy from Asian groceries but freshly chopped chillies with er, oil and I think garlic. Two thumbs up from me!
After lunch, we headed to our next destination - Phillip Island. Yes, we went to Phillip Island at the peak of winter. Yes, I hear many of you saying, "Wah, crazy ar? Winter you know! It's dead cold there now!" But hey, we're already in Melbourne, so we might as well go, right? So off we went in the opposite direction from the day before and we arrived the island in 1.5 hours.
As soon as we opened the door to get into the Tourist Information Centre, we had to quickly grab our jackets and whatever that we think would make us feel warm to put on. Yes, it was freezing all right. And we had this crazy idea of buying ice-cream to eat, as well.
As per the friendly lady at the Info Centre's advice, we forewent the bushwalking and Churchill Island and went straight to watch the seals first. And to think the Info Centre was freezing, The Nobbies was excruciatingly cold! The wind was so powerful, I was pushed sideways when walking! We were there to catch a glimpse of a colony of creatures on a small cluster of rocks just offshore. As it's name implies, Seal Rocks is where the largest colony of Australian Fur Seals congregate in Australia. Unfortunately, we didn't get to see any of them cute albeit vicious creatures due to a family so indulged in looking, they wouldn't budge from the telescope.
We did, however, take a group photo to remind ourselves of how freaking COLD it was there and how many layers we put on and some pictures of the raging sea (you can tell the wind was a killer).
Lady luck was with us, though. There was a small flock of penguins under the wooden boardwalk and of course, cameras started clicking away.
We ran to the car. Yes, ran. We then drove to a different side of the island, where the main attraction lie - Little Penguins. We paid $17 to watch them come home to their nests after spending 3 weeks at sea. We weren't allowed anything that could take pictures - digicams, phonecams, you name it. We weren't allowed to stand or to make a sound. We sat there waiting for them to come up since 5pm. The first tiny, cute penguin came on shore about 1.5 later. Ooooooh, they WERE cute!!! And as the guide said, they would only move from the waves up to the grass in groups to fend of prey and yes, they did wait!
It was then my turn to drive home. We had to go hunting for food. There was a restaurant along the way (on the island) that served steak on a hot slab of rock (or so they claim) but we had to decline as it was absolutely way over our budgets as uni students. So, I suggested La Porchetta, the Melbourne version of Borelli's, just cheaper and bigger in portions. And yes, the atmosphere had Nic smiling from ear-to-ear.
The night actually ended on a bad note. Well, you see, I'm not good with taking instructions, especially driving instructions. And I don't enjoy it. I am a pretty good driver, I think. But, I have to admit, I was very touchy that night. Something must've bugged me sometime in the day to have made me react in that manner. Oh, and the way some people talk to me, it's as if they think that I'm nowhere near as smart as they are just coz I'm doing a 'less prestigious' course than they are. Puh-leez.
Not so good, but I won my first ever round of poker. So it's all balanced out. No complaints now. =P
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