Melbourne - Australia 2004 - page 567

companies run day trips. Among them are Gray Line ( & 03/9663 4455 ),
which operates penguin trips daily departing Melbourne at 1:30pm and return-
ing at around 11:30pm. Tours cost A$80 (US$52) for adults and A$40 (US$26)
for children. Gray Line also offers full-day trips including the Dandenong
Ranges and a ride on the Puffing Billy Steam Train.
Down Under Day Tours ( & 03/9650 2600 ) offers a similar half-day tour
for A$80 (US$52) for adults and A$40 (US$26) for children; tours depart Mel-
bourne at 1:30pm and return at 11:30pm. It also offers a daylong trip that com-
bines a Melbourne sightseeing tour with the penguin tour for A$106 (US$69)
for adults, and A$53 (US$34) for children, and a half-day combined Dande-
nong Ranges/Phillip Island tour costing A$96 (US$63) for adults and A$48
(US$31) for children.
An excellent budget option is a half-day trip with Melbourne Sightseeing
( & 03/9663 3388 ). Tours depart Melbourne daily at 1:30pm and include vis-
its to a cattle farm where you can hand-feed kangaroos, the Koala Conservation
Centre, a seal colony, as well as the Penguin Parade. The coach returns to Mel-
bourne at 10:30pm. The trip costs A$75 (US$49) for adults (A$49/US$32 with
a YHA card) and A$38 (US$25) for children. For the same price, an express bus
leaves Melbourne at 5:30pm (returning at 11pm) and travels directly to the Pen-
guin Parade.
Auswalk, P.O. Box 516, Jindabyne, NSW 2627 ( & 02/6457 2220; fax 02/
6457 2206; [e-mail]), offers a 4-night self-guided tour of
Phillip Island for two or more people for A$760 (US$494) per person. The price
includes accommodations, most meals, park and entrance fees to the main
places of interest, some vehicle transfers, an itinerary, and maps.
If you're driving on your own, it's an easy 2-hour trip from Melbourne along
the South Gippsland Highway and then the Bass Highway. A bridge connects
the highway to the mainland.
V/Line trains ( & 13 22 32 in Australia, or 03/9619 5000) run in summer
from Flinders Street Station to Phillip Island via Dandenong. The trip takes
2 1 ⁄ 4 hours and costs A$13 (US$8.70).
VISITOR INFORMATION The Phillip Island Information Centre, Phillip
Island Tourist Road, Newhaven ( & 1300/366 422 in Australia, or 03/5956 7447;
www.phillipisland.net.au), is an attraction in itself, with interactive computer dis-
plays, relevant information, dioramas giving visitors a glimpse into the penguin's
world, and a small theater. It's open daily from 9am to 5pm (to 6pm in summer).
EXPLORING THE AREA
Visitors approach the island from the east, passing through the town of
Newhaven. Just a little past Newhaven is the Phillip Island Information Centre.
The main town on the island, Cowes (pop. 2,400), is on the far north coast.
It's worth taking a stroll along its Esplanade. The Penguin Parade is on the far
southwest coast.
The trip to the west coast of the Summerland Peninsula ends in an interest-
ing rock formation called The Nobbies. This strange-looking outcropping can
be reached at low tide by a basalt causeway. You'll get some spectacular views of
the coastline and two offshore islands from here. On the farthest of these islands
is a population of up to 12,000 Australian fur seals, the largest colony in Aus-
tralia. (Bring your binoculars.) This area is also home to thousands of nesting sil-
ver gulls.