Melbourne Holiday Day Three - Phillip Island

Friday, 22nd November 2013

We had very good sleep last night, all of us.  Vic slept with her friends in their room, and William shared daddy and mummy's cozy double bed in the guest room.  Whether due to fatigue, the nice cooling weather or the very comfortable bed, we all woke later than planned, except for Vic.  She said goodbye to J&W who had school.

For the whole of this trip, William was always the last to wake up.  EC made Milo for all of us and we ate bread and sausages before leaving.  The kids had theirs wrapped so they can eat in the car.  William gulped down a glass of fresh milk before leaving, still in his groggy state.  We bid a temporary farewell to Kelvin and EC and headed to Phillip Island where we will spend 2D1N.

Weather was good as God changes the forecast yet again, so that we can have a clear, sunny day!  The 2 hour journey was pleasant and with the GPS that EC equipped us with, we had no trouble finding our first destination, San Remo Jetty.

Clear signage and pretty blue skies

Along the way...

There is a pelican feeding at 12noon daily just outside the Pelican View Fish & Chips shop (where we will have our lunch) but we were 15 minutes late so when we parked, we jumped out of the car and told the kids to run along towards the pelicans where a small crowd was slowly dispersing.  The feeding has just finished, and we were too late.  But the pelicans hung around long enough for us latecomers to snap pictures of them.

They are turning their backs on us here... coz feeding is over

A rare brother-sister shot

Little boy watching the remaining few pelicans.

Me and my princess

Next time you return to this place, William, you will be as tall as the signboard!

I was telling Vic, that if she worked here, it wouldn't be work anyway, coz she'd be enjoying the view here, going out fishing, feeding the birds and doing all that she likes.  It's past noon, I know... but we can all still day dream on a holiday!

Vic wants me to capture this shot of seagulls on the signage. 

We walked around the quiet jetty.  There was less than a handful of other tourists beside us, and a couple of men fishing along the bridge.  Next to the jetty, we saw big stingrays approximately measuring 2 metres in diameter and some fishes.  Daddy even spotted lobsters!

Our stomachs were beginning to grumble so we proceeded to the Pelican View for our lunch.  I ordered a fisherman's basket with a mixture of flake fish, calamari, scallops and prawns, plus a set of the day's special.

Part of lunch.

Food was cooked fresh during the 15 minutes wait.  The scallops and prawns could have been bigger and the batter was rather thick, but hey, I'm not complaining because I'm in my happy place eating my favourite food (ie seafood)!  After lunch, we moved on into the island, where we first located our Apartment to check in.

Before this trip, EC helped research accommodation for us and at one point, we had to forego staying a night in Phillip Island as we could not find affordable accommodation as there was a Motor GP race held during the same weekend as our visit.

Then we were informed of a couple of cancellations for house accommodation, but apparently their terms and deposit requirement was not reasonable, and then this Apartment came available with more flexible and reasonable terms, so EC proceeded to book this on our behalf.  I told you she's a gem and God was definitely at work here!  She did all the negotiations and booking for us and we merely had to drive up there and check ourselves in.

The couple at the front desk was very nice.  Pity I forgotten their names.  I think the wife is called Shirley.  We were given a self-contained apartment - with a double bed, two single beds, a dining area, kitchen and toiletries were provided too.  We even had a small private patio in front of our entrance but unfortunately we didn't have the opportunity to sit around to sip a cuppa.  The kids may have used the chair once while wearing their shoes, I believe.

Dining cum kitchen area - cutlery and utensils are in drawers and cabinet

This is the patio outside our entrance.  Private and exclusive but without a view, so it's good for chatting or smoking (no relevant to us, by the way)

Bathing towels with recyclable strings tied around it

The frontage

After checking in, we headed out to Churchill Island Heritage Farm but not without stopping by the local Woolworths which is just down the corner.  Yes, we discovered that our apartment although located in a quiet neighborhood, but it's less than 5 minutes drive down the road to the convenient stores.  Here, we bought drinking bottles for the kids because "Shirley" informed us that although the tap water was safe to drink but it had a strong chlorine taste.

At the Farm, we missed the cow milking session but were in time to see the blacksmith and boomerang display.  For the latter, we were showed how to throw the boomerang and William volunteered to try together with me.  His boomerang didn't go far but good job for having the courage!

This picture looked a little fake, but it's real.  Direct from my camera.  Would have been nice to sit around, enjoy a cuppa but there wasn't a sitting area by the roadside to appreciate this view. 

A family of ducks enjoying the afternoon

A vain peacock paraded around the farm after the blacksmith show... and I'm not talking about William ; P

Showing how the boomerang works

We saw only one horse.

Happiest when there are flowers... or snow... or cheese... or wine... or ... I can go on and on.

Boy was so fascinated with the canon

Leaving Churchill Island, we saw these along the way...

This scene reminds me of New Zealand where we had our honeymoon, but in NZ there were a thousand more sheep everywhere. 

This is the single lane bridge that led us out of the "island."  Now you know why Churchill Island is called an island : )  Because this bridge is only wide enough for one vehicle to go through, the other vehicle will have to back off.  Remember the story of the two goats?

To be continued - Kangaroos, Wallabies and Penguins!