Phillip Island

We came to Phillip Island with absolutely no idea of what to expect. But after a quick look around on our arrival day, we extended our stay to 3 nights. The headlands and beaches across the Island are really lovely, the rock outcrops like Nobbies and Pyramid Rock are stunning, the baby penguins steal the show and are just so cute, and the pelican feeding is a treat. We had a brilliant few days

We were at Phillip Island on 16, 17 & 18 February 2019

Kerry’s snippets in fuchsia

Getting There

Tidal River > Inverloch > San Remo  ~ 127 kms

History

For thousands of years Phillip Island has been lands roamed by the Bunurong people. They called the island “Beang Gurt” and are thought to have come here about 40,000 years ago. At this time, Phillip Island would have still been attached to the mainland, as the sea levels were much lower then.

European discovery of Phillip Island was by George Bass in January 1798. Bass entered Westernport Bay on a journey south from Sydney to determine the existence or not of a strait between the mainland and Tasmania. That strait is today named after him. He later returned with Matthew Flinders, landing at Rhyll, and named the island “Snapper Island”. A memorial to this landing is maintained at Rhyll.

At one time known as Grant Island, after Captain James Grant, the island was eventually renamed after Sir Arthur Phillip, Governor of the First Fleet which sailed from England to Australia in 1788. The area was visited soon after by the British ship the Lady Nelson in 1801, and in 1802 Westernport bay was visited by a French scientific expedition. The French were again undertaking exploration in the area in 1826, and in response to this perceived threat, Governor Phillip sent a small group of soldiers and convicts to Western Port to secure formal possession for England.

The settlement was abandoned in 1828 and sealers periodically used the area until the 1840s, when most of the hunters left the area having reduced the seal numbers to uneconomic levels. It wasn’t until 1842 that two enterprising Scottish brothers, William and John McHaffie, the first permanent settlers, took up residence with a pastoral lease that covered the entire island. For ten pounds they took out a Pre-emptive Right Lease to occupy “Waste Lands of the Crown known as Phillip Island”.  The McHaffies quickly cleared the dense tea tree scrub by lighting a fire that burnt for several days. They then swam cattle across the shallows at low tide and established pastoral runs. 

Land on the island was opened for selection in 1868 as the McHaffies’ right to sole occupation was strongly resented. The land was taken up enthusiastically, but hardships of life on the island saw a major exodus. Wheat grew poorly, fresh water was scarce, and plagues of caterpillars drove people away. Gradually farmers returned to the island and by the 1870’s there were more than a one hundred and sixty settlers. But by 1902 the population had fallen to just 50.

Early industry included brickmaking, ship-building, oyster-getting, fishing and gathering of mutton-bird eggs. Chicory one of the earliest crops on the island and today chicory kilns remain dotted across the island.

The local roads became the home of the first Australian Grand Prix for cars in 1928 and later the place where the Armstrong 500, the forerunner to today’s famous Bathurst 1000, was held.

Today the island’s economy is largely based on tourism. Some 72% of all dwellings are holiday homes and about 60% of the island’s area is farmland, largely devoted to the grazing of sheep & cattle. With 97km of coastline and a population of around 7,500, the island receives approximately 3.5 million visitors annually, about half of which come to see the nightly spectacle of the Little Penguin parade, crossing the sand at Summerland Beach. To protect the Island’s natural wonders and wildlife, the Phillip Island Nature Park was formed in the late 1990’s, and the Island is fox free.

We stayed at San Remo, which was named after the famous Italian Riviera resort town. A bridge in the town centre provides a link to Phillip Island. Originally established as a deep water port to transport farm produce and coal to Melbourne in the mid-1800s, a thriving fishing industry soon developed. San Remo it is currently the base for Australia’s largest shark fishing fleet. On the beach foreshore adjacent to the San Remo Jetty, pelicans are fed daily from freshly caught fish at around 12 noon.

The 700 metre long bridge spans the fast moving waters of “The Narrows”, and was opened in 1969, It includes a pedestrian walkway.

Day 1 – Sat 16 Feb – To San Remo

We spent a couple of hours at Derby River beach at The Prom before the drive to San Remo. It was a short drive on a good road through general farming country, which looked surprisingly green. 

As we approached Phillip Island we began to see the coast, and the traffic increased.  Then we got our first viewings of the bridge. 

The San Remo Holiday Park is very good. Nice wide and grassy sites and good facilities. We were able to back straight from the road into our site. The park was quite busy as the Phillip Island triathlon was on that day – we were advised to stay away from Cowes.  Both Optus and Telstra provided strong signals. All in all it was a great base to explore the Island.

After setting up, we crossed the bridge to the Island and drove towards Cape  Woolamai, stopping at Anzacs Beach. It a lovely expanse of beach and we spent some time there. 

 

 

Next up was Pyramid Rock, located just past the Grand Prix circuit. The Rock is excellent with a great contrast in colours between the black fo the rocks, the turquoise water and the blue of the sky. There are lovely views on the walk to the first platform. 

 

There are walkways between the viewing platforms to keep people walking off the ground and killing the plants of the area.  The Rock looks great closer up.  I thought I saw some sea lions or dolphins but it was only a few people snorkelling – they must be freezing there, even with wetsuits on.

Back at the car park we walked the short distance to the Storm Bay lookout. More great views.

On the way back out we stopped at the Chocolate Factory which to our amazement was packed with people (mostly) of Asian origin. They were all queuing out the door for tickets to do the tour. However, we could slip past them as we only wanted to get to the shop. We were shocked at the prices – standard bars at $6-$8 each. We had really enjoyed the chocolate farm we toured near Mission Beach – I loved the chocolate with Davidsons Plums – but this one seemed nothing special and far too expensive. We left very quickly.  

We returned to San Remo after that. We had initially booked for 2 nights at the park, but extended it to 3 after realising all that there is to do here. This whole area has a really nice feel to it, and after I checked that we could change our dates for the Dandenong Ranges, we were happy.

Day 2 – Sun 17 Feb – Phillip Island

We caught up with a few things, so had a late start – 10.00am. We first called into the Tourist Information Centre and had the options for the Little Penguin viewing explained to us. The penguins generally came out of the water at about 9.00pm (we would have to be there at 7:30), and the number of birds vary. The general viewing is $26pp, but when the lady showed us the photos of the viewing options, we could see that the general viewing was quite a distance from the main area at which the penguins cross the beach. Next option is Penguins Plus at over $50pp, and the other options go up from there. So we tried to book Penguins Plus for the next night but were told it was all booked out. The Lunar New Year was bringing out masses of people – explaining the crowds at the Chocolate Factory – and it was a fine weekend equating to lots of people escaping from Melbourne. The general viewing was also near capacity. We decided to think about it.

We went into Cowes which was a very busy town on that Sunday morning. It is a nice town, with a nice tree-lined drive in, but has so many fish and chips shops. We walked around a bit then went down to the waterfront, which has a large jetty. We walked along the beach, which is quite pretty heading off in both directions.

From there we drove around to Red Rocks Point which, funnily enough, has lots of red rocks.  It had nice sandy beaches to the east and west. 

Next was Ventnor Beach which was more of a confined beach with low sandbanks on the landward side. This is a flatter part of the Island which we saw in the farmlands as we drove on to The Nobbies. 

We stopped at Penguin Parade to see the viewing sites in real life. We saw many of the nesting boxes near the broad walk and some had baby penguins inside waiting impatiently for their parents and food. 

The viewing platforms are very different with the general viewing well up the beach. The first photos are the Penguins plus, and the latter ones are the general area (in the distance). 

On the walk back out we spotted 2 kangaroos and an echidna – it was wonderful to see an echidna in the wild. 

Back at the Centre we had a good look around and looked through the peepholes into some of the nests. Lovely so see the little birds getting ready to take the plunge. 

Then we saw a display that really impressed us – the story of the amount of plastic on the beaches and the efforts to clean up the beaches. I’m pretty sure we have collected a lot more than this.  We have been finding enormous amounts over the last week on the Victorian coastline.

From there we continued on up to what we think is Crowie Beach – quite a dramatic beach in both directions.

Then we came to the Nobbies and how good is this place? A network of boardwalks outside the Nobbies Centre overlook Seal Rocks, The Nobbies, and The Blowhole. Around one kilometre offshore is Seal Rocks, home to Australia’s largest colony of fur seals with an estimated 16,000 inhabiting the area.  

Waling the boardwalk is brilliant, with not only stunning views in the ocean but also lots of nesting boxes with babies. First we passed The Nobbies, an impressive stone outcrop on the edge of the rock shelf. Below us one large rock formed a large arch. 

Seal Rocks are tantalising close. 

And then there were the penguins. We saw lots of nesting boxes with baby penguins in them.

Then we saw a few outside of their nests – how amazing and unexpected was that?  They are really so cute.

 

We saw more of them under the boardwalk, two looks like a mother and baby. 

We next walked around to where the blowhole is, though the calm seas did not produce any spouts of water. But the colours of the plants on the land were very unusual giving a red tinge to the hill side.  You could hear the roar of the blow-hole operating, despite no water shooting up.  Such a unique sound – you can almost feel it through the ground.

The final view to the east near the blowhole is striking.

As we got back up to the end of the boardwalk Kerry spied an adult penguin hiding just under the timbers. It was an adult and obviously moulting. So very cute.  It was giving itself little shakes and seeming to sneeze – probably assistance to shedding its old feathers.  They cannot go to sea for 28 days I think it is, until the new feathers all grow back, so I guess they are pretty hungry near the end of that time.

There were Cape Barren geese all over the Island – quite a large bird.

On the way back to Mobi, we drove down to Kitty Miller Bay and looked out from the carpark. This was a very rocky beach with extensive rock platforms and lots of people having a good look. There was even a tent erected on our of the platforms. 

Finally we went down to Berrys Beach – a good sand strip between two striking headlands. It is clearly a surfing beach with quite a few people down there. We did not walk down to the beach. 

That evening we went to the San Remo Hotel for dinner.  There is a pathway from the van park directly to the hotel and the shops. The Hotel was very busy but we got a good table. It was hard to make out if this were a pub or a sit down restaurant, as it was all table service. Maybe that was just because it was a busy Saturday night. But it did not work for us – we were expecting a pub. My bangers and mash off the seniors menu was pretty good, but Kerry’s schnitzel was very dry.

My disappointment was even greater when I realised next day that I must have left my very good Berghaus top at the hotel. I remember tying it around my waist in case it got cold later.  I went back to enquire but they did not have it. I have had the top for a long time and will sorely miss it.

Day 3 – Mon 18 Feb – Phillip Island

On the way to Phillip Island we had seen some sea cliffs going through a town called Kilcunda, but there was nowhere to stop with Mobi attached. We thought we would go back there – it was only about 15kms – to have a look.

It is not quite what were were expecting – no real cliff top walk. But a nice long beach with a number of rocky outcrops. It was a cold and windy day but 2 brave souls were going out to snorkel. 

I walked to the eastern point and could just see around the corner – another lovely looking rocky beach.

We got quite a collection plastic and rubbish from the beach.

Back at Mobi we decided to wait for the feeding of the pelicans at high noon, and prepared some lunch to take with us. It is a short walk to the Fishermans Coop which provides the fish for the feeding, via the path next to the pub, . Already we could see 20 plus birds ready and waiting.

A bit after noon a woman came out with a plastic box full of fish – not whole fish, she hastens to explain, but mostly just the head and skeletons. They don’t want the feeding to be replacing the bird’s natural feeding. Not all birds turn up every day – sometimes if the general feeding is good, only a handful turn up. 

The lady gave an excellent talk on the birds as she started feeding. There is no fighting for the food but a few of the males (the larger birds) want to have a fight anyway and go at it like featherweights. Very funny.

She then talked about plastic and said that 30% of these birds have plastic in their gut which cannot pass through. Once it gets to a critical level, the bird will start telling itself that its belly is full, it will then stop eating and starve to death.  Very sad.

The lady emptied the fish box at the edge of the water, which normally attracts sting rays to gather the dregs. But not today. 

After that, and eating lunch, we drove out to Churchill Island. There is a one lane bridge connecting the Island to Phillip Island.

The entrance fee with a senior and NRMA discount it $17.50 in total. We first went up to the original homestead – Amess House, circa 1872.  Read all about it below. During restoration of the house, fragments of the original wall papers were uncovered, and replicas made.  The house is lovely – timber floors and panelling up to the chair rail height and nicely proportioned rooms.  Great to see if has been restored so well.

 

The front garden is dominated by a Norfolk Island Pine planted in 1872. Its a big bugger!

There are many interesting and unusual plants in the gardens. And the biggest mulberry tree I’ve ever seen.

There was a short lady carrying lots of bags of different foods obviously to feed the animals and so we followed her around. First up was the pig – and I became a hero as I fixed the water tank. Then the ducks, which were so funny as the came running (waddling) in from every direction. 

The ducklings were very cute.

That evening Kerry went down to the Fishermans Coop for takeaway. The fish was good, but oh so many chips.

 


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