port macquarie, nsw

Shane and I made a trip up to Port Macquarie on a Sunday afternoon. Port Macquarie is about an hour away north of Old Bar. We went to have some lunch at a restaurant by near the water, at Zebu, and it was a really nice and sunny day out. After some drinks and lunch we went for a walk along the break wall. It was really cool because the rocks were all painted by tourists that have visited Port through out the years. Then when the day started to cool down we headed back home. Port Macquarie is a pretty nice place, lots of shops and things to do there. Shane said that Port has really boomed in the last few years.

newcastle harbour

Me at Newcastle's harbour

After my 2 weeks in Melbourne it was time to fly back. I had a flight booked for Newcastle and Shane was going to pick me up from Newcastle airport, stay the night there and then drive back to Old Bar the next day. But... I missed my flight, due to a bad estimated time of arrival to the airport, and it was the last flight to Newcastle, so after much drama over what to do... calling around to Matt and Sosan, and Shane. It was a pretty hectic hour and half of figuring out what to do.. stay another night in Melbourne and wait for the flight the next day and loose out on the hotel booking for the night in Newcastle? or pay the change fee charge, board the Sydney plane, and then drive all the way back to Newcastle for the night?  Then it was decided that I take the next flight out to Sydney and Shane would make the extra 2 hour drive to pick me up from there. Poor Shane had to do so much driving that night! (Thanks babe for doing that).

Anyways, so it all worked out, with a bit of effort. Got to our hotel by 1 am or something like that.. got some rest and got up the next day to go to his nephew, Lukas' first birthday at Richely Park at Blackbutt Reserve.

Black swans at the park

After Lukas' birthday party, we went to have some lunch in town. We had Vietnamese at Viet King which was decent. Looking back, we should have went to have some pub food by the water though because it was such a nice day out. After lunch, we headed down to the harbour to show me around. Had a nice cold beer from The Brewery by the breakwall and enjoyed some live music coming from the busy wharf. What a great way to spend a sunny, Sunday arvo (afternoon). Then as the sun was going down, we decided to make our way back to Old Bar.

Customs House (Town Hall) Clock Tower

The light house on the foreshore

Nobbys Beach

Big cargo ship

Newcastle CBD right near the water

Me and Shane at The Brewery

The Brewery

Live music at The Brewery on the water

Having a nice cold beer on a sunny afternoon!

phillip island tour

While I was in Melbourne, I booked a day trip to Phillip Island (www.visitphillipisland.com), famous for the Penguin Parade, with Bunyip Tours.

Our first stop was the Moonlit Sanctuary Wildlife Park which is about an hour out of Melbourne. We got to see dingos, koalas, a Tasmanian devil, wallabies, kookaburras and some other birds. We also got to feed the wallabies. They said they had kangaroos and wombats around but I didn't see any while I was there.

Kookaburra, the bird that sounds like it's laughing at you, and Cockatoo

Dingos, I didn't expect them to look like that.. they are so furry and cute haha!

Koalas

Tasmanian Devil

On the Wallaby Walk to feed the wallabies!

Feeding the wallabies was pretty cool.. they reach for your hand with their little paws and claws grip onto the side of your hand while they eat out of your hand. You can hear them crunch on the food and you can see their cute long eyelashes. Some were afraid to approach us and other just hop over to us, with no fear, eager to have some food.

Feeding the wallabies

Look at the lashes on that wallaby! Cute!

Little hands gripping onto by hand

After a walk around the park, we had some lunch and were off to Phillip Island. We stopped at Churchill Island Heritage Farm where we got to see a bit of the historic farm life. We watched a sheep herding demonstration, as well as a sheep shearing demonstration.

Churchill Island Heritage Farm

Sheep herding demonstration

Sheep sheering demonstration

A baby furry cow, curious about the bus on the way to Churchill Island

We also stopped off at the Koala Conservation Centre for a little walk around to see if we could spot and koalas, but we didn't get to see any because we weren't there for very long. Then we went to the Nobbies Centre where one and half kilometres off shore there is Seal Rock, home to Australia's largest Fur Seal colony. From the headland it looks like a rock but when you look closer, through binoculars or their special viewing camera, you can see hundreds of seals on the rock.

At the Nobbies Centre

Left: Seal Rock

Then by about 5pm we went to Phillip Island to see the Penguin Parade which happens every night at sunset. Here they have the worlds smallest penguins and you get to see them in their natural habitat. They swim to shore once the sun sets and they all parade out on to the beach to get back home. The first group of penguins came up on the beach at about 6pm There were hundreds of little blue penguins waddling around, and for such a small penguin they can sure make a lot of noise! We weren't allowed to take photos but a friend on the tour managed to sneak one in. It was really amazing to see so many little penguins and definitely the highlight of the tour!

Little blue penguin, the world's smallest penguins.