Phillip Island! - Churchill Island, Koala Conservation Centre & Penguin Island

We finally made it to Phillip Island last Saturday. Was supposed to take mum and dad there, but it didn't work out the last trip. planning to bring them in February. for this trip, we were on a 3-park pass (was good value for money, but I seriously doubt I'ld do 3 passes again). Passes are cheaper if you book through RACV - have to be a member though. Our car insurance is with them, so it qualifies. Usually the penguin ticket alone is $20, but with this RACV benefit, the 3 park pass is $28.50 or so and the family ticket (2 adult + 2 children) is about $70 or so. can't remember the exact figure.

the weather was beautiful. Sunny, but not blazing hot, and not pouring rain either.


we started off at Churchill Island


the good thing about going out with others is that we get to take a family pic =)


Elijah and Sarah are lots of fun


and my cousin Irene managed to come along too, so we really had a great time! Hope she's willing to come out together more often =)


Sarah's been great with the kids... and horses... hehe


I think Elijah was keen to see if Irene might someday become a vet...


I don't know what's going on here, but it sure is cute =)


and everywhere that the guy went, the lamb was sure to go. seriously, he said he's been taking care of this lamb since it was young and the lamb considers him to be its parent. hehe.


Noel was amazing, he went up to the goat all by himself as I watched from a short distance (the goat was tied, and Noel seemed to figure that part out, which he was quite thrilled about). So, he spent quite awhile with Mr.Goat, feeding him handful by handful...


and Mr.Goat was happy too


As good as Elijah may be with the kids, credit goes to Sarah for taking a really nice shot =)


We also went to the Koala Conservation Centre (Park 2 of 3). Not that many Koalas, possibly about 10 or so, but you can get really close to some of them


like this


After that, we went to the Nobbies (free entrance) and used the seal camera to take pictures of some seals on the rocks in the distance.
[sorry, seal pictures not scanned yet]

funnily enough, although the scenery was really nice, we were all too busy eating fish and chips (which wasn't very nice) and totally forgot to take a pic. so, I'm copying this off the Philip Island website:


Then, the highlight of it all, we finally went to Penguin Parade... and its not our fault that we don't have pics - photography is strictly prohibited. So, once again, taking from their website:


these penguins are smaller than you think. they're about the height of a seagull ... and seagulls aren't large birds... soooooooo cute...... need to see them again... =)

More on Mum & Dad's visit

Mum actually ended up getting sick for awhile after the Royal Melbourne Show, but when she finally got better, we had the chance to take them for a night out... also, Mum, Dad and Anna helped us with a last minute house transformation for an inspection we had on a weekday, and Joey wanted to take them out to say Thank You as well.

Oh, inspection basically refers to the event where you open the house for potential tenants (in the case of renting) to view. OK, enough words, time for pictures!

we went to the marina at New Quay, Docklands


we were thinking of eating here at first, but it was simply tooooo cold to eat out that day...


I jumped in for a picture...


and Anna managed to get a nice shot of mum...


this pic was taken from our seat, so no, we didn't eat there this time, we ate at somewhere called the Berth, which was a similar concept to this one in the pic - overlooking the waters.


the food took awhile, though, so Joey got busy with Noel (Anna, good job on the pic, u actually managed to take Joey! haha!)

and Noel sat quietly playing while waiting for the food.


at least Ryan managed to look up for a picture =)


the food finally came, and it was generally nice...


and there was a cute fireplace right behind us


after dinner, Anna finally got a chance to be IN a picture


then we went for a drive around the city


we only managed to get some pictures from the car, coz we didn't stop anywhere, but u get the idea =)

Royal Melbourne Show 2008 - Part 2

I should have posted this long ago, but life has been kinda hectic with us trying to sort out everything for the new house... it's still in progress, but today, I had a moment of inspiration when I had an email from a friend who's still reading the blog although I haven't been faithfully updating it... so... I said I AM gonna blog tonight... as comfy as my bed is... sleep will have to wait just a little while more =)

Royal Melbourne Show - the second time we went was with mum and dad... also known as grandpa and grandma.... =) it was lovely having them over to visit us, and we're looking forward to their next trip here. Okay, I'll let the pictures do the talking now...


here's the 'monster truck'

going over the cars...

and down the other side...

I wouldn't want one of these things behind me during a traffic jam!

Then there was this stunt-rider ... I couldn't take good pics of his stunts, but he did go over, under, backward etc on the moving horse, which was quite fascinating!


the bike stunt-men were even more impressive though...

i'm not gonna put everything up or else its gonna be a reaaallly long blog...

but these were some pretty cool stunts

don't try them at home, though ;)


Noel had a great view, first on daddy's shoulders then on grandpa's...

grandpa and grandma were pretty good, still smiling although the sun was REALLY hot!


there was also a clown show...


and lotsa animals... these are alpacas... i think...


Grandpa helped the kids plant a sunflower (each) that they could take home...


Noel should go in for an advertisement on how kids love eating fruits =)

yummy... how satisfying!


the kids were very happy to be out with grandpa and grandma... but it took up quite abit of energy for grandpa n grandma to catch up with them!

Royal Melbourne Show 2008 - Part 1

Today, we went for Part 1 of the Royal Melbourne Show (www.royalshow.com.au)... why part 1? coz we have a promo ticket where we get to enter twice for the same price - but they take our picture and print it on the 2nd ticket so we can't give it away... haha...

well, the place was quite crowded, and there was just so much to see and do


the kids seemed to especially love the animals everywhere. Here's Ryan at the Alpaca cage:


and Noel bravely did some face-painting


and he became super-spiderman... that is, spiderman face with superman clothes =)


which Ryan refused to do, but still cheered him on


there were also ducks...


we watched some horses


petted some animals


posed for a picture ... no, its not a real ram =) there were sheep, but the kids didn't sit on it for obvious reasons =)


Ryan milked a cow!


we didn't have time to ride the ferris wheel, but that might be the next thing we do in part 2 - if Joey's ok with it =)


what do you think this is? Believe it or not, its a fowl!



well, we did what they called a 'Farm Trail' for kids - which makes the kids go from one area to another, to answer questions and get their Farm Trail card stamped at each 'station'.

At the end of it, Ryan got his certificate, a McDonalds box of cookies and McDonalds voucher for a cheeseburger (or orange juice or salad... so we're sticking with the cheeseburger)


And Noel got his too!


we were trying to get a picture with Po, the Kung Fu Panda, but the sun was right behind, and getting lower.


by the time it was our turn, the sun was in a really bad spot...


but we did play some games


and win some prizes


one thing to note though, don't park at the 2hr parking zone, if you know you're gonna stay longer than that! =) ladies and gentlemen, we present.... our first parking fine!