Day Trip To Phillip Island |
Went on a day trip with my friends Gump, D.K., Shu Jing and her mum. Shu Jing
recently graduated from her Master of I.T., and her mum visited Melbourne to
attend her graduation ceremony. Hoping to show aunty of the splendour of
Melbourne, we brought her down to Phillip Island to witness the penguin parade.
The picture on the left shows Shu Jing, her mum and me.
We drove down Mornington Peninsula (mum and dad would know the place, Uncle Bruce's house is there) on the way to Phillip Island. D.K., Shu Jing's friend was behind wheel. He was very familiar with the area and brought us to visit the strawberry farm, apple farm and lavender farm.
It is spring time and not fruit-bearing season (which is summer/autumn), so there weren't any strawberries or apples yet. The picture above (-left) is taken in front of an apple tree with beautiful apple blossoms. Spring is the time when flowers are at the prettiest, so the lavender farm was a delight! (Right: Shu Jing, Gump, and myself amidst lavender.)
I must admit I'm a flower-lover like mummy, so I was having a good time at the lavender farm. The farm supplied us with a basket and a pair of scissors (left) to cut as much lavender as we desire for only $3 a big bunch, nicely wrapped into a purple bouquet too. I shared a bunch with D.K. (we were the only ones really interested in the lavender). So I have some lavender now hanging in my room to dry. It makes the room smells very nice indeed. Mummy and Lin, next time you must visit the lavender farm!
The newly-acquainted friend, D.K. is an artist and he loves photography. He only likes to shoot with the camera and not so much to be in pictures. So he snapped quite a few pics of mine (like below).
The lavender farm was not the main reason we went on our trip. It was the 'Penguin Parade' at Phillip Island (below). So finally, we reached our destination around sun-set. The hundreds of penguins return to their homes in groups after sun-set and are a fascinating spectacle. They are small and cute and waddle up the shore quite clumsily to their burrows. They move in their group of dozens and sometimes stand waiting until the rest catches up.
Unfortunately, as cameras are not allowed on the penguin's beach, D.K. couldn't take any photos of the penguins there. These pictures are taken without camera flash. They show an adult penguin (right) and a baby penguin (the grey fur-ball, left) in their man-made burrows illuminated with lights.
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