I finished up some last minute packing and crossed off the few last minute things off of my list and then headed to breakfast with that boy that keeps hanging around me. I gave Maggie (the pup) a hug and a pat on the head and then I was off to the airport. After some friendly banter about PJ’s abandonment issues and a hug and a kiss good-bye, I found myself at Denver International Airport, bags quickly checked through to LAX and I was waiting at the terminal for Flight 671 to LAX via Phoenix. I passed the time downloading multiple books to my Kindle and then we boarded and were off.
We landed in Phoenix at 3:15p and all passengers traveling on the LAX were instructed to wait on the plane until the Phoenix passengers had disembarked and then we could chose a new seat if we wanted. I looked around as the plane emptied and quickly realized...I was the only one continuing on to LAX! Talk about a weird feeling being the only person on the plane...even the crew left because a new one was boarding here in Phoenix.
Of course, I passed the time texting Erin who was waiting on the other side of the jetway, anxious to board. I was excited to see Jess, but VERY anxious about the next 24+ hours of travel. I entertained myself by having her come to the window and wave to me on the plane.
(If you look closely, you can see her in the window)
Finally, she boarded, the plane filled and we were off to LAX!
We arrived in LAX without a hitch and made our way to the Virgin Australia counter and checked in for the long flight to Sydney. By the time we got to the gate, it was close to 6pm (already 5 hours since traveling had begun for me that afternoon) and we grabbed a quick bite and a pint to pass the time.
7:30p rolled around and we joined the long queue to board the plane. We found our seats and settle in to make ourselves comfortable for the long flight. I popped a Xanax the minute I was in my seat and tried not to panic at the thought of the endless ocean between us and our destination.
Between movies, a little wine and dinner, we managed to relax enough to sleep (albeit some of us were drug-induced) for a few hours. Thank you Ambien! Before we knew it, they were serving us breakfast and we weren’t too far off of the Australian coast. Sydney has a curfew where no plane can land before 6am and our flight attendants quickly informed us that our pilot likes to be the first plane on the ground. 6:02am and we were on the ground in Sydney!
We deplaned as quickly as we could, made our way through Customs, picked up our luggage, maneuvered our way through Quarantine and then dropped off our bags to transfer to Virgin Blue for our domestic flight to Melbourne. It was a quick bus ride to the Domestic terminal, we breezed through Security, and then found our gate. We didn’t have long to wait before we boarded the flight to Melbourne and we were off yet again. Once we arrived in Melbourne, we got our bags from security and caught the bus to Southern Cross Station. From there, we took a city tram to our hostel and met up with Sarah and Andrew who got us settled in our room and we were able to take hot showers and change before hitting the streets of Melbourne.
Our first stop was finding something for Erin and I to eat...by this point we hadn’t eaten anything since breakfast on the V Australia flight and it was after noon Melbourne time and don’t even ask me what time that made it back home...we were just hungry! We found a meat pie shop and quickly learned how good these pastry treats are...they hit the spot! By then, we needed something cool to wash them down with and we were off to the Carlton Brewhouse, home of Foster’s beer. Despite some issues catching trams and getting off at the correct stop, plus a little rain, we were only a few minutes late and since we had called ahead, they kindly let us join up with the tour. No pictures were allowed inside the brewhouse of their equipment, but we learned that this particular brewery was the second largest and they supplied beer for the entire lower half of Australia. They make enough beer for every single Australian to drink 81 liters a year...that’s a lot of beer! We also learned that after the brewery gets all of the use possible out of the yeast for the beer, they send it over to Vegemite! What a full circle!
After the tour, we headed to the tasting room where they had playing Carlton commercials from over the years and we were able to sample four different beers that they made. Ironically, none of us tasted the Foster’s beer (Australians actually don’t drink Fosters, the brewery exports 90% of what they make), but we were able to try beers such as Pure Blonde, Carlton Draught (pronounced “draft”), Bulger’s cider, and Big Helga. By this time, the rain had let up and we headed back to the hostel to get ready for tonight’s adventure. Sarah and Andrew went and picked up the rental car while Erin and I changed our shoes and then we were off on the drive to Phillip Island.
Phillip Island is about an hour and a half drive from Melbourne and it is the home of a natural little penguin sanctuary. The little penguin stands at about 13 inches tall and weighs only 1 kg. Every night, they march home from the sea after two or three days of fishing and swimming. Unfortunately, you cannot take pictures of the penguins because the flash of a camera frightens them and hurts their eyes, so you’ll have to use your imagination for this next part. We arrived around 7:30p (the suggested time) and were informed that the penguins hadn’t arrived until 9:04p the night before, so we probably had some time to kill. We wandered around the gift shop and educational displays before heading down to get seats for the evening and to watch the sunset. I did manage to get this picture of the coast line before we headed down to the water.
We sat in bleacher stands and listened to provided MP3 players with information about the little penguins. Then, as it started to grow darker (and started to rain again), a ranger came out and talked a little bit more about what we could expect to see that evening. As the sun set and the sky darkened, we started to nudge each other and point out dark spots on the surface of the water behind the breaking waves that we thought might be rafts of penguins--groups gathering together waiting for the ambient light to fade so they can come home. The next thing we knew, a group of little penguins were waddling in from the ocean right towards us! They come home in groups, some big and some small, and gather on the beach having a sort of penguin happy hour. Then they head up the path toward their burrows and home for the night. We saw 400+ penguins come home that night and at no point did it lose it’s awe or magic. How amazing to be allowed to observe something so special! As we headed back up from the beach along the boardwalk, we were able to watch the penguins walking (they really do march!) right along side the boardwalk as they headed home. Such beautiful and adorable creatures! Then, after checking under our car for stray penguins as the signs advised, we headed back to Melbourne. We didn’t get into Melbourne until after midnight, but since we hadn’t eaten dinner, we made a quick stop at “Maccas” (pronounced “mac-ers” aka McDonalds for the Americans) to grab a quick bite. We took food back to the hostel and after eating, we were so knackered (exhausted) that we fell asleep almost immediately.
'Til tomorrow...
Jess and Erin
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