DAY 2 – Seeing Koala
We woke up in the morning – not too early, though. It was almost 10 am. We packed our bags and went to the kitchen for breakfast. Yes, the hotel has a kitchen! That’s why I loved it! Usually, hotels don’t provide kitchen sort of thing. Only some kitchen stuff like microwave, kettle, small fridge in the rooms. But The island Accommodation has everything. Kitchen, playing room (there are play station, TV, books), social room (I don’t know what I’m supposed to call it), a big room with a ping pong table, couches, board games.
For a hotel that big, the kitchen was super clean! It’s like it’s never been used. My husband and I ate the food we bought the day before and spent some time taking pictures on the balcony. After that, we left the hotel.
The Circuit
here we go again. Why did we come back? My husband was curious to see what’s inside. There’s a circuit tour kind of thing. So we came in and asked the clerk how to join the tour. We were so ready to pay. Turned out we didn’t need to pay. Just went in through a glass door and we could see the circuit. The one that we needed to pay was the museum. It was for $10 or $16, I forgot. There’s no information about it either on the website. But I think it’s not worth it because the museum is very small, unless you’re a big fan of vehicles. Seeing some displays in the lobby area was enough for me.
So we just went to the circuit tour. I thought there’d be a kind of tour guide who’d explain things about the circuit but there’s no such thing. I could say that I was a bit disappointed. The view was better from yesterday’s spot – the spot that was pointed by Google Maps. But at least, I got some good pictures.
If you want to take it to the next level, you can try driving go karts. Oh yes, they have go karts. But to do so, you have to pay. You can check the pricing here:
https://www.phillipislandgokarts.com.au/pricing/
It’ll be fun to race with friends, or in my case, a partner. But we didn’t feel like it that day. We had spent some money already and if we paid for the go karts, it’d be over the budget. I wasn’t too curious either. So, we saved it for the next trip. Or we can do it in Indonesia. It’ll be way cheaper.
The Koalas
Yeay, another animal! There are some sancuaries on Phillip Island, one of the most famous ones is Koala Conservation Reserve. I booked the tickets online the day before. It was only $16/adult. It could be bought on the spot, though. I did it online because I thought it’d be busy, but it wasn’t.
The thing that I found out was that the place is taken care of the same foundation as the Penguin Parade. Booking the tickets is on the same website.
https://www.penguins.org.au/about
The conservation reserve wasn’t as I expected. I thought I’d see a lot of koalas, take photos together, or even touch them. I keep telling myself, I should go to the zoo if I want those. The dilemma is that I try not to go to the zoo because I can’t stand seeing the animals in small cages. They should be in the wild. But if there’s no zoo, then how are kids supposed to learn about animals. I know there are heaps of animals books, but seeing them directly has a different effect. Is there anyone who has the same dilemma? Please let me know in the comments!
Anyway, despite the unexpectedness, I liked the place. It really educated me about the koalas. I didn’t know that they’re a loner. They’re solitary creatures. Koala is a marsupial native to Australia. I’ve ever had sugar gliders as pet and they’re highly social animals, so I thought koalas were the same.
Before I walked into the woods, I enjoyed the mini interactive museum the place provided. That’s where I learned. I found out about the koala’s voice as well. There were some buttons I could press to hear many kinds of sounds the koalas make. I couldn’t touch the fur of a living koala but I could stroke the display.
It was great! Besides koala, there are some animals that could be found in the conservation area – they share a home.
Alright, let’s go! The conservation wasn’t too big. It was divided into some parts. I reckon there were 3 to 4 parts. They combined female and male and joeys were in the separate part. I hoped to see a koala moving but unfortunately, koalas spend 20 hours a day sleeping. So all I saw was sleeping koalas that didn’t move at all. They’re like dolls that were attached to tree branches.
After exploring the whole area, my husband and I stopped by a bench. We sat there for a little while, enjoying a few songs, looking at the forest. I saw a very big kangaroo running on the other side. Seeing the nature while listening to good songs is something! It can instantly refresh my mind and get me thinking about the earth. How long will it last? How long can it stand humans’ greed.
The Koala Conservation Reserve has a souvenir shop and a coffee shop in the lobby area. I wanted to grab something but the price was higher than the Penguins Parade. So I just bought a cup of coffee for $5 (if I’m not mistaken).
Phillip Island Chocolate Factory
Charlie and the chocolate factory. That’s the first thing that popped out in my head when I saw it. This was the final destinaton of the Phillip Island trip. It looked so interesting from outside. When I came inside, it was the same way. It sells many kinds of chocolates and there’s a museum inside. A lot of people queuing to see the museum. I didn’t because I needed to pay. It was $18/adult – too much for me.
I checked Google and already knew how it was inside. It wasn’t too exciting. Then, I just went to the chocolate shop to buy some chocolates and they all tasted so good! There’s also a restaurant beside the shop. I didn’t eat anything there, though. Well, I think the place is good for families.
And you know what? My husband and I witnessed a shoplifting! So we were choosing which chocolates we would like to try when a man walked here and there and suddenly he grabbed a medium chocolate bar and just walked away slowly. He did it twice in front of our eyes! We weren’t sure what to do so we just kept silent.
That’s the end of our trip. We had fun!
PS. I don’t have any pictures of the chocolate factory. Too bad! What was I thinking?! It looks interesting from outside. But anyway, you can find heaps of the pictures on Google.
