Daylight saving finished today which threw everything. We were parked outside the Information Centre across the bridge at about 9.30 am summer time, pleased to see it opened at 9 am, but displeased to have a fellow tourist confirm that it was now only 8.30. So we sat and listened to the radio until the Centre opened. We learned there that we could visit the Parks without paying; the Pass was only for the koala tree top experience, the Churchill Island tour and the Penguin Parade, which is the viewing of the penguins as they come ashore at dusk, something Chris saw many years ago here for free, today costing over thirty dollars a head.
We had also learned last night in the fish and chip place that there was a major event taking place over the weekend at the Grand Prix Circuit on the island; the Tough Mudder. This is a team event where the participants complete a twenty kilometre obstacle course designed by the British military forces. Twenty one thousand contestants had signed up, bringing their support teams (aka wives and husbands and any other hangers-on) and of course any spectators falling outside that category. It is reported as being the “wackiest obstacle course imaginable” featuring “barbed wire, electric shocks, mud” to name but a few of the challenges. All those taking part, either actively or in a spectator role paid $40 per head for the privilege and $47,000 has been raised for Legacy Australia in the process, and the participants who made it earned themselves a red T-Shirt (giving a whole new meaning to the phrase “I got the T-Shirt”), a red sweat-band and a can of beer. It is the first time the event has been staged in Australia; it will become an annual event, and rumour has it the next might be in Geelong.
And so, the girl in the Information Centre told us all about how she watched her nephew take part yesterday, taking a whole six hours to do the course. We subsequently heard that others did it in two or four hours; it seemed to depend on how congested the course was at the time. As a result accommodation on Phillip Island was chocker, the restaurants and bars were as busy as, and of course it all accounted for the amazing amounts of traffic on the road yesterday.
Just for a moment we considered spending $80 to watch masochists put themselves through madness, but then decided our day was better spent exploring the natural wonders of the island.
Phillip Island is connected to San Remo on the mainland by a 640 metre bridge. The island itself is just twenty six kilometres long and nine kilometres wide, with a coastline of ninety seven kilometres. The southern coastline is exposed to the wild Bass Strait, and the northern to the calmer waters of Western Port, which I think is such a silly name for a bay or harbour. The grand prix circuit and the penguin parade, along with the natural wonders of the island (of which of course the penguins are one) attract 3.5 million tourists annually. It is just as well therefore that the bridge was upgraded in 1971, since its predecessor had strict load limits to six tons maximum.
The first settlors here after the Bunorong people, were sealers and graziers. Chicory growers followed and even today some of the remains of the chicory kilns with their pyramid shaped roofs remain. As with so much of Australia, water was a major problem, and tourism became the main activity, with ferries bringing the tourists from 1878 across from Hastings on the Mornington Peninsula.
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| The wild south coast of Phillip Island |
Today we explored the southern side of the island, starting with the far reaches, the Summerlands Peninsula from where one can see The Nobbies and Seal Rocks, a collection of rugged islands beyond the most western point. Again we were early here at the Centre as were dozens of others, most with children whose body clocks had yet to change to winter time. The information section of the Nobbies Centre has excellent displays, geared particularly toward children but not so much as to be patronising for adults. We spent some time there enjoying the educational aspect of the displays and happy to be out of the squall we had experienced while walking the board walk above the cliffs. Despite the weather, the scenery was magnificent; the rugged rocks below and the side of the cliff top covered in ice plants showing as much in the way of autumn colours that ice-plants can.
The day was dull and grey, but the showers did seem to be isolated to the coastline. We drove further on through the National Park from where we had wonderful views over the wild rocky coast. We pulled into the parkland about Swan Lake, the only permanent water source on the island, and walked the boards to the bird hides before settling under some trees for lunch. Soon the sun came out and promised a more pleasant afternoon.
Back on the road, we paused to watch surfers waiting for the waves and chatted with a man who is now living at San Remo but working on the construction of the desalination plant at Wonthaggi. He has the best of both lives, earning big money on the construction and enjoying a medley of surf beaches at his back door. He appeared to be single; no mention was made of any long suffering wife.
We drove back east along the road passing the racing circuit and got caught up in a traffic jam. Police were attempting to control the level of congestion with manual points duty and the other motorists were exceptionally courteous, as we find most Australian drivers are.
We turned south before the island’s exit and drove down to Cape Woolamai. At the end of the road we parked and set off along the beach and then up the cliff, across the shearwater rookery, along to a high point at the very southern tip of the island from where we had a wonderful view down to the pinnacles, great structures of rock standing strongly against the pounding waves.
As we crossed the flat land atop the cliffs we could see the many burrows made by birds, some current and some from past seasons, the low scrub not entirely camouflaging the entrances. We noted too the many tiny snails clinging to the plant life and wondered whether they would go well with butter and garlic. Chris was not keen to find out. So we returned to the vehicle, joined the throngs on the road and were soon home again.
Chris popped in to the camp office to extend another day and we had a brief moment on Skype with Charlie who was rather exhausted after spending his fourth birthday at the beach with friends and family.
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