Little Little Penguins!

The world's smallest penguins only stand 33 cm tall, thats a little over 1 foot.  They are cute little critters.  Living only in Australia and no where else, they are protected and are one of the fine gems of Australian wildlife.  The largest colony lives on Phillip Island, a 2 hour drive from Melbourne and on the outskirts on the Southern most tip of Australia, besides Tasmania.  Below is a postcard photo that I took as no photography was allowed at the park as the flashes disorientate the penguins and can cause anxiety.  The life of the Little Penguin begins at sunrise.  Prior to the sun rise before it peaks above the horizon the Little Penguins waddle from their burrows that can be up to 2km from the beach and into the surf.  From there they swim all day feeding and filling their bellies until sunset (roughly 9pm during the summer months of December to January). At sunset the 1500 or so Little Penguins that are located at the Penguin Parade National Park, arrive and dash across the open beach to the protected dunes and bluffs.  From there they scamper back to their burrows to feed their spouses and little ones.  They repeat the same thing the next day.  Quite the life they live!

These are the Little Penguins, the smallest penguins in the world and are only found in  Australia.  

Where I sat was at the Penguin Plus area where you can get an up and close experience and see them fairly close.   The wait was long; however, once the sun set it was a thrilling experience.

The beach where they crossed the beach.  It was super close.

Overlooking the other beach where the other penguins come ashore.  This also overlooks the general admission area

Some of the penguin man made burrows

Man made burrow with a waiting penguin.

Prior to the pivotal evening, my uncle and I drove to Phillip Island's wildlife park to give him the Australian experience of feeding the kangaroos and wallabies.  So more photos of this safari.

They are soo cute!

Thats an emu

At the watering hole

Kookaburra sitting in the old gum tree.....merry merry

Wallaby

Dingos

 After the wildlife park, we drove to the Nobbies, one of the other national parks that has a large population of seals, shearwaters, and sea gulls.  The sheawaters migrate all the way from Alaska to Australia, our visit didn't see any; however, there were thousands of gulls with their chicks.

The visitor's center

Surfs up dude!

Seal on the beach!

It was another great weekend!

This past week was a hot one, it reached above 102 degrees and it was terribly hot, something that I am not use to at all.  It can get up to 110 degrees easily in January.  As long as its sunny thats fine with me, I swear I am in a happier mood when i get plenty of Vitamin D.  :)

It was 1 degree hotter but I missed it for this photo shoot.

Next week should be full a normal weather week.  This weekend and next weekend won't be too exciting besides working on Saturdays and resting and taking it easy on Sundays.  Should be a peaceful two weekends and plenty of time to rest up and plan for the next two months worth of activities.