The day started out with us nearly late and lost rying to find Sorrento Pier. I had already paid over the phone for this place and wasnt going to miss out. The plan was to take the boat out to hot spots for sea lions, dolphins, sharks, and the rarest sea creature of all, the Sea Dragon. The ladies who operate the boat and scuba tou are very firm environmentalists. They were so hesitant about even letting us borrow plastic bags to put our clothes while we swam. She told us two important things: 1. Do not pet the animals, the don't know food from affection. 2. Breath. Just because my face is in the water, doesnt mean I dont have a good source of O2 coming to me. That was the hardest part for me because I couldnt take in the fact that I could breath underwater. I was too freaked out that I couldnt imagine taking in a deep breath with a tube in my mouth while I am in the water. I eventually calmed down and learned how to keep my head at an angle while looking under water. We started by watching the massive Sea Lions, which were all males at this spot, swim around, playing with eachother, bumping into us, and even swimming right up to our faces and just staring at us. It was an amazing thing. We kept searching for dolphins and ended up by a dock that has an amazing amount of unique sea life. We decided to hop out and search for the Sea Dragon. A large and colorful version of the Sea Horse, it would swim around, breed, eat, and be a spectacular and scary sight. The thing is massive. We saw blowfish and other small reef fish swimming around too. When we returned to the ship, we had scones and hot chocolate as we continued looking for dolphin spots. Unfortunately they had been scared off by drunk kids who had been harming them earlier that morning, so they were no where to be found. After the scuba tour was over, we enjoyed talking about the many adventures the seafaring captain and her crew had.
On the drive home, we drove along to coast line and watched surfers, and swimmers, and just beachside relaxers. Our next main agenda was the Parade of Penguins. That is an event where the penguins march to shore on Phillip Island to return home for the night. It happens literally every night. They put on a show with bleachers and lights, but we arent allowed to bring flash cameras or disturb the penguins in any way. We arrived home for lunch and relaxed for a bit. We planned to go as a group and drive out there to make it before sunset. We picked up everyone we could fit and headed out. We arrived an hour before the penguins would arrive and grabbed some seats right in front. It started to rain a little but we were too distracted as waves and waves of these small little penguins began waddling up the beach. They start out slowly walking out of the water and the first part of the beach. Once they hit a certain point, they bow their heads a little bit and begin running for it. Even though they arent in real danger, there can be a larger animal or too that either intimidates them or can harm them. It was a fun little show to watch. This time of the year especially. Many newborns and pregnant females were seen coming up on the beach and scurrying into the bush.
After the show we bought a few souvenirs and headed home.
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