Penguins Plus Package

The Nobbies - Phillip Island

It is cold. We're on the beach. As the sun sets, only the small lights placed in intervals light up the sand dimly. And the penguins begin to waddle up. I can barely see the dark figures as they tumble out of the surf. So when they appear much closer, illuminated by the glow cast from the lights,  it is almost magical. And they just keep coming! Some determined to get home, others stopping to shake water from their feathers. Some stop, dawdle, looking for a mate. And the sounds of their success fill the night.

The magic is there  - not quite spoiled by the scene I'm taking part in. We sit on bleachers. We've purchased the "Penguins Plus" Package, which means a ranger (Ranger Andy) is presiding over the group of spectators. He has a microphone. He answers questions, but mostly just corrals the crowd. "No sitting on the stairs. Camera's away. Back to your seats..." The hushed excitement of the crowd is huge at the start. Necks crane to spot the first penguins. Everyone waits expectantly. But after about 20 minutes of the parade, people begin to drift away to buy coffees or head home. The giant tour buses in the parking lot begin to fill up and roll back towards the city.

We've already been to the gift shop. One of two in the giant, fancy visitor's center entirely devoted to these little penguins. It is full of every variety of stuffed toy, sweatshirt, jewelry, key chains... all be-penguined. There is a cafe, a learning area, a small movie theater playing a film about the penguins on a loop. Staff members with walkie-talkies gaurd the big glass doors. Nobody outside on the boardwalk until it's time!

All of this just so that we can watch these little, less than 1-foot-tall, birds come home from a day of fishing and wander up the cliff to their holes. It all seems rather ridiculous when I consider it. Bleachers on a beach, people munching popcorn. A spectator sport? Or maybe it really isn't so absurd. Maybe this is what we should be paying to watch instead of cars racing around in circles or people in layers of padding bashing into each other. I know I'm happier here with the penguins.

Little Penguins Under the Boardwalk - Phillip Island

Photo Credit - Sam Dilliway