Fairy Penguins On Parade

click images to enlarge

We arrived at our final tour destination, the main attraction of our Go West Tours day long adventure, The Penguin Parade.  It was about 7 PM when we arrived.   There was time to have something to eat and explore the visitor center before heading out to the viewing platform. 

While eating in their cafe, we checked our emails and saw the email from Princess Cruises, that due to Coronavirus, our cruise would be terminated in Fremantle, Australia.  It was supposed to continue to Thailand and end in Singapore, where the ship would go into dry dock for some enhancements.

Not even this news could dampen our excitement to see the Fairy Penguins march from the sea to their nesting places.   By now, the weather was getting worse, however.  It was cold, windy, and raining.  Fortunately, we had worn rain gear, so we were pretty comfortable.

There are several different vantage points to see the Penguin Parade.  General seating is included in the base tour price or you can upgrade them. We purchased "Penguins Plus" tickets which got us preferred seating on an elevated platform.

The image above was enhanced to add in some Fairy Penguins.   The arrow shows the path they take from the sea. 

Important Tip: Sorry! No photography or filming is permitted at the Penguin Parade. 

Penguins have sensitive eyes and a bright, sudden flash or unusual light can frighten or disorientate a penguin. To ensure penguins keep coming back to this special area they ask you do not use your cameras, camcorders or camera phones at the Penguin Parade.

Download their free app for access to a gallery of images that are yours to keep and share! You can also view and download free photos at their online gallery (Google Chrome browser recommended).

We've included Phillip Island Nature Park's video so that you can get an idea of what we experienced.  The parade started around 8 PM or so.   We watched for awhile and then started the walk back along the boardwalk.   This was actually the best viewing as the penguins were walking alongside us as we headed back to the visitor center.

"Experience the magic of little penguins returning home at sunset to one of the largest penguin colonies in Australia"

What an amazing day.  Each stop on the Go West Tour was better than the one before.  The only thing that would have improved the tour, would have been nicer weather, but that is out of our control.  We met our driver around 9 PM and we all settled in for the 3 hour drive back to our hotels. 

We highly recommend Go West Tours Melbourne Australia.   If this is representative of their other tours, you won't go wrong selecting any of them.

For more images from our Penguin Parade stop, see our Phillip Island Penguin Parade photo album.

We'll talk more about our first day in Melbourne in another post.  For more images, see our Shutterfly Photo Page.
Hopefully, you've followed us live on our social media channels as well.  Don't worry if you didn't, as our anchor post will tie everything together for you.  Just click the image (left) to our diary post.

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