Penguins, koalas and wallabies, oh my! (and some other stuff)

By Thursday we were feeling confident (cocky?) enough to do a day on our own in the city and let David and Beth have a bit of a respite from tour-guiding.  We successfully made it the the train station and added money to our fare cards.  While at the station.  I chatted a bit with a railway employee and learned that Australia does not have a standard, national railway gauge, but three.  Victoria is generally wide gauge, and he said the track at the platform where the train to Sydney (in New South Wales) leaves will have 3 rails--so trains with two  different wheel-spacings can use the same platform.  The US is fortunate that someone bit the bullet around civil war times and standardized the gauge!
Well, we did get on the train when it came and arrived downtown at Flinders Street Station.  Directly across from the station in Federation Square, architecturally quite a contrast with the station and a focal point for city-center activities.

Flinders St. Station

Federation square with water slide concession set up. A bit of the arhitecture is visible to the right.

Our first goal was the Ian Potter Center of the National Gallery of Victoria, which focuses on Australian artists.  The top floor was an exhibition of Aboriginal women artists, for which a gallery walk was offered.  We joined the tour and learned a great deal about symbolism used.  The art was not traditional Aboriginal, but was a modern interpretation of themes and techniques used traditionally.

A couple of examples of the art from the NGV.

We next strolled to the state parliament, stopping at the old treasury building on the way.  There was not much time, but we took a quick look at the vaults intended to store the gold from the Victorian gold fields.  Unfortunately, the gold fields were drying up at about the time the building was finished, so it is doubtful that the vaults were used for their intended purpose.  The parliament was next door, but unfortunately they have a strict limit of 25 per tour and we were numbers 28 and 29, so had to wait for the next tour.  The building is impressive as might be expected for a parliament building, but it was interesting to note that rooms completed during the prosperous days during/after the gold rush (legislative chambers, library) had extensive gilt decoration, while the room we was that was completed later, while still ornate, was completely monotone  white with no gold.

Victory Parliament

Susan in the upper house chamber.  The chair is where the Queen sits when presiding (last done in 1954).  Some gilding can be seen.

The Queen's Hall.  Named for Queen Victoria.  Note the complete absence of gilding.

Post-tour, we took the vintage loop tram which encircles the central business district.  All trams in the CBD (including the loop tram) are free, so it's very convenient to get around there (assuming you know which tram to catch!).  The loop tram includes commentary, but tract noise plus on-board conversations limit the usefulness.

Vintage tram on CBD loop.

After looping back to Flinders St Sta, we stopped briefly at St. Paul's Anglican cathedral, a gothic structure across from the station and Federation Square.  We then caught a tram home and arrived home safely and efficiently.

St. Paul's interior.

Friday was perhaps the coolest (figuratively as temperatures were generally quite warm) yet.  We went to Phillip Island (about 1.5 hours from Melbourne and visited 4 different parks.  We first stopped at Churchill Island, a smaller island off of Philip Island.  This was primarily a historical park focusing on the lives of the various owners over the years.  There are a number of historic buildings and a beautiful garden plus agricultural demonstrations, though we didn't stay for any.

Susan in garden on Churchill Island with 1860s cabins in back.

We next went to the Koala Conservation Center, which had elevated board walks through the gum forest.  We saw probably 15-20 koalas and were able to get within 2-2.5 meters of some of them--much closer than those at Hanging Rock.  A great thing about koala watching is that they are very easy to watch once you see them--they are never in much of a hurry and seem unaffected by the stream of tourists passing by.

One of the koalas.

We next went to the Nobbies Center at the tip of the island.  Outside, there were beautiful views of the ocean and hundreds of penguin nesting boxes, a few of which had chicks that were stirring around a bit.  There are also seals, but they were out on an adjacent island and not observable without binoculars.  Inside, there was a display regarding Antarctica--the wildlife as well as Australian research stations.

Looking out at the South Pacific.  Antarctica is off to the right, but a bit too far to see.

Finally, what was probably the highlight for me, was the penguin parade.  We sat in bleachers on the beach and waited for dusk.  At about 9:00 pm, we could start to see some penguins bobbing in the surf just off the beach.  As more gathered, they would become brave enough to make a group dash across the beach to return to their burrows/nesting boxes up the hill.  As an extra bonus, as we were waiting for the penguins to get grouped, a one wallaby hopped down to the beach, out into the surf a bit, then directly in front of the bleachers before heading back inland.  We watched the penguins arrive for a while, then slowly walked back up the boardwalk and were able to see some of the penguins waddling towards home and feeding their chicks.  Some of the chicks were also out waiting for their parents and making mournful noises. Didn't get home until after midnight, but a day well-spent!

View of penguin landing beach from the bleachers.  Photography was not  allowed during landing so no pics of them or the wallaby.