This was published 2 years ago
A trip down memory lane: Venturing to Victoria’s Phillip Island
A trip down memory lane.Credit: Getty Images.
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Islands are the stuff of childhood imagination, distant and exciting, where you might find a lost treasure, have a pirate adventure, or get castaway like Robinson Crusoe.
Admittedly Phillip Island isn't exactly remote. No doubt plenty of Melbournians will remember trundling down for the day in the back of the family car with Boney M playing on the radio as they squabbled with their siblings. And it has been attached to the mainland by a bridge since 1938 – you'd have to be a ripe age to remember getting there by ferry.
Still, the bridge is a mere grappling hook that stops Phillip Island drifting off to Antarctica. And although I was actually in my early twenties when I first visited Phillip Island, I reckon I still had a mind for childish things.
Perfect for the whole family
Credit: Getty.
It was a thrill to be crossing a bridge to somewhere undiscovered, which is one of the reasons Phillip Island creates a memorable family holiday. It feels separate and special.
I didn't grow up in Australia, and so I had a child's wonder at things others might have taken for granted, like koalas up trees and the unnerving screech of cockatoos. And of course, the penguins. Some animals bring out the kid in all of us, and who doesn't love a penguin? I'd never seen one in the wild before.
I was in awe of those penguins. They were tiny and bobbed about on the vast ocean, and then came back like clockwork toys. Their feathers weren't black but deep, rich camouflage blue. I bet there wasn't one child that went away from Summerland Beach without a penguin pen, a penguin puzzle or a stuffed toy penguin from the visitor centre. I bet there still isn't.
What I remember is the ranger providing penguin information that nobody was really listening to, because we were so entranced with the penguins themselves that we were struck deaf and dumb. These days the information is relayed through headphones – will that make a difference? I don't think so. You'll still be focused on the sand, the chilly wind and the little lurching animals.
The Little Penguin Parade is something your kids will remember for the rest of their lives. The penguins come tumbling from the surf just before dusk and waddle up the beach, as upright and self-important as a convention of butlers.
I remember birds everywhere on Phillip Island. Black swans and pelicans with gaping pink mouths like laughing clowns. Shearwaters that flew in from Alaska and Japan, making my own journey here seem like a mere dawdle. Don't miss an excursion to Cape Woolamai, where the bird watching is amazing. Tell the kids it's considered good luck if they get pooed on.
And another thing I'll always remember are my first fur seals, fat and floppy on rocks, twitching their whiskers like disapproving magistrates. Take a seal-watching cruise to the well-named Seal Rocks, because no young person can fail to enjoy these playful creatures – and what child wouldn't adore how stinky they are?
Adventure afoot
Credit: Getty.
Phillip Island is an adventure island. It has tortured cliffs, strange rocky outcrops, and at The Nobbies a snorting blowhole and thundering sea cave.
Another thing that will provide a very happy holiday morning is to head to Smiths Beach and poke around in the rock pools, with their beards of seaweed and scuttling creatures.
Phillip Island had tacky holiday entertainments too, like go-karting and mini-golf, that reminded me of seaside jaunts when I was even younger.
The chocolate factory wasn't there back then if I remember rightly – this was way back in another millennium! – but don't miss this family delight now. It's shades of Willy Wonka and his Oompa-Loompas.
And okay, you'll have to deal with the sugar high afterwards, but it will be worth it. These are the holiday memories that linger in your children's minds forever.
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