The little Phillip Island south of Melbourne
in southern Victoria
is mostly known for its
penguins.
But there are also some great nature and rock formations like
the Nobbies and the Seal Rocks, a large seal colony, a koala
conservation centre and the Grand Prix Circuit. Here is some Phillip
Island travel information, and in the end of the page is one of the
Phillip Island maps.
How to Get to Phillip Island
There are two ways to get to Phillip Island. One is to drive south from
Melbourne to Mornington peninsula, and catch a ferry to Cowes via
French Island. The other way is to drive the south Gippsland Highway
south-east and then the Bass Highway south to Bass and San Remo and
cross a bridge across the Narrows.
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Eastern Phillip Island Australia
If you come this way, first on your left hand side there is Woolamai
Waters and the Cape Woolamai. In Woolamai Waters there are a few surf
beaches (also known for rip currents so swim between the flags) and the
Woolamai Surf Life Saving Club. In the Cape Woolamai there is a fauna
reserve and different bushwalking tracks around the cape and the rugged
red rock formations called the Pinnacles.
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Central Phillip Island Australia
As you continue northwest along the Phillip Island Road, you’ll come to
the Koala Conservation Centre, where you can see koalas
really close from a treetop
walk. It is a good opportunity for close-up photos where koalas look as
if they were in the wild. The Koala Conservation Centre is in the
Phillip Island Nature Park.
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Southern Phillip Island Australia
On the southern coast of the Phillip Island is the basaltic rock
formation called Pyramid Rock, and some of the island’s best beaches
such as Smiths Beach and Berrys Beach. Between the two is the Grand
Prix Circuit, that hosted the Australian Motorcycle Grand Prix in 1989.
There is a visitor centre there and you can even join organised tours.
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Phillip Island Penguins
West from here is the number one tourist attraction in Victoria – the
Penguin Parade. Every evening just at the sunset, Little Penguins – the
smallest penguins in the world – come out of the ocean at Summerland
Beach and walk into their nests in the Spinifex, totally ignoring the
crowds of people who are watching them from a specially built
boardwalk. It is an amazing experience to see them, despite the fact
that on busy nights the crowds get too big to really enjoy it. The
ticket money goes towards Little Penguin conservation.
Seal Rocks and The Nobbies
North from the Penguin Parade is the Shelly Beach, and west are the
Nobbies – a rugged coastline in the western cape of the island. Behind
the Nobbies are Seal Rocks, where you can see Australia’s largest seal
colony of about 7000 fur seals.
Despite the fact that Kangaroo
Island in South
Australia is more famous for
its seals, the populations here are bigger.
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Places to Stay on Phillip
Island Australia
Hotels and motels include Banfields
Motel, Coachman
Motel and Holiday Units, Seahorse
Motel, The
Continental Hotel and Tropicana
Motor Inn.
Resorts include All
Seasons Phillip Island Resort, Comfort
Resort Kaloha and Phillip
Island Resort Hotel.
Holiday apartments include Glen
Isla Apartments, Quest
Apartments, Quest
Oceanic Apartments, The
Avenue Apartments and The
Waves Apartments.
Other accommodation includes Amaroo
Park Accommodation, Aussie
Golf Ranch at Red Rocks Homestead, Central
Cowes Townhouses, Cliff
Top Botique Accommodation, Cottages
for Two, Cowes
Haven, Elisabeth
Cove Cottage and Beach House, Glen
Isla House, Hill
of Content Suites, Holmwood
Guesthouse, Shearwater
Rise Holiday House, The
Island Accommodation and Woodbyne
Cottages.
Here's one of Phillip Island maps where I
have tagged the places that I mentioned on this web page. You can click
on the tags to see what places they are, and double-click anywhere on
the map to zoom it in and see the places closer. Drag the map to move
around, and if you want to see the satellite image with Google Earth,
click on "Sat" in the top right hand corner.
Note:
This site uses
British English, which is the English we use in Australia. You will
find words like "traveller", "harbour" and "realise", and they are all
correct in the language used in Australia.
Disclaimer: Although
best efforts have been made to ensure
that all the information on this site is correct,
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