I say Penguin, you say Potato..

Wow.. what a day! I really wish you all could have been here for this one!

Today was Penguin Parade day.. We started our day off pretty early to get some Melbourne sightseeing done.. We went to Federation Square and Flinders St. Station. Thought it was going to take a lot longer than it did, so I went back to the hotel for a little nap before the minibus came to pick us up.

Our day tour was with the same company as yesterdays.. but today's guide was the one we didn't want.. he was a little too Type A for us.. He actually wasn't so bad as the day progressed..

Anyway.. so our first stop for the day was the Botanical Royal Garden.. Just a bunch of native Australian plants to see.. wasn't too exciting for me..

Then it was off to Panny's Chocolate Factory.. it was pretty cool.. we got to go through the chocolate making process.. and actually got to do a lot of the steps such as crushing the beans and getting out the cocoa butter and such.. Then we got the chance to "shape" our own chocolate piece.. it was really yummy!

Next we were off to the Koala Conservation park where I got to see at least 10 wild koalas.. and a wallaby! Most of the koalas were so high up in the trees that we could barely see them..

After the Koalas it was a stop at the Nobbies where seals usually are.. except for this time of year, so it was pretty uninteresting..

Then it was off to our last stop of the day.. The Penguin Parade!! Luckily Brian signed us up for the personal penguin experience, in which we were in a group of 7 with our own park ranger guiding our experience...

He took us around to show us a few exhibits, and then we were out to the beach.. We got front row seats.. and by front row I mean everyone else had to stay behind the cones.. but we were allowed to stay in front of the cones sitting on sand..

We waited a while waiting for little penguin heads to begin popping up and finally we saw them! They are the funniest little things every.. The penguins in this colony were formally known as Fairy Penguins.. but now they are called "Little Penguins".. and little they are!

They always come out of the water in the same place.. and hop onto the land at a specific track.. well I guess the land was moved about a week ago.. so some of the penguins were a little confused as to how to get to their track..

I'm getting ahead of myself now though.. first.. how they actually make it onto the beach.. once they pop their heads up and find their specific place to exit the water.. they come out in small groups.. one penguin will go first to make sure the coast is clear.. if he feels that it is not then he will run back to the water and all of the penguins will follow him (which is pretty humourous..); however, if he/she feels it is safe they slowly start walking towards their track.. very slow at first and then all of a sudden.. they RUN FOR IT! It was soooo funny to watch! Then once they find their track they hop up on the land and go off..

OK now that that is explained.. I will go back to talking about how they were confused.. Well a group of penguins got REALLY confused as to where their track was.. so they began wondering into the crowd, until they were slowly ushered back under the ropes by the rangers.. well as I said before.. we got to sit on the other side of the cones right under the rope.. so the penguins went RIGHT past us.. and by RIGHT past us I mean within 6inches to a foot away from me! They were so close I could reach out and touch them.. It was illegal to do that so of course I did not.. but I wanted to! The ranger said that only once in a blue moon do you get an experience like that! It was soo cool.. they went past us twice.. so awesome!

I didn't tell you this before, but we were not able to take any photographs during our experience because the flash is dangerous for the penguins eyes.. However after our experience we did get a professional picture looking at the penguins..

After we left the beach.. we watched the penguins find their home up on the land.. it was fake mating season.. so some of the penguins were mating.. which was interesting I guess..

It was just so cool watching the wild penguins in their natural environment.. and with them being so close to you!

Rita.. as a penguin lover.. you need to do this sometime in your life!!

Anyways.. once we were done watching the penguins.. it was back to the bus to head back to Melbourne..

OK.. here is where I ask a favor from all of you.. tomorrow we are to go on a hot air balloon ride.. but I'm asking you to pray that it doesn't rain here so we can actually go this time!!

Tomorrow is our last day here in Australia.. I'm so sad! But it should be a pretty good day.. hot air balloon ride, Melbourne Zoo, and the Old Melbourne Gaol..

Alright.. gotta hit the sack.. I have to be up at 4:30am!!