No One Thing: Penguin Parade

There's something called a Penguin Parade. Penguins, entirely of their instinct and behavior, walk from point A to point B, predictably and with hundreds of humans sitting and standing along their path to watch it happen. Humans, being humans, pay for the privilege of watching this experience, despite it being cold and dark.

It was totally worth it.

Day three of the road trip, after our insane hike at Tidal River, we drove to Philip Island.

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We needed to be there before 6, in order to check in to the hotel, get some food, and get to our seats at the Penguin Parade before sunset (which is in the rules for the parade). So, we were in a rush, and the kid was becoming appropriately cranky with the being stuck in the car seat and hungry and all that. When we got to the hotel, I noticed she seemed warm, and I worried she was getting sick, but she perked up with food and getting out of the car, so we continued with our penguin parade plans.

The opportunity to play with a tv and remotes usually helps perk her up.

Driving out to the parade. Signs that say "Penguin Parade" are awesome. Because, seriously. A parade of penguins!

Cameras are a serious no-no at the penguin parade. Flashes would scare them, and without a flash you're not going to get any picture anyway, because the penguins really don't come on shore until after the sun sets, so there's no point to trying, anyway. Security has their hands full keeping people from taking pictures, though. I took a few quick shots of us waiting, with my phone, and felt guilty about it, but we needed something to keep us occupied while sitting in the cold and waiting for penguins.

After sunset, when the Little Penguins don't have to worried about their predators - mostly hawks that depend on sight for hunting - they start to swim ashore in groups. The first few groups we saw hanging out in the breaking waves off shore, watching to be sure it would safe to climb out. They'd come up to the beach, take a step or two, then run back into the water. It was adorable. These were groups of parent penguins, coming back to their nests with food for the chicks.

After watching several dozen swim ashore and waddle off into the sand dunes, it was really too cold and dark to stay in the bleachers any longer. We picked up the kid and started walking back along the boardwalk. Every few feet though, we'd stop and watch the penguin chicks popping their heads out of their burrows, looking for their parents. Have I mentioned how adorable this was? I loved it.

Credit: http://mesh.biology.washington.edu/penguinProject/Little

In the morning though, the baby's fever was worse. Bad enough that we went looking for a doctor. That was fun for me, because there's nothing better than making Heather spend her vacation in a doctor's waiting room (her fear of doctors and needles is legendary). Kaylee was diagnosed with infected tonsils, we went and picked up her antibiotics, drugged her up with lots of tylenol, and hoped for the best for the rest of the day.