One of Melbourne’s main attractions is Phillip Island. Phillip Island is about 90 minutes drive from the city and in my head I imagined it would be something like Brisbane’s Stradbroke Island.
You know Straddie…
- It’s North Stradbroke Island Week Here on BobinOz
- North Stradbroke Island: Day Two
- Why I Never Took to Train Spotting
- Whale Watching at Point Lookout on Stradbroke Island
But Phillip Island isn’t anything like Stradbroke Island at all. There are a couple of major differences, firstly, this…
You can drive all the way to Phillip Island, with Straddie you need to get on a ferry for about an hour. Phillip Island is therefore far more accessible and as a result, more populated. It has more shops, more bars, more restaurants, more roads and more to do.



Like Straddie, Phillip Island has lots of rugged beaches as well…


But Stradbroke Island’s charm is its lack of so many things; just a few roads, only a handful of shops, maybe a couple of pubs, and a real back to basics feel about it. Neither Island is better than the other, they are just both totally different.
The wildlife on Stradbroke is probably its biggest attraction, but here’s the second thing Straddie doesn’t have that Phillip Island does.
Little Penguins
Yes, Straddie may have kangaroos, koalas, dolphins, whales, turtles and a whole host of other cuties, but they just don’t have penguins.
We nearly went to see the penguins on Phillip Island, but we didn’t. If we had, we wouldn’t have been allowed to take photographs; these people were though. Fortunately for us, ‘these people’ are pretty good with their cameras in their hands, they’ve taken quite a bit of video before.
So, come on, let’s all watch this together. I hope you’re all as excited as I am, I’m really looking forward to the penguin waddle.
Ready?
Great, it’s penguin time..