Australia
Observation Point

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    • Day 54

      Day 54: Rhyll, Phillip Island, Australia

      February 14 in Australia ⋅ ☁️ 61 °F

      Good Morning Everyone! We have just dropped anchor in Western Port Bay. Donna and I got up at our leisure; had breakfast at the World Cafe.

      It’s about 10:20 AM and the ship tender boats have started the task of getting people on to shore. The BIG event at Phillip Island is the March of the Little Penguin Parade which happens this evening. I will be sure to post pictures of this event tomorrow. I am pretty sure I watch a TV documentary on this a long time ago. Pretty cool we will get to see this event of nature tonight. - More to come.

      In the meantime, enjoy the photos of our view. I think our plan is to go into town for a bit and check it out - then tonight to see the Penguin Parade.

      Update: Donna & I were heading towards the tenders to go ashore. People were already coming back; reporting no power on the island, shops closed, weather is cold & windy. Since we knew once we would get a shore we wouldn’t be back to the ship until after 10:00 pm - change of plans - stay on board until the 5:15 PM Penguin Parade excursion tonight — back to blogging catch up.
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    • Day 54

      Day 54: Meet “Ledi Gaga”

      February 14 in Australia ⋅ ⛅ 64 °F

      This post is long overdue. I am pretty sure it was our first time eating at “The Restaurant” our waitress comes to our table and introduces herself.

      The introduction went something like this

      “Hello my name is Ledi and my national name is “Ledi Gaga” — “Okay”, I said to myself, “that is an unusual name.” Light bulb turns on -“Oh! It’s a joke.” But wait, there’s more, she continues her introduction …

      “I am from North Philly … (a well timed pause) … North Philippines.”

      This is one funny young lady, who you will never forget.

      Every time we see her she is sure to acknowledge us and if she is not running 100 mph she will stop and have a quick chat.

      I am sure she is the person on the crew that keeps the party going below decks. “Ledi Gaga” (I get it now.) Has plans on buying/building a house in “North Philly” and in her free time she is a free diver. That’s just plain crazy to me.

      In an earlier post, I mentioned we all have back stories - the more I learn the more amazed and humbled I am to be on this cruise.

      If you have any “Ledi Gaga” stories - or stories about any of the crew members I have featured, or just want to give a shout-out to them — please feel free to do so by replying on either the FB posts, or the FindPenguins post. Your stories will add to the kudos and support we can give to those who continue to give to us.

      #myVikingJourney. #myVikingStory #vikingNeptune
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    • Day 54

      Another day in Melbourne

      February 13 in Australia ⋅ 🌬 31 °C

      From Melbourne I took a tour to the Healesville Sanctuary, about an hour away. The bus took us through the suburbs and the Australian bush. The suburbs look like the USA; however to prevent too much urban sprawl the city encircled itself with a green belt and restricted the kind of housing that could be built beyond the green belt. I was looking forward to seeing the Australian bush. It looked pretty green and had a lot of vineyards and fruit orchards. Not at all what I imagined!

      The wildlife sanctuary was great. See pictures.
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    • Day 39

      02.14.2024 Phillip Island, Australia

      February 14 in Australia ⋅ ⛅ 63 °F

      Happy Valentine’s Day! We are on anchored off the coast of Phillip Island. It’s very cool today. 64 degrees but sunny. And of course windy. It’s a nice reprieve from the 97 degrees we experienced yesterday in Melbourne.

      Phillip Island forms a natural breakwater for the shallow waters of the Western Port. It is 26 km (16 mi) long and 9 km (5.6 mi) wide, with an area of about 101 km2 (40 sq mi).[4] It has 97 km (60 mi) of coastline and is part of the Bass Coast Shire.
      A 640 m (2,100 ft) concrete bridge (originally a wooden bridge) connects the mainland town San Remo with the island town Newhaven.[4] In the 2021 census, the island's permanent population was 13,799

      Phillip Island is home to Australia's largest colony of little penguins, with an impressive 40,000 breeding penguins found on the Summerland Peninsula. The little penguin is not only the smallest of all penguins weighing around 1kg but also the only penguin with blue and white feathers.

      Myron spent his morning at the spa and Diana had a class where we made our own body scrub. It was very fun. We did tender to shore but there was a huge storm last night so they were without power which meant the stores were not open and if they were they only took cash. Melbourne was also without power so our timing to leave there was excellent.

      Our included excursion was to see the penguins as they come ashore by the hundreds at sunset. Photos are not allowed but this is what they look like. Diana’s favorite part was the wallaby drinking.
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    Observation Point, Q21905774

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