5 Things We Love to Do on Phillip Island
We’re very, very lucky to have a holiday house in Cowes, on Phillip Island. A feeling of calm and peacefulness come over me whenever we cross the bridge on to the Island. It’s amazing. We go there as often as possible. This summer we’ve been here for two glorious weeks - heaven!
Phillip Island is located about 140 km south east from Melbourne. The Island is known by its Traditional Owners, the Bunurong people, as Millowl.
At first glance it might not seem like it, but there’re actually heaps of things to do!
Here are five of our faves:
Visiting the beach, of course! No matter the weather or season! The beauty of Phillip Island is that it’s got it all: protected beaches with shallow waters ideal for the smaller kiddos, and amazing surf beaches at the other end of the island. We love our local beach, not too far from the Cowes boat ramp, because it’s protected and shallow. Ideal for splashing around, first attempts with the boogie board and practicing swimming, and of course building sand castles! Last week we even had a family of stingrays visiting, coming in close to the shoreline. It was amazing!
And it’s no less amazing during winter. My girls will come home with wet pants for sure, no matter how cold it is. Sand castles still need to be built and sea creatures rescued.
Feeding wallabies at the Phillip Island Wildlife Park. Located just south of Cowes, the wildlife park is home to many, many Australian animals, from kangaroos to snakes. And you can feed most of them too (not the snakes though!). When we came here the first time, my girls were hesitant. The kangaroos can be quite big, and while they’re gentle giants, it’s still a bit frightening. But then they found the wallabies, and they were smitten. Now, we quickly look at some other animals, snakes, echidnas, Tassie devils, maybe the kangaroos and the emus (if we’re brave). And then we’re all off to the wallabies, and we won’t leave until we feel like we’ve given everyone a pat.
Eating ice cream at Isola Gelato - it feels and tastes a bit like Italy (I also have a crush on their colour scheme and branding!). This is hands down the best ice cream on the island, in our opinion. My girls love it, you could even say they’re addicted - lemon, strawberry and chocolate are their favourites (mine’s coffee - go figure, haha). We were here almost every day this summer. It get’s really busy in the evenings, but the queue usually moves quickly. They’re open all year round and ice cream in winter isn’t such a bad idea either.
Picking strawberries - how good is it to pick strawberries and then eat them straight away? Awesome, right? Phillip Island Strawberries is a special strawberry farm though, because they are grown in vertical planters (no more bending down or crawling on the ground!). And everyone gets small scissors to cut the strawberries off. My girls, particularly Ms M (4 yo), loves cutting things, so to be allowed to cut strawberries just made her day. They’re open 3 days a week (Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday) from 10am to 4pm. However, it’s best to check google for opening hours, because it also depends of fruit availability.
Strolling along the boardwalk at the Nobbies at the tip of the Summerland Peninsula - the views from the board walk are just stunning, over looking the Bass Strait and Seal Rock (home of Australia's largest fur seal colony), with amazing cliffs and blow holes. If you bring binoculars, you might even spot seals hanging out at Seal Rock or, during winter, a passing whale. There are heaps of Cape Barren Geese nesting there, with babies hatching late winter and spring. Sometimes you might even see the odd penguin in their burrows, the ones that haven’t gone out fishing or the early home comers in the evening. We always enjoy the stroll along the board walk. It’s different every time. My favourite time is at dusk, when in addition to all the other wildlife the wallabies start making an appearance. Of note, though, the road to the Nobbies closes at sunset near the Penguin Parade, so don’t leave it too late.
The Nobbies Visitor Centre is also home to the Antarctic Journey, where you can learn and experience what it’s like even further south. It’s one of our favourite ‘rainy day’ activities.
I would love to do more hikes around the Island, like the Cape Woolamai Circuit, but the kiddos aren’t quite there yet.
And then there’s the penguins, of course! But I don’t need to tell you about these little cuties, right? That’s what Phillip Island is famous for, the Penguin Parade, where thousands of Little Penguins waddle in at sunset. We enjoy watching them and definitely recommend a visit.
If you’d like to come visit and are looking for a place to stay, Phillip Island Holiday Homes have a great selection of homes for rent (including ours ;-)).
And if you’d like to have your visit documented and preserved through beautiful photos, please reach out and let’s have a chat! I’m here at least once a month :-)