the short getaway...

at the last minute we decided while we had a few days off together we would go for a short getaway. I had been wanting to go somewhere in the week between Christmas and New Year but hadn't been able to commit to anything. I had a visit to Robe SA in mind but we decided on Phillip Island, being able to find some accommodation at short notice was the clincher.

We ended up staying at the Aussie Golf Ranch at Cowes and it turned out to be just perfect. A single cabin style on the 9 hole golf course was just what we needed. It was a 10 minute walk through the bush and over the dunes to the beach, and a short drive to the town of Cowes. I was surprised at how busy Cowes was, I was expecting it to be similar to Port Fairy but it was larger and very busy with the influx of tourist visitors. The traffic was bumper to bumper before we even got to the Island and I imagine during the Grand Prix it would be worse.

 Our first, and only, visit to Phillip Island was back in 1984, before we were married. We had a weekend away on Chris' motorbike with a few friends from his Sth Melb workplace. Much has changed since then!

So we set out to explore the island, visiting the Nobbies and the Blow Hole, spying some fairy penguins in their nesting boxes. It was warm and drizzling rain but that didn't deter us or other tourists. Large facilities at the Nobbies and the Penguin Parade have been built for the tourists since our last visit and it has become very commercial. We enjoyed our visit to the Grand Prix circuit but it was too wet to try out the go karts.

the Blow Hole

at the Nobbies

fairy penguins

the Nobbies

Back in the day you could walk over to the Nobbies and explore the rock pools etc, but I suppose to protect the wildlife and the environment there are rules and restrictions in place to prevent you going off the board walk. Nevertheless we enjoyed ourselves.

Grand Prix home straight

still raining at Rhyll

sunset beach walk

 the weather did clear and become very hot and I was a little jealous of the surfers at Woolamai Beach

Woolamai 

We explored briefly all ends of the large island and I feel like we had a good break. I love the beach and really enjoyed this break. Now I am ready to face 2017 and new challenges.