We were told to be at the Penguin tour at 8.15. Arrived at 8 to find we were the last there. We split into 2 groups of about 12 (we had 3 kids in ours) and went down to the beach. The Penguins are around 33 cm high and weigh about 1 kg. We were told to stand still and the Penguins would come close to us. Of course the eldest kid (about 6/7) can't stand still. The Penguins got to the shoreline but didn't come up the beach so we walked back up to the bushes where the nests are. The tour guide had an orange light which does not disturb the birds. He shone it on the nest and 2 baby penguins were sitting there. Of course the kid runs up to them and they disappeared back into the nest. The guide tried hard to get the kid to stand still but the parents weren't any help (not mentioning nationalities). We spent just over an hour wandering the sand dunes and beach and saw about 12 birds and was within 2 feet of them. One bird walked over the guide's helper's foot. It was a good night and we were lucky to see the birds we did as it is the end of the breeding season and there are only about 5 nests left. Would recommend this tour. Nowhere near as sophisticated as Phillip Island but nowhere near the numbers or cost of Phillip Island.
We had changed into long pants and took a jumper with us as we thought it would be cool by the beach at night. Didn't even need the jumpers. It was a very pleasant evening.
No photos today, as Penguins have no eyelids, there was no flash photography allowed. The light could blind them.
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