Food Tours · Tour

Sparkling at the Nobbies, Then the Penguins Come In

Everyone goes to Phillip Island for the penguins. This tour treats the rest of the day as the point and the penguins as the ending, which is the right way round. Twelve hours, fifteen people, starting with a barista coffee at the Arts Centre in Melbourne. San Remo first, the fishing village at the bridge, where the pelicans hang around the foreshore and the coast starts. Then Phillip Island Winery, which most visitors do not know exists: a cellar door tasting of six Gippsland wines with grazing boards of Victorian meats, cheeses and bread, then a wood-fired pizza lunch with sea-salt fries and salads. On some days the meal happens at a seaside restaurant instead, with the same menu. Cowes in the afternoon, the island's main town, for the beaches and the shops at your own pace, or the koalas at the conservation reserve. Flynns Beach on the way through. The Nobbies at golden hour is the part people are least prepared for. Clifftop boardwalks over Bass Strait, seabirds, wallabies and fur seals, and a glass of sparkling wine as the light goes. Then the Penguin Parade. General viewing entry, the visitor centre, and several thousand little penguins coming out of the water at dusk and walking up the beach, which is the most visited wildlife attraction in Australia. Fifteen at most, in English, on a midi-coach with WiFi, with the guide, the wine tasting, the grazing platter, lunch, the sparkling and the Penguin Parade entry. There is time to buy your own dinner at the Penguin Parade if you want it. Drop-off at the Arts Centre, or city hotels on request.