The sun is slinking over the horizon and the cobalt ocean is fast becoming a sea of blackness. Just as the night drains Phillip Island’s radiant coastline of colour, a white speck pops into being on the edge of the beach. Another materialises beside it. A heartbeat later there are five, eight, 10, defining the coastline like roadside reflectors.
They’re the bellies of the world’s smallest species of penguin – the little penguin. They flock together on the shore, not for warmth but as protection from predators. Their slate-blue plumage makes them difficult to spot in the water, but on land they’re all-too-visible and quickly begin their waddle to their rookery, at the Penguin Parade at Phillip Island Nature Parks.
But in Melbourne’s state of Victoria, you don’t have to venture to the coast to see the wildlife. Pretty much as soon as you leave Melbourne’s city limits, you’ll spy birds, kangaroos and koalas right by the edge of the highway. And watching wildlife is just one of the activities the famously outdoorsy Melbournians relish.
Only an hour’s drive from the city, you’ll find world-class surfing beaches suitable for beginners and pros alike, idyllic wine regions, and stunning national parks, boasting adventures ranging from hiking to horseback riding, scuba diving to sailing, and white-water rafting.
Even the city itself offers visitors a range of pulse-quickening activities, such as kayaking on the Yarra river through the centre of town before ascending the Eureka Tower to take in a vertiginous view of the city from a glass cube jutting from the building’s 88th floor, 285m above the ground. If that doesn’t get your motor running, you can scuba dive with sharks without ever leaving the city at the Melbourne Sea Life Aquarium.
On the road
A road trip is the best way to experience Victoria’s abundant adventures though, and Melbourne is centrally located between two of the country’s most iconic drives. The famous Great Ocean Road takes you west alongside limestone cliff formations, and beaches so spectacular that visitors skydive above them to get the best views, before dropping you off near the foot of Victoria’s magnificent Grampians Ranges: a great area for hiking, with sylvan treks rewarding rock climbers and walkers with ancient Aboriginal rock art.
In the other direction, the Sydney Melbourne Coastal Drive is an equally accessible but less explored route, showcasing some of Victoria’s hidden gems and offering the very real chance to get a secluded cove or pastoral picnic spot all to yourself. At Wilsons Promontory, only 200km from the city, you’ll find an open-air menagerie of marsupials where wombats and wallabies scarcely bat an eye as you pass by on mountain bikes or ramble along shorelines so immaculate that the quartz sand actually squeaks underfoot.
Mornington Peninsula is even closer – just over an hour south-east of Melbourne – and here you can take a horseback tour along golden beaches as turquoise waves lap at your steed’s hooves. The tour then winds its way through beautiful bushland and concludes with you steeping your own feet in the geothermally heated waters of Peninsula Hot Springs.
Snorkel with seadragons
Nearby, in the pristine Port Phillip Bay, you can snorkel with wonderfully weird weedy seadragons, while multi-award-winning marine animal ecotours allow small groups of visitors to come nose-to-nose with wild bottlenose dolphins. Seasonal whale-watching opportunities abound along the state’s whole coastline.
Along with those little penguin encounters, Phillip Island offers the chance to cruise to one of Australia’s largest wild fur seal colonies. The appropriately named Seal Rocks is just over a mile from the island’s rugged south-west corner, and once there the boat languidly bobs within yards of thousands of doe-eyed seals as they lazily flop about in their native environment.
If being out on the water floats your boat, venture on to the Gippsland Lakes, the largest inland waterway system in Australia. Only separated from the ocean by the narrow 90km-long beach, the three major lakes – Victoria, King and Wellington – are peaceful spots to hire a vessel and, much like our camouflaged penguin pals, disappear into the water.
Getting there
Singapore Airlines has five daily UK departures to Melbourne via Changi airport in Singapore. You can travel straight through so you get to Melbourne in less than 24 hours, or stop off in Singapore for a day or two. Fares from Heathrow and Manchester to Melbourne with Singapore Airlines start from £710. Book online at singaporeair.com and discover what you can look forward to at visitmelbourne.com.
