The afternoon we spent at Point Grant and The Nobbies, we shared with many other people from all around the world. In fact, one could be forgiven for thinking we were in a country other than Australia.
Coin-in-the-slot telescopes, positioned along the Point Grant / Nobbies boardwalk give visitors the opportunity to view more closely, the Australian fur seals that live and breed at Seal Rocks, located to the left (south) of The Nobbies. Alternatively, visitors can take a ferry that offers tours of Seal Rocks, leaving daily from the Cowes jetty.
A modern boardwalk with rails and steps gives about 1 km of easy access to lookouts, and also gives views into the burrows of breeding penguins, mutton birds and seagulls.
You may also see a swamp wallaby nibbling New Zealand spinach, a copperhead snake sunning itself, or Pacific gulls soaring in the wind.
This is a dramatic sea and landscape. No matter what time of day you visit, or the season, there's always something interesting to see -- and the mood is different.
Point Grant, The Nobbies and Seal Rocks have been described as 'the extended bow of a ship endlessly breasting Bass Strait rollers'.
Situated on the western tip of Phillip Island, Point Grant is the second most popular place for locals and visitors alike. From here, the large hump of rock (about 30 m in height) known as The Nobbies is prominent, with low-lying Seal Rocks located a little to the left (south).
Rounded black boulders of basalt; steep cliffs clothed with tussocks, New Zealand spinach, meadows of pink flowering pigface and pussytail grasses; dramatic waves; rock platforms, pools and caves; a booming blowhole, all these and more make up this dramatic coastline.
One of my photos shows a perfectly round rock pool, created through the action of rocks being tumbled round and round by waves.
Looking down to sea level, it's possible to see steep winding pathways -- splashed with excreta -- created by penguins who tumble out of the waves and then clamber up the cliffs to their burrows. Some burrows are man-made; however, most are natural.
When we visited it was late afternoon, so young penguins in the burrows were anticipating the arrival of their parents at dusk. Every now and then we saw a face peeping out of a burrow.
Tomorrow I'll show you more about this amazing place.
