Chocolate

Phillip Island has a chocolate factory with gourmet chocolates and tours, and while we usually go to every factory tour we can, I wasn't sure this time because the reviews on Google were really mixed.  Strangely mixed, really, some 5 stars and some "what a waste of money".  But the Lonely Planet Guide made it sound pretty good, and we went Wednesday morning while the parking lot was empty,  and I'm really glad we did! The museum begins with a pretty informative exhibit on cocao beans and turning the plant into the candy, as well as the history of chocolate.  It then moves into a fun section on advertising chocolate (it was apparently a major part of the war effort during WWII), and then focuses a little bit on the founders of the factory.  It then moves into the "Willy Wonka" section where there are several games to play, where if you win you get a little wooden ball, up to 6 of which can be redeemed for chocolate balls in the gift shop.  We played until we got our allotted 18 balls.  We then had an opportunity for more samples and photo ops, and looking at a (literal) ton of melted chocolate pouring down a waterfall every 3 minutes.  All in all, this was a museum well worth an hour and the admission cost, at least when it isn't crowded.

We spent some hours on a playground, and watched the pelicans have their lunch in the bay, fed by a society working to track the wild pelicans, and hopefully get some money from tourists for their efforts by creating a show through feeding the "pellies" every day at noon.  The playgrounds were fun and had a few unusual pieces of equipment, and we very much appreciated the water fountains and bottle fillers.  So many things are cute in Australia, and the bubblers are one of them!

The weather on Wednesday was absolutely gorgeous, and we took our lunch with us on a hike near the coast.  The views of the water and the rock formations (that's the Pinnacle pictured below) were wonderful, and the trek took us along the beach, up unto the cliffs, and then through a woods.  Some of the woodsy part was through sand and pine trees, and was very much like being back in North Carolina!  We saw an old granite quarry and watched for wildlife, although we didn't see anything particularly exotic on this outing.  We were in the nesting location of some birds that actually take off for Alaska during the Australian winter -- that's some commute!

I forgot to get a good photo of it, but we do highly recommend our Cowes hotel, too, the Amaroo Park -- perfect hosts in a great setting. Cowes is a cute town, and the Amaroo Park is right near the center of it, and offered us a great cottage (with two bedrooms and a kitchen), plus a game room where Hans improved his foosball and got in some ping pong practice.  We loved our stay on Phillip Island, but now it's time to explore a bit more of Victoria before moving on.  Australia is a big country!