I took Stephanie to the Prom (a post by Ben)

Wilson's Promontory that is.  We locals call it "the Prom."

In anticipation of the limited mobility that will accompany the twins' arrival, we decided to have a little adventure.  We took a few days to visit Phillip Island (of penguin Parade fame) and Wilson's Promontory National Park.  We stayed in San Remo, which is the last bit of mainland before the bridge over to the island.  San Remo is famous for its pelicans.  A big tourist draw for San Remo is the daily pelican feeding.  Every noon, the fish and chips shop by the shore will take out their fish heads and bones and toss them to the pelicans waiting on the beach.  Huge stingrays circle the shallows trying to pick up any scraps the pelicans miss.  This was our first adventure: pelicans and stingrays. 

 

What doesn't show up in the pelican picture is that it was bitter cold, rainy and windy.  We didn't see any stingrays on our first visit on account of rough water and we had to return to see them in better weather.  But on the day of our arrival, we were determined to enjoy ourselves whether the weather cooperated or not.  So we took a tour of the local chocolate factory with a lifesize chocolate Michaelangelo's David.

 

 A tour of the chocolate factory wasn't enough adventure for one afternoon, so we took a short drive to Cape Paterson to visit the rock pools by the beach.  Such scenery!  However, it was here that the weather went from awful to a lot more awfuler.   The hail may have detracted from Hank's enjoyment, as evident in this picture.

  

The next day the weather was improved considerably and we decided to spend the day on the island.  We visited the Phillip Island Wildlife Park as soon as they opened their doors at 10 am.  For a good 45 minutes we were the only visitors in the park and the animals were all eager to visit with us and eat the Kangaroo food the operators provided us.  Everyone got to pet and cuddle a wallaby and/or kangaroo.  I fed a cassowary, which is a bird that is kind of like a cross between an emu and a velociraptor (picture not included).  

 

 This curious Eastern Grey was very interested in our camera.

 The afternoon was spent on the far side of the island where there is a network of walkways around the coastal cliffs.  Waves would crash against the cave in this picture sending ocean spray up on the pedestrians walking by.  Stephanie and Abe (little black specks in the upper right of this photo) got pretty damp from a particularly large wave.

 The following day we drove out to Wilson's Promontory.  First stop was Picnic Bay.  But we arrived too early for a picnic and so spent our time here running on the beach and climbing on the rocks.

By lunchtime we had reached squeaky beach and decided to have our picnic there, on one of the boulders.  The pleasant meal of PB&J sandwiches would have been all the better were it not for some pretty aggressive gulls. 

 "Hank, turn around and smile at Papa." This direction was translated by our 4 year old as "Spin around and smile."  Squeaky Beach is so named because the composition of the sand is such that it makes a squeaky sound when you walk on it.  Actually, you have to kind of stomp a bit, but it does indeed squeak. 

 Back to the rock pools at Cape Paterson.  This time, minus the hail.  Here's a picture of Hank following in Abe's footsteps.  Who loves his older brother?

 We all had a good time.  Hank threw a little fit when we arrived home after our visit to Phillip Island and the Prom.  When we told him that we were going to our real home, he thought that we were talking about our cabin (rental mobile home).