This past weekend I was lucky enough to spend my time in Phillip Island! The Melbourne University Student Exchange Society (MUSEX) is a club I’ve joined on campus which holds events and trips for international students. Their motto is “Go Hard Before You Go Home”…they are not joking around! So far they’ve thrown three different parties at bars around the city which have been some of my greatest nights here. The club is run by University of Melbourne students, one of them actually studied abroad at Boston College! Anyway, MUSEX took us to Phillip Island for the weekend for surf camp or, more aptly named, party camp.
We stayed at the Phillip Island Coastal Discovery Camp, which consisted of bunk houses, a dining room, and a recreational room all located on acres and acres of fields and plush grassy areas on a cliff which overlooks a beautiful beach. However, since there were about 80 of us it was a tight squeeze: I slept in a bunkhouse meant for 8 with 15 people….7 of us, including me, on mattresses on the floor. But that’s what camp is all about, right? The leaders had us dress in togas the first night and we were divided into groups and competed in a game called boat races. Basically, it’s a relay chugging a lot of beer. They also had a dance room set up and all of us were up all night dancing the night away…so much fun! The next day was spent lounging on the beach, playing frisbee and volleyball and of course surfing! Once again, I love wearing a wetsuit. The water was pretty cold but I couldn’t really feel it. I rode a wave this time!! It really is just the most relaxing and fun sport. The water was so clear and so beautiful and it was so peaceful to just swim and surf the waves. It’s a hell of a workout too..my arms were definitely sore in the morning. That night we had to do four legged races in our teams - it was quite an experience. Basically, three people are tied together. Then the teams have to race between 4 stations and at each station the person in the middle has to chug an entire beer and the two people on the ends have to share a beer before you can move on. What a hilarious site it was to see all of us attempting this! After that we had a nice dinner and then it was off to see the PENGUINS!
Phillip Island is famous for the nightly march of penguins coming in from their day out in the ocean to land so they can nest for the night. Since it’s so famous of course the whole thing is really overpriced and touristy. They sat us in bleachers facing the beach and we have to be quiet as we wait for the penguins to emerge from the water and make the journey across the beach. Since they’re mini penguins they’re only about a foot high so they have very short legs! They stand hesitant at the shore’s edge in groups of about 6 or 7 before all at once they start sprinting towards the bush. It’s the cutest scene - they’re moving their legs so fast they look like they’re going to fall on their faces. We watched maybe about 100 move into the bush and then moved onto a boardwalk they have where you can see them in their nests. We watched groups of them waddle along the grass really up close and they are so precious!! They’re so fat because it’s moulting season so when they move their entire body is bobbing from side to side. We stayed for about an hour and then the show was over. It was worth the cold windy weather and the money we paid for sure though, so cool to see penguins in the wild like that. They had a really strict rule about no photography so I couldn’t get any pictures, unfortunately. We spent the following day at the beach again and I, of course, am now sporting a really cute sunburn. I put on sunscreen but the lack of ozone layer here kind of makes it difficult to avoid getting fried. We rode back to Melbourne around two, it was refreshing to get away from the city but I’m glad to be back. Now I’m just attempting to recover from a very fun, but very tiring weekend!
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| Bunk No. 2! |
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| MUSEX! |
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| La playa...beautiful water |
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| Going in for the surf |
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| Just like the pros! |
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| o take photos, we had to opt for the green screen. Classy! I managed to steal a picture from a friend's album who illegally did take pictures. Below are the precious penguins as they march to their nests! |
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