Signs of Life in Melbourne, Australia

The population of New Zealand is 4 million. The population of Melbourne is 3.5 million. Imagine going from an entire country, spread across two islands, to a city with nearly as many people. The vast openness and barren countryside of New Zealand has been replaced with Melbourne’s skyscrapers and traffic.

I decided to throw myself straight into the mix, starting with a trip to the Queen Victoria Market. This bustling market is every chef’s wet dream. Stall after stall is filled with fresh fish, organic meats, colorful and obscure produce and the most fragrant (read smelly) cheeses you can imagine. I had to restrain the urge to buy everything in sight since the kitchen at this particular hostel consists of a couple of hot plates and a microwave. I opted for some pesto/ricotta dipping sauce, a baguette and some fruit.

I then took a tram to the Fitzroy district to see what treasures I may find amongst the thrift stores and trendy boutiques. The neighborhood reminded me of a cross between Haight/Ashbury and Hayes Valley, with cafes on every corner and brightly colored graffiti livening up the back alleys (see Picasa link on the right for some pics). I kicked back with my book and a glass of wine and took in the dreadlocks and combat boots that mistook the Brunswick St. sidewalk for a catwalk.

Other highlights of Melbourne included the Melbourne Zoo, Royal Botanical Gardens and Quentin Tarintino’s new flick “Inglorious Bastards.” But I won’t go into much detail on any of these.

I only tell you this to give you sense of how much there is to do and see here, and why I felt the need to escape the hustle and bustle of the city and get out to the sparsely populated Phillip Island for a day to see the renowned Penguin Parade. For those of you not familiar with this nightly event (i.e. all of you most likely), the penguin parade is the march of hundreds of tiny penguins out of the ocean, up the beach and through the hillside to get their land-based homes. The fairy penguins, as they are known, reach only about 12” tall and typically weigh 2.2 lbs. So basically the penguin is the size of a bag of sugar and weighs half as much!

These penguins spend anywhere from 2 weeks to 3 months out at sea, then come onto land for 3 or 4 days at a time to rest, lay eggs or tend to the babies. It is a different set of penguins that come onto land each night and the number of penguins who march the beach vary between 100 and 2,000 nightly. They emerge from the sea in small groups of 5 or 7 at a time for hours starting just after dark.

Of all the things I learned, what really stuck with me about these little guys is that they live in constant fear. When they are out at sea, they are afraid of birds of prey from above. This is why their backsides are dark in color, so that when birds flying high above them look down, they are camouflaged by their dark blue feathers. They also fear the sharks below. When sharks look up, they see the light from the sun creating a white surface to the water, which is why their little bellies are white. Isn’t Mother Nature remarkable!

When they get to shore, they fear just about everything, so they do a bit of a dance as they come in. The first penguin on the beach stands there looking around to see if there might be any predators lurking about. Once the other penguins come up behind him, they usually all turn back and dive into the ocean for cover, even if the coast is clear. They do this anywhere from once or twice to twenty times before they finally muster the courage to cross the beach. There is always a leader and seemingly always the scaredy-cat straggler. I sat on the beach and watched the nervous little ones play this mental game for about an hour in the freezing cold because I was so mesmerized. Sometimes it would take a group of penguins up to 10 minutes after reaching the water’s edge before they dared cross the beach and begin the long trek home.

Their houses are holes in the hillside and can be as far away as 2 kilometers from the shore. Once they get close to home, they make a loud gurgle type sound and call out for their partner. They mate with a variety of partners, but they only breed with one partner their entire life. It’s sort of like an open marriage, but they must use birth control with everyone except their partner. If they don’t find their partner on a particular night, they may find someone else to shack up with and hope they find their #1 when they go back out to sea.

To be so afraid of so many viable threats at every moment of their lives must be so stressful. It makes me think of the Jews during the Holocaust, the Slaves before the Civil War, or any number of oppressed people. And yet, they summon the strength to live their lives in and out of the ocean because they must do both to survive. I think there’s something to be learned from the little ones. Namely, you never know when the death bird or demon shark is coming to get you, so best get your belly full of fish and find someone to snuggle up with for the night while the gettin’s good!

By the way, there were no photos or videos allowed, since the little guys are sensitive to light, but check out this link, or this one or this one for some pics.

Next up: Sydeny Opera House, Harbour Bridge and Bondi Beach. Fingers crossed, I will shed this damn scarf and finally don a skirt if the temperatures rise!