#PenquinAwarenessDay

In honour of #PenguinAwarenessDay here I am meeting the gorgeous Fairy Penguins on Phillip Island near Melbourne.

We also saw them in the wild on the Otago Peninsula in New Zealand.  They are so cute.

If you'd like to see them close up - and can't afford a trip to Australia - Martin Clunes is going to Phillip Island in the third episode of his Islands of Australia programme on Tuesday.

Barnaby

PS Martin Clunes and I weren't on Phillip Island at the same time but I have seen him filming on a beach - in Port Isaac. As you can see it was a typical English summer's day :-)

Phillip Island: Day Sixty-Seven - Afternoon (25 December)

The main reason for visiting Phillip Island was to see the Penquin Parade.

The island is one of several places where the world's smallest penquin - the Fairy Penquin - breeds. Special boardwalks have been built near the site so people can watch the birds come ashore without disturbing them.

It was a magical sight: a perfect special memory of my Christmas Down Under.

Barnaby