Penguin porn

This first section is nothing really to do with the title but still just as exciting as yesterday one of Alex’s uni flatmates arrived. Sam and Maddy came in from Southern Cross station laden with their massive rucksacks and no doubt the spitting image of what we will look like in three months time. It was great to finally have a face from home back in our lives. Sam and Maddy had been travelling through Asia prior to Oz and so had plenty of stories to tell us and adventures to fill us in on.

The following day Rach had work so Alex led the girls off into the city for a day of touristy exploration. We tried to do what we’d done before and get into the Immigration museum as students but the officious receptionist foiled our plan so we went off to try the same at Melbourne museum only for it to happen again so we made our way instead to Parliament house. We’ve already covered this place in another blog (Parliamentary my dear Watson) so we’ll instead tell you about the Treasury building which we went to after. It wasn’t great, although it wasn’t that it was a bad museum or gave across a bad impression of the formation of the Treasury- it just wasn’t good and was often boring. We ended up having to produce our own entertainment to make up for the lack of any there.

To try and rescue the day, Rach met with the trio after work and we took them to see the penguins at St Kilda. They are the same kind of penguins as on Phillip Island (P-p-p-penguins on Phillip Island) but actually in Melbourne and best of all free! This is the third time we’d been to see them, going once as a couple, once with Rach’s parents, and now so we were old hands. This was by far and away the best time we’ve seen them though.

We made our way to the rocks at the end of St Kilda pier, wrapped up warm and just before dusk the penguin volunteer came out for a short talk explaining a bit about the penguins and before long out they came. As before no flashes were allowed as it might kill the blighters, however the volunteer guides do provide red torchlight for photos. As we said tonight was by far the best we’d seen it with the cuties even waddling right past us on the pier, some seemingly posing for pictures, on the way to their rocky homes. It was after this the noises started, indicating that the penguins had got their loving on. The noise increased as more and more couples joined in, until we eventually laid eyes on one of the more daring couples who were fornicating in full view of public eye. It felt like we were in the middle of “Porkin’ Penguins 4” and after some intriguing questions from children we think that many of them had ‘the talk’ that night. Still we had a brilliant time and managed to get a few good snaps of the ‘guins.

Rex’s Rules of the Road

• St. Kilda is an amazing place to see the penguins although if you don’t get a good result first time round; try, try, try again.

• Wrap up warm, it is colder than you think even on those summer nights.

• No flash, please don’t be one of those people who goes ahead and thinks that they are better then everyone around them and that for some reason feel that they specifically deserve a picture taken with flash. Not cool.

• The Treasury building is a good hour or two of distraction but don’t expect anything too great.

• Check out Rach's Tripadvisor review of the Treasury building here.