Phillip Island is rat-race refuge

Phillip Island is rat-race refuge

By Dewi Anggraeni

MELBOURNE (JP): As more Indonesians become sophisticated world
travelers, they no longer set off in search of "otherness" only.
They want those places with "another world" quality which are
still vaguely reminiscent of home.

That, apparently, is the reason more Indonesians visit
Australia each year. It is close, the weather is relatively
friendly except if you go too far inland, while the ambience is
predominantly European.

If sites like Surfer's Paradise in Queensland are too touristy
for you, do not despair and start worrying you are getting old.
There is nothing wrong with wanting somewhere quiet yet not
completely isolated for a vacation.

Prefer to go to Pulau Seribu's islands, located north of
Jakarta, for relaxation? Chances are you are a busy person with a
penchant for escaping somewhere quirky but quiet for the
occasional recharge.

Approximately 120 kilometers south of Melbourne is an island
which promises -- and usually delivers -- a relaxing holiday
without having to live like Robinson Crusoe.

Phillip Island is linked to the mainland's South Gippsland by
a suspension bridge, and the drive from Melbourne usually takes
about two and a half hours. There is also ferry service from
Hastings in the Mornington Peninsula to Cowes, the main township
on the island.

You may have guessed by now that the early English settlers
who named these places were homesick, and began to dream that
Westernport Bay was the English Channel, hence the names Hastings
and Cowes.

As the main business center, Cowes attracts most tourists, who
tend to flock around the colorful shops and restaurants. They
come from different parts of the world, by car from Melbourne or
by chartered bus via any capital cities. These visitors often
swell the population of the island to 40,000 from its permanent
3,000. Interestingly, these tourists do not appear to cause major
changes to the island's ambience of an old-worldy part of the
wider modern world.

From the main shopping area of Cowes, you can see clear blue
sea dotted with fishing boats and the occasional barge to add to
the atmosphere of the bygone era. Facing the sheltered beach is
The Esplanade, where the lone pub and numerous guest houses offer
reasonably priced accommodation.

What is so attractive about Phillip Island's beaches is that
walking on them does not mean having to negotiate around
perfectly tanned sun-worshipers, edges of towels or sunglasses.
While the bodies-beautiful are no doubt there, they are
sufficiently dispersed and distant that you have the choice of
ignoring or looking at them, depending on your feelings about
your physique at the time.

On more isolated beaches you can walk, sit, build sand
castles, read or whatever else you fancy for hours, lost in the
timelessness of the peaceful surroundings and the constant sound
of waves gently breaking some 10 meters away.

In Cape Woolamai on the southeastern extremity, the abrupt
cliffs 100 meters high are reminiscent of the southern coast of
Java, except there may only be you and your group. The views are
breathtakingly beautiful from the Pinnacles' lookout.

The island is also known for its wildlife. While they won't
come to visit at guest houses or hotels, the koalas, kangaroos,
snakes, more than 200 species of birds, seals and other creatures
of God can be viewed in their natural environment in the wildlife
parks.

Penguins

Phillip Island's fame abroad is due to its penguins. Every
evening at dusk, these little birds come ashore at Summerland
Beach on the southwestern end, marching in parade formations into
their burrows in sand dunes among the bushes.

Hundreds of visitors arrive and position themselves
strategically at least an hour before sunset. During this time
they are continuously reminded in English, Japanese and Mandarin
not to make noises, not to use flash photography and not to come
too close to the birds.

When the sun slowly descends toward the west horizon, all eyes
are glued on the moving line between the sand and the sea,
waiting and imagining. Several minutes pass, and still only
seagulls are visible on the beach. Suddenly, out of the sea
emerges several groups which immediately arrange themselves into
miniature processions.

Against the orange sunset, they look like a line of rather
inebriated business-suited travelers stepping out of Ansett
Golden Wing Lounge or Qantas Club, waddling unsteadily toward the
departure gates.

This is the only place on this island where there is such a
concentration of visitors, and where the idiosyncratic behavior
of an ethnic group can mildly clash with another. Fortunately, no
actual physical clashes have been recorded.

The penguin is an eudyptula minor, which spends most of its
life at sea living mainly on small fish and squid. Due to its
size, it is better known as the fairy penguin, which, according
to a zoologist friend, is an incorrect name.

Sports enthusiasts can go hang gliding, apart from the obvious
walking, swimming, sailing and fishing to be enjoyed.

For those who are not content unless they have traveled the
whole island, the good news is it is not impossible to cover its
10,000 hectares in a weekend. For those who like a more leisurely
pace at doing things, only time, imposed externally by the need
to go back to work, can be an irritant. And money, of course,
unless your name is Robinson Crusoe.