Day 83 Phillip Island

It was cool, crisp and clear this morning, although a rainy night had left us all a bit tired and grumpy.  Getting out of bed was difficult, but we mustered ourselves through breakfast, visited reception to sort out payment due to our late arrival last night, and got some information on things to do.

From a quick glance it looked like we were going to look at three things today.  The Phillip Island Grand Prix Circuit, Panny's Chocolate Factory and the Penguin Parade.  So much for a quiet and relaxing day.

Our first stop was Phillip Island Grand Prix Circuit.  These huge Cape Barron Geese were walking around the car park with a gaggle of chicks in tow.  We had gone for the morning tour which doesn't run during the Winter, so we decided we would come back for the afternoon tour instead.  It was decided that we should do something whilst we were already there so we went through to do a bit of slot car racing on a scale replica of the Grand Prix Circuit. 

At 45m, it is reputed to be the longest slot car racing circuit in Australia.  The cars were ramped up in speed 3 times until they were near uncontrollable.  If you crashed off a corner, you had to put your controller down and run to your car to put it back on the circuit.  Lisa was laughing herself silly watching us bolt up and down the track after our cars.  The pictures tell a story.

The Champ Karts were booked for a group, so we put that off until later as well.  In the car again, we drove back almost all the way to the caravan park.  The Chocolate factory was walking distance from where we started this morning, but we completely missed it.

I have been to many chocolatiers in my time, but this place was awesome.  I was a bit taken aback by an entry fee for a chocolatier.  Past the entry hall, there were displays on growing, harvesting and refining cocoa beans for the production of chocolate. 

Once we got through the serious stuff, we got into some of the fun things.  This place was like Willy Wonka's Chocolate Factory, and every turn brought a new surprise.



This mural of Dame Edna, was made with 12,000 individual chocolates.  Just behind where Lisa is standing in this photo was a life size statue of Michelangelo's David with peppermint fig leaf to make it suitable for the kiddies.  There was also a chocolate interpretation of two paintings...The Scream and one of Ned Kelly.




Just around the corner was an amazing model railway with all of the scenery rendered in chocolate.  The detail was quite incredible.  Complete with trees that had hundreds and thousands for leaves, it was just awesome.  There was also an amazing carousel with strobe light that looked like an animation of chocolate penguins being made in a factory and jumping into the ocean.  Unfortunately, the camera couldn't keep up with the strobe and neither video or still photo could do it justice.

These displays were followed by a sideshow alley of games that rewarded skilled punters with delicious chocolate balls.  I managed to score a half dozen, but I was a bit shocked when the kids came out with another 17.  At least we will have chocolate for the next week.

This room led into another interactive display of touch and smell which was pretty cool.


Following that was Willy Wonka World.  The chocolate waterfall behind Lisa and the kids pours every 2 minutes.  I had visions of just laying in the trough below, wallowing in its chocolatey goodness.

There was also a one tonne block of chocolate in this room.

The next room had the Squirler which was a device that you could make your own chocolate pattern with, and collect at the end of the conveyor belt a couple of minutes later. 

Here we were able to watch the chocolatiers filling moulds and making various treats.  There was also a CNC Router carving out designs in 10kg blocks of chocolate. 

The best thing about this place is that the chocolate was extremely fine and on par with Lindt or Fererro.  We had a lovely curry lunch, and then spent way too much on chocolate before I could drag everyone out again.

Back to the Grand Prix circuit we went for the tour at 2pm.  We had a walk through the Phillip Island Motor Racing Museum, and looked at the displays of cars and bikes from various eras of racing on the Island dating back to the 1930's when they were racing on a dirt square circuit that was 10km long.
Rowan likes the motor bikes.  There were also Formula Fords, a beautiful SLR Maclaren, and a V8 Supercar.  It was a really interesting display of the history of the circuit, and the development of the cars and bikes over the years.

Finally it was time to get out on the circuit for the tour.  Our guide was fantastic and had plenty of knowledge relating to the current track layout and the events that the circuit are being used for.  Phillip Island is regarded by many as one of the top 3 racing circuits in the world, and on current ticket sales will host 130,000+ fans this year.

Like Bathurst, it is hard to comprehend the rise and fall of the track whilst you watch on tv, it is really interesting to see the layout in person.

Our tour took us out over the footbridge on the main straight, and into the control room, timing room and marshalling rooms in the administration building.

The bank of tv's here are for the stewards and marshalls to watch the track and the spectators, along with medical staff and security.  These display monitors have no interaction with the televised networks, and are solely used by the track staff.


After the stewards rooms, we walked across to the corporate rooms and had a look in VIP 5, which can host 300 people seated for a meal.  The windows are directly above the pit crews, and are mid straight where the cars / bikes go past at their fastest. 

Through this room is the door to the podium.  Here we are as the super bike champs of 2012.  That is one super big bike to fit us all on.

Below the podium is Pit #21, which is usually reserved and kept clear as it leads to the stairs for the podium.  Inside Pit #21 they keep the hot lap car.  This 2005 GT Porche is capable of over 250kmh down the straight.  The carbon fibre doors weigh around 1kg each.  It is a very strange feeling to open and close the doors.  How do they fit a V8 supercar into this shed?



After the tour, it was off to a 760m scale replica of the circuit to drive some champ karts.  The tandem carts have a top speed of 50kmh, and the singles can achieve 65kmh down the straight. 

Lisa came out with Emma on the first race, and I was driving with Rowan, but we were lucky enough to have the whole circuit to ourselves.  With no other traffic to contend with, I lapped the girls on lap 6.  Only because Lisa smashed us into the grass whilst passing on the outside. 

Excuse me, Lisa here, Rob smashed into us from behind while trying to pass from the inside. Hoon!



The first race went really well, aside from leaving the track once.  I managed to get the lap time down to 61 seconds.  I then took Ashley out in a tandem cart, and had to contend with 12 other carts on the track.  I pushed the lap time down to 58 seconds this time, but there was one dude in a single cart that would block me through turns 4-11 before I could get around him, and then he would pass me on the straight and I would have to wait behind him through all of the corners again. 

The cart kept getting slower and slower as I put on laps, and when they marshalled the car back to pits, the power disappeared altogether, and the kart stalled on the back straight.  Ashley and I had to ride the cart of shame back to pit lane, but even with a failing cart I managed to come 6th in a field of 10 singles and 3 tandem carts.  Pretty proud of that.

The marshalls offered me another race as the cart was failing, and to avoid arguments, I went back out on my own in a single cart. Lap times came down to 53 seconds on a slick track.  The singles are definitely faster.  I managed to come back in 4th completing 10 laps at an average speed of 58kmh.  Really stoked about that.  The lap record for the day was 46 seconds...can't really figure that one out, but for the track, that is blisteringly fast. 


We left the Grand Prix Circuit and went straight out to the penguin parade.  There were masses of people there, including a dozen buses full of foreign tourists.  It was getting late, and there wasn't much time for us to get down to the beach to watch the penguins come in.  Even though the grandstands were full, we found seats down the front.  Everything was soaking wet, including the seat of my pants thanks to the friendly tourists behind me that kept putting their wet shoes on me.

Our kids were really well behaved, and very patient waiting for the penguins to come in, and aside from the chocolate, I think this was the highlight of the day for Lisa.  They are very cute, and have a comical waddle that makes you grin involuntarily. 

There was better viewing of the rafts of penguins waddling through the reserve from boardwalks, so we made our way back from the beach to have a better look.  We decided to linger around and wait for the crowds to disperse before returning to our car.  It was to be a late night for all, and I hope the kids sleep in tomorrow as it was after 9pm when Rowan finally crawled into bed...

Personally, I fell asleep looking at pictures again, so decided to have an early night as well.