The story of this place
When George Bass discovered Phillip Island in 1798, he had no idea he'd found one of the world's great wildlife spectacles. The island is home to 40,000 little penguins—the largest colony on Earth—and every sunset, they emerge from the sea in 'rafts', waddling up the beach to their burrows. The Penguin Parade attracts 3.5 million visitors annually, making it one of Australia's most popular tourist attractions.
But the island has other stories: in 1959, Hollywood came calling. The Stanley Kramer film 'On the Beach' starring Gregory Peck and Ava Gardner was filmed here, depicting a world awaiting nuclear fallout. Gardner famously declared Melbourne 'a great place to make a film about the end of the world.' The island also hosts the Australian Motorcycle Grand Prix on its 4.445-kilometre circuit. Phillip Island is a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve, protecting koalas, Australian fur seals, and shearwaters.