Phillip Island

Across the water from Kingston, Phillip Island burns red on the horizon - the eroded outlier whose rabbit-and-pig century stripped it to Mars-coloured slopes now recovering under park care, and whose cliffs and gullies host the seabird spectacle: petrels, boobies, terns and the island's famous summer whalebirds colonising in thousands. Guided trips cross when seas allow, land at the rock shelf and climb the rope-assisted track to the plateau's colonies and colour fields - the red earth against blue Pacific making the day's second spectacle. It is Norfolk's expedition, one strait wide.

What you actually see

• The red slopes - Mars fields recovering to green.
• The seabird colonies - petrels and boobies in thousands.
• The rope track - the assisted climb to the plateau.
• The strait crossing - Kingston's water to the outlier.

When to go

October to April for landings and colonies both; sea state holds the veto - operators call the day.

Honest expectations

The landing and climb ask agility and the guides' word; no shade, carried water and colony distances are the terms.

Nearby

Kingston's pier and reef lagoon.