Wednesday
I had been expecting to be awake long before the wake up call, either from the motion of the ocean or an abandon ship announcement. So it was a pleasant surprise when “we have arrived in Devonport” was the first thing I heard. We couldn't disembark until 6:30 so we got our bags together and sat around on a table by the exit. We stepped off the ferry and were instantly reminded of home by the refreshing sea breeze in the air. It was the first time we had been cold like that for a long time but it was nice. We entered the terminal and visited the man at the Hertz rental car desk in order to pick up our home away from home for the next 2 weeks. I had always expected rental car salesman to be less than friendly but the 2 we had sealed with in Australia had been really friendly and given us good information for our journeys. He handed us the keys to our silver Hyundai i20 and we loaded our bags into the boot ready to set of and explore Tasmania. Our first port of call was just across the Mersey river in the town of Devonport. We didn't get the ferry unfortunately (although there is one), instead driving 5 minutes up and over a bridge and parking up in the supermarket car park. We did a big shop in Coles, picking up things such as drinks, snacks and provisions that would hopefully last us as long as possible. After our mammoth shop at Coles, we dropped everything back to the car and headed back to a shop called K-Mart, which is sort of like an Australian Matalan. We had a sizeable list for here too, although we didn't end up getting some of it. Instead, we just left with just a $2 mug each, a $3 flask each and I picked up 2 t-shirts totalling $6. Clutching our bargains we wandered back to the car, that was already a mess. With our backpacks in the boot, all the food and other belongings had made their way on to the rear passenger seats. We only had 2 hours worth of parking in the car park and despite only being quarter to 9 we had almost used all of that, so it was time to move on. The last thing we were looking for was a shop that sold walking/climbing gear, as we were both in desperate need of a new pair of walking shoes. Mine I had bought in Edinburgh, and were 6 months old and had holes in the soles and stunk after they got soaking wet in Cairns. Charlotte had already ditched hers in Brisbane and had had them since we left. They also had as many holes as a block Swiss cheese and he had an odour since day one, so it was a relief to be shot of them. We drove through the centre of town, keeping an eye out for a suitable shop and noticed Kathmandu of off the main road. We pulled up in a parking space and hopped out. We'd been in a Kathmandu in Sydney, so we had a vague idea what they had to offer. We decided to have a quick wander through the adjacent streets to see if there were any other appropriate shops but there didn't seem to be any. We walked back to Kathmandu and pretty quickly picked out a pair each that we liked (they were the only ones that were on sale and they were by far the cheapest!), tried them on and decided they were what we were after. We tend to chuckle at people we see who wear his and hers items of clothing but our new shoes were pretty much that. The same brand, the same design, just a different colour.
We squeezed the shoe boxes into the boot and we set off along the North coast of Tasmania. With Charlotte driving, I was directions boss and had the road map we purchased in Adelaide spread across my knees. About 20km west of Devonport in the small, seaside village of Penguin. We could not resist stopping here and having a look around. We'd read about it beforehand, so we knew about the large statues of Penguins that are dotted around town. We parked up on the promenade and wandered into the visitor centre. After a quick look around, we asked the elderly couple behind the counter if we were still able to watch the Penguins coming ashore at this time of year. We had read in our book that there are a few places around Tasmania that have colonies of wild Penguins. She told us of a couple nearby, one back towards Devonport and another east, in the town of Burnie. After that, we got chatting about other things such as what we had planned in Tasmania and there holidays they had had around Australia. They gave us a few pamphlets on various things to do around the island, some we were interested in and some that were slightly out of our price range, like the $700 seafood excursion. The couple were really nice and were interested to know whether we use information centres a lot. I was honest and said that we were probably guilty of relying on the internet but if we do use them it's in the smaller towns like Penguin and not large cities. The lady highly recommended Melbourne’s one though, so we said we'd have a look when we went back there. We said our thank yous and both signed the visitor book with glowing comments. It was time to take a few snaps of the Penguin statues and have a look at the beach. After that, we headed on all the way through to our bed for the evening, a town called Stanley, located on a small peninsular on the north coast. We could see it from the road as we were driving in, stretching out into the Bass Straight at the mercy of the waves and the wind. Towering over the village, which has a population of 481, is the Nut, which is a volcanic rock formation that you can walk up and admire the surrounding coastal scenery. We found our accommodation, which was the Stanley Camping and Tourist Park, located right on the sea in the shadow of the Nut. We checked in, parked up outside our building and went in to have a look around. The part we were staying was actually billed as a backpackers hostel and was a lot cheaper than the individual permanent caravans that were also on offer, so it was perfect for us. The building consisted of 6 double/twin rooms, a kitchen, lounge area and 2 bathrooms. After 2 nights of travelling, the bed was incredibly inviting but we resisted the urge and went out to get better acquainted with the Nut. We had the option to walk or drive to the car park and bearing in mind the drive was longer than the walk, we opted for the walk. We went up some steps, up a slope and we were in the car park. Here, we also had 2 options. Take the chairlift for $16 return or walk the 450 metre, incredibly steep, zig zagging pathway to the summit. We'd been eating quite unhealthily recently so it had to be the walk, the pricing for the chairlift seemed quite steep anyway (excuse the pun). The makers on the sign that said steep were not kidding. It was very steep, but good exercise and very rewarding. At the top of the Nut is a walkable 2km circuit that takes in various viewing points in different directions. The first couple were looking out to see and the waves crashing into the base of the hill. As we moved round though the village of Stanley and the peninsular came in to view. We stopped at one for a little while and an elderly gentleman caught us up and started chatting with us. Again we compared travel stories, with him having been to a few places I had in the highlands of Scotland and highly recommending New Zealand's South Island. We moved on after a while and took in the last few viewing points before descending the very steep pathway back into town. On the way back to the campsite we stopped off at Stanley Supermarket to pick up some milk for our tea and coffee. Before we went through the check out, we decided to treat ourselves to an ice cream after such a tough climb.
We got back to our room and had a coffee while deciding what to do. We wanted to try and see some Penguins while we were here and only really had one option. Which was to drive back to the town of Burnie and meet with a volunteer at the penguin viewing centre in the town, who takes people along the boardwalk on the seafront to try and spot them. While we were looking into things we both fell asleep on the sofas in the lounge and were only woken up by someone coming into the building. Despite our tiredness we decided to go as we would regret it if we didn't. We retrieved our large jackets from our bags and and got in the car for the 50 minute drive back to Burnie. We arrived early, which was lucky, as we weren't sure where the walk would start from. There were a few people loitering around the penguin viewing centre but we walked up and down the boardwalk just to be sure it wasn't anywhere else. At around half 7 the volunteer turned up to be greeted by quite a large group of people wanting to spot the penguins. Charlotte and I had fully expected to be the only ones there so it was a pleasant surprise such a crowd had turned up. After telling us about the penguins, their habitat and habits, we all proceeded out onto the boardwalk to see if we could spot them. We weren't allowed to use torches to see them, so we had to strap red cellophane on to the ones we had brought, so as not to blind the penguins. The sun had long since set and it was a gloomy evening and the red torches didn't do a particularly good job at lighting up the area. While we were standing there staring into the gloom, Charlotte caught a glimpse of a beak shining in the little streetlight that was making it to the beach but wasn't sure that it was a penguin. After a while she saw it again waddling around and could see its white belly, and now was sure it was one. I could not see it through the darkness and eventually the penguin moved on. We moved from spot to spot but I just couldn't pick them out through the darkness, which was a bit disappointing. Eventually, we found a spot where there were a few penguins were milling around and somebody had a bright enough torch for me to just make be able to make out their forms, white bellies and heads. This made us feel much better about coming across to see them. We watched them for a little while before deciding to get out of the constant wind and drive back to Stanley before it got really late. We thanked the volunteer and headed off into the night, arriving back at about 10 to 10. We cooked a quick dinner of pasta and baked beans and finally settled in to a comfortable bed for the first time since Sunday evening.
James and Charlotte
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