Around Australia 2012: Bicheno 14/5/12 to 16/5/12

From St Helens we moved on to Bicheno, which is a town on the northern edge of the Freycinet National Park. This was a short and very picturesque drive as we hugged the coast most of the way. We spent the first day there, after we had set up camp, just looking around the town and the foreshore. However, that night we ventured back down to the foreshore and waited around in the dark for an hour or more and were eventually rewarded with sighting the fairy penguins coming ashore. It was the first caravan park we had to pay for hot water. $1 for 6 minutes which is okay if you don't drop your shampoo, razor and soap because you are panicking that you will be left with conditioner in your hair when the hot water runs out.

Next day was Nate’s 10^th birthday and we celebrated with a special breakfast for him. After this we headed off to Freycinet National Park. We did the Wine Glass Bay walk up to the lookout and then down onto the beach. Really is an amazing feeling once you are down on the beach looking out at the bay. We saw our first live Wallaby in Tassie on the beach, as all the others have been road kill. Horrible I know. We then did a walk to another bay (Honeymoon Bay) before driving on to the light house where you look back to Wine Glass Bay and Sleepy Bay. This view was spectacular and Doug's highlight of the area.

Bicheno with the red and orange lichen covered rocks

Town of Bicheno in back ground

Blow hole. Boys and Doug just to the right of photo. They had to move fast as tide coming in quickly.

Fairy Penguin -we had to wait quite awhile for this little fellow to come waddling up the path. We could here them calling out to their partners before we saw them. I do love penguins

That night we went out to dinner at the local pizza parlour to further celebrate Nate’s birthday. Pizza and ice cream, Nate's favorite. Very nice pizza, must be good as the Cruel Sea, Bob Katter, and some Opera singer and other famous people except couldn't understand their signatures, had been there and signed the napkins that are now on the wall.