Bicheno, Tasmania Trip (Day 7)

21st March 2016, Monday

Today is checkout day and we are heading to Bicheno. We woke up @ 6.30 am and prepared to go Daci & Daci Bakery for breakfast. We walked to the bakery and there were a few customers there inside.  The breads and tarts looked very nice to eat, we ordered a french toast, salmon burger, sandwich and creme burlee. The food were big portion and quite nice. After our breakfast, we headed back to the apartment for our luggage and prepared to hit the road to Bicheno. We loaded our luggage up to the car. Firstly, we headed to Kates berry farm, which was an hour ride away.

Pancakes with mixed berries

When we reached Kates berry farm, it was just a small shop and a cafe. We bought some fruit jams and special chocolate, like it was coasted with fruit jams. Then we ordered a pancake with mixed berries and we chose a table to sit with a super nice sea view in the distance. After relaxing, we continued to Bicheno. It was a small town with everything  in sight. We checked to the chalet house, Bicheno By the Bay and we booked for the night penguins tour for the same day too. Then we drove up to our cottage. It was a small place with 2 rooms and a common toilet. We can also see the sea just across the road. It was cosy to stay in.

Living room of our cottage

After we settled in, we went out to explore the town. We walked up to the whale lookout, which located on top of Governor's island. From there, we can see the ocean on one side and the whole of bicheno town on the other side. Then we walked down to the blowhole which was near the beach. The wind was blowing strong too, love the weather. We just stood there and enjoyed the sea wind and listened to the waves. After seeing the blowhole, we headed out to find food as we haven't eat lunch. We walked to the seafood eating place, but we decided to give it a miss for that moment. Instead, we went out in the town and went in a small cafe called Pork's place. We ordered a large seafood platter, a pizza and we finished everything. The staff was quite surprised we were able to finish everything on the plates. One thing bad in the cafe was that we had to chase houseflies away while eating...hohohoho....

Blowhole

Then we went to walk around in the small supermarket nearby and went back to the beach again while waiting for the penguin tour. After walking for some time, we went back to the cottage where we watched tv first to pass time. We left the house again @ 7.30 pm and walked to the penguin tour office. My friend bought a penguin hat to keep her warm while waiting for the bus to pick us up. Then the bus came and we boarded and the bus went on to pick up some more people from other hotels. Then the bus brought us to the beach where the guide was waiting for us. I saw some stars up in the sky but didn't manage to see southern lights.

Courtesy of Bicheno Penguins Tour

The tour guide gave us introduction on the blue penguins (which is the smallest species of the penguins) and photography was not allowed as the penguins were not used to the flash lights. The tour guide told us that the penguins have been around the beach for many years and they were originally on the island slightly further called diamond island. The tour guide also told us that we can even walk to the diamond island during very low tide. There were too many penguins living on the island until there was no space, so the penguins now swim up to the shore of bicheno. Currently, it is the season where the penguins are changing their feathers. So the penguins were all hiding inside their burrows for weeks, so the penguins count was very low. But luckily, we did managed to see one penguin very up close and it was very fluffy with the feathers. The tour guide showed us some wooden boxes which she told us that they were done by the students for the penguins to stay in. She opened one box and we could see all the dropped feathers inside but there was no penguins.

The tour guide also told us that once there was a penguin family that the parents penguins actually moved to the burrow next door just to get away from its own kids. It is natural that the parents penguins will leave their kids to survive on the own when the kids are old enough. And the female penguins will always have 2 eggs each time it gets pregnant where the male and female will take care of each egg. And the peak season to see the penguins will be around August, where there may be around 500 penguins around the shore.

After the tour, we headed back to the starting point where we boarded the bus to go back to the tour office. It was raining lightly, we walked back to the cottage, where we rested for the day.

Hotel Stayed:
Bicheno By the Bay

Places Visited:
Kates Berry Farm
Bicheno