Day 1 in Tasmania: around the Peninsula

The beach somewhere near Doo Town

After a lunch of Fish 'n' chips and being unable to convince Sha to go on a boat ride, we decided to drive around the Peninsula and find a place to have a hike.  We first had a quick look at a beach where we thought the penguins might sleep before deciding to do a walk to the Devil's Kitchen and then on to Waterfall Bay.  Sha thought that she might be able to get something more to eat at the Devil's Kitchen, but unfortunately was disappointed. 

The walk was great.  Lots of cliff edges on one side and forests on the other. On the way back, Sha's dad found a "furry triangle" that turned out to be a small wallaby.    After the walk, we continued our drive and spotted three echidnas in a garden.  We then got lost, but found a very white beach (called "white beach").

Walking to the Waterfall Bay

We drove back through Port Arthur looking for somewhere to eat.  I'd expected Port Arthur to be a little town, with ice cream shops, a supermarket and some small restaurants.  Unfortunately, it wasn't. It is a convict prison and has lots of hotels.  So we kept driving and had a very fun, but slow, dinner at our hotel.  The ladies sitting next to us had cycled from Hobart, but were going to take the bus back! 

Waterfall bay

In the evening, we drove back out to look for the penguins.  Whilst waiting for it to get dark (it didn't get dark until about 9pm), we won breakfast by winning the three-legged race and then we went searching for the penguins.  Instead we found a water rat and were feeling a bit upset, but then we found a penguin sitting on the path next to our car!

White Beach

A very long and enjoyable day! :)