Bay of Fires @ Binalong Bay

We stayed only one night at Bicheno by the Bay. After check out this morning, we headed towards Binalong Bay. The drive from Bicheno to Bay of Fires in Binalong Bay was about 1hr 40mins.

Famous for its crystal-clear waters, white sandy beaches and orange lichen-covered granite boulders, the Bay of Fires is one of Tasmania’s most popular conservation reserves. The area contains rocky gullies, with many small secluded beaches and inlets to explore. Binalong Bay is the area’s main beach – a beautiful stretch of white sand and clear water for swimming, snorkelling, surfing or simply relaxing. We were not there to snorkel or surf, just for photos and to appreciate the beauty of the area. The colour of the sea was amazing!

The GPS is not exactly accurate for this site and depending on whether you input Bay of Fires or Bay of Fires Conservation Area, may lead you to different points along the coast. At one stage we ended at a dead end with nothing in sight. If you input the Gardens, there is an option to take you to the middle of the road. All these are not exactly ideal. So here is what I can advise:

The southern section of The Bay of Fires is in the Conservation Area, situated along a 13 km stretch of coast between Binalong Bay and The Gardens. Access to the southern section of the Bay of Fires is via the Binalong Bay Road (C850 ) out of St Helen’s. Take the turnoff on the left into the C848 at the sign – “The Gardens – 13Kms” This is a sealed road. The road terminates at private land at “The Gardens”.

DSis’s car and ours ended in different places and we actually could see each other across the bay on different outcrops…hahaha. In the end we realized that we were at different ends and could walk to each other between the 2 points. It was an easy walk.

We spend some time hanging around the various rocks and gullies, basically fooling around.

Lunch @ Mohr & Smith, St Helens

It was about lunch time and we decided to go to St Helens. I consulted my “G” secretary and found several places. We decided on Mohr & Smith and called to check if they had a table for 10 before we headed there.

Mohr & Smith is a contemporary restaurant and setting was simple and beautiful. It was relatively quiet when we arrived.

The menu was interesting with an Asian fusion twist. I specially enjoyed with Japanese pancake with roasted pork belly that I had. I was almost missing Asian food by this time of the trip and the roasted pork belly (A$20) was excellent. It was crispy and juicy. Almost like how we do Chinese roast pork belly. DH, DS1 & 2 and DD are boring and all went for the beef burger (A$16). But they were all praises for their burgers too.

For drinks, DH & I had an ice coffee (A$7) each, DD had a caramel milkshake (A$6) and the 2 boys had a coke (A$3) each. The straws which came with the cokes were made of steel! And DD’s milkshake came in a huge metal container. Really cool! Our ice coffee was the most ordinary :(.

Overall a good meal in a very pleasant setting. But when I try to check it’s website to try to provide a link when I am writing this post, it seems that the restaurant has closed….what a pity!

Brief shopping stop @ Tasmania Honey Company

The drive from St Helens to Sheffield where we will be spending the night is about 3hours. We cannot find anything interesting to look see along the way. So we decided to do a shopping stop at the Tasmanian Honey Company in Perth which is 2 hours from St Helens and 1 hour from Sheffield. We were hoping to make this a toilet break as well, but unfortunately found out that the shop did not have a toilet for us to use. Instead we were directed to a gas station nearby.

The shop was not big, but had an interesting array of different flavoured honey. We especially like their Manuka honey drops which Dmum, and DSis and I, all bought. If you want to buy honey, this is a good place to buy it if you are nearby. We found these honey sold at Launceston airport when we were leaving flying to Melbourne and found that it was at least double the price of what we paid here.

Our 2-Bedroom Apartment @ Sheffield Motor Inn

We finally arrived at Sheffield Motor Inn. We had booked a 2 BR apartment (A$225) for my family, a double room (A$125) for my parents and a triple room (A$140) for DSis’s family. All came with kitchenette.

What I like about our apartment was that they had proper beds for 5 and 2 bathrooms! The 2 bathrooms were much welcomed after having to share 1.5 bathroom among the 10 of us the night before at Bicheno by the Bay. As for the bedding configuration, one bedroom had 2 single beds and the other had a queen and a single bed. Like most motels, they provided milk. We had 4 small packets.

There was a coin service laundry available so we used that too that evening. Wash was A$3/A$4 (sorry, can’t remember the exact amount now) per load. Dryer was A$1 for 15 mins.

Wifi here was very unstable, so don’t depend on it.

Overall a decent basic motel that has all that you want (except WiFi) at a reasonable price.

Dinner @ Basilico, Sheffield

We decided to have dinner at Basilico as it was only next to Sheffield Motor Inn. Basilico was a casual Italian restaurant that just opened a few months ago, but the few reviews I saw on TripAdvisor were positive. When I called to make my reservations, they said that for groups of 8 and more, they offer a set meal at A$25 per pax. As we were 8 adults and 2 kids (since DD and DN are both under 12) they said that they will only charge for the 8 adults and the 2 girls can share our meal. Their sets were done family style, ie we share some pizzas and pastas. We thought it was very reasonable and so accepted their suggestion. We left it to them to decide what to prepare for us as we had no dietary restrictions.

We were served the following:

1. Tomato and basil pasta

2. Beef cheek pasta (ragu)

3. Rocket and apple salad

4. Margarita pizza

5. Salami pizza

6. Rocket & parma ham pizza

After our meal, they asked if we were game for another pizza and we definitely were! So they served us a dessert pizza – Nutella Pizza. It was so good. We all loved it!

For A$200 (excluding drinks) for 10 of us, it was very reasonable. Most importantly, food was good! I’d highly recommend eating here. It’s really value for money!

Next up : Day 8 – Cradle Mountain

The post 15 Days Tasmania & Melbourne Self Drive, 2017: Day 7 (Bicheno- Binalong Bay – Sheffield) appeared first on Mums Travels.

Eaglehawk Neck

This morning we checked out after breakfast. On the way out of Port Arthur, we went by Eaglehawk Neck and stopped by Dog Line for a photostop. Eaglehawk Neck is a narrow strip on the Tasman Peninsula. This narrow strip is the only way out of Port Arthur and so when Port Arthur was still a convict settlement, a line of ferocious dogs were lined along this narrow strip to prevent escapes. Today, a statue of a dog marks this place.

After this we went to check out the Tesselated Pavement, another must see sight on the Tasman Peninsula. Unfortunately, the tide has come in and the tessellated pavement was not as clearly visible as when it would have been at low tide. Nonetheless, we could still see through the water the wonderful work of Mother Nature in creating the tessellation on this beach.

Our last stop before we finally bid farewell to this area was a pit stop at the Tasman National Park Lookout for a view of Pirate’s Bay. Somehow, I did not think the view was great. It definitely did not take my breadth away. Disappointed.

Lunch @ Colonial Tea House & Gift Shop

It was a long drive to Bicheno. We had planned a few stops along the way. Our lunch stop was Colonial Tea House & Gift Shop in Triabunna which was about 1 1/2 hours from Port Arthur Villas and 1 hour from our next stop, Freycinet Marine Farm. It has good reviews on the internet so we decided to have our lunch there.

The cafe was really pretty with lots of colonial times ornaments decorating the shop. There was even an organ and the elderly lady serving us decided to play some music for us. It was lovely! We arrived around 12 noon and they were able to accommodate us at a room with a huge table for 10.

DS2 needed to use the toilet and when he opened the toilet door, he gave an exclamation! We all went over to see what happened, and were all dumbfounded to find a beautiful bathroom complete with a bathtub!

DH and DS2 both decided to have a small lasagna each (A$14.95) They liked it. But I thought the portion was too small for them, but they said it was ok. DD and I had a Shepherd’s Pie (A$18.95) each and it was delicious! The lamb was so tender and was not gamey at all! DS1 decided to have the special of the day which was curried scallops and rice (A$25). He said it was lovely too. Good for someone who miss rice!

For drinks, we had a flat white (A$4.80), 2 soft drinks (A$4), an earl grey (A$4) and an ice coffee (A$6.50).

Overall, we had a good meal in a pleasant environment. I definitely do recommend stopping by here for a meal if you are traveling this way.

Photo-stop @ Spiky Bridge

After lunch, on the way to Freycinet Marine Farm, we made a slight detour to the Spiky Bridge in Swansea.

This bridge was built by convicts in 1843 from field stones laid without mortar or cement and the parapet features field stones laid vertically, giving the bridge a spiky appearance. Up till today, no one knows the reason why it has been built this way. It was an interesting bridge that pops out of the landscape and was worth a brief 5 min photo stop if you are heading this way. Never seen anything like it.

Freycinet Marine Farm

Our purpose of visiting this farm was for the oysters. Freycinet Marine Farm is an oyster farm which also operates a restaurant selling its own produce and fresh local seafood from local suppliers and farms. We had booked a oyster farm tour which comes with free tasting of half a dozen oysters and half a dozen of mussels per pax. The tour cost A$55 per person. The GPS took us to the restaurant. We had paid a deposit so we just made the balance payment at the restaurant and they then directed us to the farm.

It was a further 5mins drive to the farm where we were greeted warmly on arrival. We were given an introduction to the farm and explained how oyster farming is done. We were pretty disappointed with the tour. It was basically just one guy giving a 10 min speech and showing some samples.

After the 10min “show and tell” we had our oyster and mussels tasting. There were definitely more than half a dozen of oysters and mussels for each of us. We had requested for some cooked oysters before hand , so they actually made some oysters poached in ginger and soy for us. Normally they only served raw oysters. The mussels were steamed in lemon. The oysters and mussels were delicious!

We were still not satisfied after this tasting, so we went back to the restaurant for more. The restaurant kitchen closes at 4.30pm. We were there around 4pm and some of the stuff were already sold out. We had wanted a whole baked lobster (A$88), but the guy in front of us bargained with the counter to sell him half at A$44. So in the end when it came to our turn, there was only half left. We added A$10 for a sea urchin and butter sauce for our lobster and it was delicious. We also had a serving of sea urchin (A$15) and a serving of scallops (A$15).

Other items on the menu were :

• Dozen/Half Dozen raw oyster A$22/12
• Dozen/Half Dozen Oyster Klipatrick A$25/15
• Dozen/Half Dozen oysters Poached in ginger and soy $24/14
• Smoked salmon & Brie A$25
• Smoked Salmon A$15
• Mussels steamed in lemon A$20 per bowl
• Mussels In tomato chili sauce A$24 per bowl

Looking at the menu, the farm tour may not be necessary, and we may have better off just eating at the restaurant. For A$55 per pax, we could each have eaten a dozen each of oysters and mussels which would have been much more satisfying.

We noticed that there were a lot of China tourists at the restaurant. They were brought there in coaches. We understand from the guy doing the tour for us that they are very popular with the China tourists and so they are extremely busy during China national holidays. So do take note. We were lucky that when we got to the restaurant, the tour buses were about to leave. Otherwise, we may not have been able to get ourselves a table.

Full and satisfied, we made our way to Bicheno.

Bicheno Blowhole

Just 2 mins before we reach our accommodations at Bicheno by the Bay is the Bicheno Blowhole. We spent awhile here fooling around the rocks and taking photos. Bicheno Blowhole was definitely must better than the Blowhole in Port Arthur. This one was bigger (at least compared to what we saw at the Blowhole in Port Arthur) and sprouts very regularly when we were there.

Four Bedroom Villa @ Bicheno by the Bay

We had booked a 4-bedroom villa which could accommodate all 10 of us at Bicheno by the Bay. Besides the living and dining room and kitchen, there are 2 bedrooms and a bathroom cum toilet on the ground floor. One bedroom had a double bed and the other had a bunk bed for 3, a double on the lower deck and a single on the upper deck. The villa’s sole bathroom is on the ground floor. The shower is together with the toilet, and washing machine.

The upper floor has 2 more bedrooms and a toilet. One bedroom had 3 single beds and the other had a double and a single bed. But the single in this bedroom was not made up as we had only booked for 10pax. Each of the bedroom on the upper floor had a sink and vanity. Thus even though there is only one shower on the ground floor it was not that bad. In the morning, our family of 5 who took the upper floor could wash up in our bedrooms and use the toilet on the upper floor. While my parents and sister’s family used the ground floor bathroom. It was only when we wanted to shower at night that it was a little more inconvenient. But for one night stay, it was ok.

We used the washing machine here. Although they did not provide a dryer, there was a clothes line outside the villa and they provided pegs. So we just hung up our laundry.

The villa was not air-conditioned, but it was ok as weather was cool and really air conditioning was not needed. We paid A$520 for one night stay in this villa.

Just a point to note if you decide to stay here – they do not provide shampoo, only soap. We were ok because I had expected that it may happen with some motels, so I had brought some shampoo and shower foam. As it turns out, all our accommodations provided shower foam, bar soap and shampoo and even conditioner. But of course some were of not very good quality and we were glad we had brought some travel size packs of our own. Bicheno is the only one that only provided bar soap.

Dinner @ Pasini’s

We had made a reservations for dinner at 7pm at Pasini’s as it is right next to the Bicheno Penguin Tour’s office where we were suppose to gather for our penguin tour that night. It is also just 3mins drive from where we were staying. The restaurant is very busy as many people eat here before they go on their Penguin tour. So it is advisable to make prior reservations especially for big groups.

We arrived at 7pm and were seated immediately. This is an Italian restaurant which gets good reviews. My family and my parents decided to share some appetizers and mains as we were all not too hungry after all the seafood that afternoon. For appetizers, we had the cold cut platter (A$25) and calamari (A$18), DD and DS1 shared an additional seafood chowder (A$15).

For mains, we shared a large pizza (A$26) and 2 pasta, a penne carbonara (A$24) and a seafood fettuccini (A$29). For drinks, we had 4 cokes (A$5), a beer (A$10) and an earl grey ($6)

After dinner, DD had a brownie (A$5) and Ddad and I each have a rocky road (A$5). I love my rocky road. It was basically marshmallows and nuts coated with chocolate. So sinful but so good!

Total bill for the 7 of us was A$189. Food was pretty good but service is a little slow as they are very busy. Those attending the Penguin tour are advised to inform them so that they can get you out on time for your tour. Definitely make a reservation if you want to eat here before your tour.

Bicheno Penguin Tour

Doing this tour is the reason why we made a stop at Bicheno. The penguins here are the little blue penguins or fairy penguins. They are the smallest species of penguins in the world and grow to an average height of 33cm only, the length of a ruler.

Online bookings can only be done max 7 days in advance. Any earlier, and you will need to call them on the phone and pay in advance. As there are 10 of us, we decided to play it safe, so I called them much earlier to book the tour. When I called, the first tour of the night at 9pm was already full, so I booked us on the 9.10pm tour. It cost A$35 for adults and A$15 for children.

No photography is allowed on this tour. But they will provide digital copies of photos of the penguins to all participants. So my photos below are courtesy of Bicheno Penguin Tour.

The penguins were really cute and we could see them arriving from the sea and moving towards the beach and coming up to their nests where their partners and young ones were waiting. There were no physical barriers between us and the penguins and a few came right up to us. We all had to stand very still so as not to scare or hurt them.

Seeing the penguins here was very different from seeing them on Philip Island (from what I remember of my visit more than 20 years ago). Although there were fewer penguins here, the experience was much more personal. There were also fewer visitors here and we could go right up to their nest to see them. Comparing all the penguin tours that we have done over the years so far in Australia (Philip Island and this) and NZ (Dunedin), we rate this as the best!

This is definitely one of the highlights of our trip. Thoroughly enjoyed by all young and old. Highly recommended for everyone visiting Tasmania!

Next up: Day 7 – Bicheno – Binalong Bay – Sheffield

The post 15 Days Tasmania & Melbourne Self Drive, 2017: Day 6 (Port Arthur – Bicheno) appeared first on Mums Travels.

Eaglehawk Neck

This morning we checked out after breakfast. On the way out of Port Arthur, we went by Eaglehawk Neck and stopped by Dog Line for a photostop. Eaglehawk Neck is a narrow strip on the Tasman Peninsula. This narrow strip is the only way out of Port Arthur and so when Port Arthur was still a convict settlement, a line of ferocious dogs were lined along this narrow strip to prevent escapes. Today, a statue of a dog marks this place.

After this we went to check out the Tesselated Pavement, another must see sight on the Tasman Peninsula. Unfortunately, the tide has come in and the tessellated pavement was not as clearly visible as when it would have been at low tide. Nonetheless, we could still see through the water the wonderful work of Mother Nature in creating the tessellation on this beach.

Our last stop before we finally bid farewell to this area was a pit stop at the Tasman National Park Lookout for a view of Pirate’s Bay. Somehow, I did not think the view was great. It definitely did not take my breadth away. Disappointed.

Lunch @ Colonial Tea House & Gift Shop

It was a long drive to Bicheno. We had planned a few stops along the way. Our lunch stop was Colonial Tea House & Gift Shop in Triabunna which was about 1 1/2 hours from Port Arthur Villas and 1 hour from our next stop, Freycinet Marine Farm. It has good reviews on the internet so we decided to have our lunch there.

The cafe was really pretty with lots of colonial times ornaments decorating the shop. There was even an organ and the elderly lady serving us decided to play some music for us. It was lovely! We arrived around 12 noon and they were able to accommodate us at a room with a huge table for 10.

DS2 needed to use the toilet and when he opened the toilet door, he gave an exclamation! We all went over to see what happened, and were all dumbfounded to find a beautiful bathroom complete with a bathtub!

DH and DS2 both decided to have a small lasagna each (A$14.95) They liked it. But I thought the portion was too small for them, but they said it was ok. DD and I had a Shepherd’s Pie (A$18.95) each and it was delicious! The lamb was so tender and was not gamey at all! DS1 decided to have the special of the day which was curried scallops and rice (A$25). He said it was lovely too. Good for someone who miss rice!

For drinks, we had a flat white (A$4.80), 2 soft drinks (A$4), an earl grey (A$4) and an ice coffee (A$6.50).

Overall, we had a good meal in a pleasant environment. I definitely do recommend stopping by here for a meal if you are traveling this way.

Photo-stop @ Spiky Bridge

After lunch, on the way to Freycinet Marine Farm, we made a slight detour to the Spiky Bridge in Swansea.

This bridge was built by convicts in 1843 from field stones laid without mortar or cement and the parapet features field stones laid vertically, giving the bridge a spiky appearance. Up till today, no one knows the reason why it has been built this way. It was an interesting bridge that pops out of the landscape and was worth a brief 5 min photo stop if you are heading this way. Never seen anything like it.

Freycinet Marine Farm

Our purpose of visiting this farm was for the oysters. Freycinet Marine Farm is an oyster farm which also operates a restaurant selling its own produce and fresh local seafood from local suppliers and farms. We had booked a oyster farm tour which comes with free tasting of half a dozen oysters and half a dozen of mussels per pax. The tour cost A$55 per person. The GPS took us to the restaurant. We had paid a deposit so we just made the balance payment at the restaurant and they then directed us to the farm.

It was a further 5mins drive to the farm where we were greeted warmly on arrival. We were given an introduction to the farm and explained how oyster farming is done. We were pretty disappointed with the tour. It was basically just one guy giving a 10 min speech and showing some samples.

After the 10min “show and tell” we had our oyster and mussels tasting. There were definitely more than half a dozen of oysters and mussels for each of us. We had requested for some cooked oysters before hand , so they actually made some oysters poached in ginger and soy for us. Normally they only served raw oysters. The mussels were steamed in lemon. The oysters and mussels were delicious!

We were still not satisfied after this tasting, so we went back to the restaurant for more. The restaurant kitchen closes at 4.30pm. We were there around 4pm and some of the stuff were already sold out. We had wanted a whole baked lobster (A$88), but the guy in front of us bargained with the counter to sell him half at A$44. So in the end when it came to our turn, there was only half left. We added A$10 for a sea urchin and butter sauce for our lobster and it was delicious. We also had a serving of sea urchin (A$15) and a serving of scallops (A$15).

Other items on the menu were :

• Dozen/Half Dozen raw oyster A$22/12
• Dozen/Half Dozen Oyster Klipatrick A$25/15
• Dozen/Half Dozen oysters Poached in ginger and soy $24/14
• Smoked salmon & Brie A$25
• Smoked Salmon A$15
• Mussels steamed in lemon A$20 per bowl
• Mussels In tomato chili sauce A$24 per bowl

Looking at the menu, the farm tour may not be necessary, and we may have better off just eating at the restaurant. For A$55 per pax, we could each have eaten a dozen each of oysters and mussels which would have been much more satisfying.

We noticed that there were a lot of China tourists at the restaurant. They were brought there in coaches. We understand from the guy doing the tour for us that they are very popular with the China tourists and so they are extremely busy during China national holidays. So do take note. We were lucky that when we got to the restaurant, the tour buses were about to leave. Otherwise, we may not have been able to get ourselves a table.

Full and satisfied, we made our way to Bicheno.

Bicheno Blowhole

Just 2 mins before we reach our accommodations at Bicheno by the Bay is the Bicheno Blowhole. We spent awhile here fooling around the rocks and taking photos. Bicheno Blowhole was definitely must better than the Blowhole in Port Arthur. This one was bigger (at least compared to what we saw at the Blowhole in Port Arthur) and sprouts very regularly when we were there.

Four Bedroom Villa @ Bicheno by the Bay

We had booked a 4-bedroom villa which could accommodate all 10 of us at Bicheno by the Bay. Besides the living and dining room and kitchen, there are 2 bedrooms and a bathroom cum toilet on the ground floor. One bedroom had a double bed and the other had a bunk bed for 3, a double on the lower deck and a single on the upper deck. The villa’s sole bathroom is on the ground floor. The shower is together with the toilet, and washing machine.

The upper floor has 2 more bedrooms and a toilet. One bedroom had 3 single beds and the other had a double and a single bed. But the single in this bedroom was not made up as we had only booked for 10pax. Each of the bedroom on the upper floor had a sink and vanity. Thus even though there is only one shower on the ground floor it was not that bad. In the morning, our family of 5 who took the upper floor could wash up in our bedrooms and use the toilet on the upper floor. While my parents and sister’s family used the ground floor bathroom. It was only when we wanted to shower at night that it was a little more inconvenient. But for one night stay, it was ok.

We used the washing machine here. Although they did not provide a dryer, there was a clothes line outside the villa and they provided pegs. So we just hung up our laundry.

The villa was not air-conditioned, but it was ok as weather was cool and really air conditioning was not needed. We paid A$520 for one night stay in this villa.

Just a point to note if you decide to stay here – they do not provide shampoo, only soap. We were ok because I had expected that it may happen with some motels, so I had brought some shampoo and shower foam. As it turns out, all our accommodations provided shower foam, bar soap and shampoo and even conditioner. But of course some were of not very good quality and we were glad we had brought some travel size packs of our own. Bicheno is the only one that only provided bar soap.

Dinner @ Pasini’s

We had made a reservations for dinner at 7pm at Pasini’s as it is right next to the Bicheno Penguin Tour’s office where we were suppose to gather for our penguin tour that night. It is also just 3mins drive from where we were staying. The restaurant is very busy as many people eat here before they go on their Penguin tour. So it is advisable to make prior reservations especially for big groups.

We arrived at 7pm and were seated immediately. This is an Italian restaurant which gets good reviews. My family and my parents decided to share some appetizers and mains as we were all not too hungry after all the seafood that afternoon. For appetizers, we had the cold cut platter (A$25) and calamari (A$18), DD and DS1 shared an additional seafood chowder (A$15).

For mains, we shared a large pizza (A$26) and 2 pasta, a penne carbonara (A$24) and a seafood fettuccini (A$29). For drinks, we had 4 cokes (A$5), a beer (A$10) and an earl grey ($6)

After dinner, DD had a brownie (A$5) and Ddad and I each have a rocky road (A$5). I love my rocky road. It was basically marshmallows and nuts coated with chocolate. So sinful but so good!

Total bill for the 7 of us was A$189. Food was pretty good but service is a little slow as they are very busy. Those attending the Penguin tour are advised to inform them so that they can get you out on time for your tour. Definitely make a reservation if you want to eat here before your tour.

Bicheno Penguin Tour

Doing this tour is the reason why we made a stop at Bicheno. The penguins here are the little blue penguins or fairy penguins. They are the smallest species of penguins in the world and grow to an average height of 33cm only, the length of a ruler.

Online bookings can only be done max 7 days in advance. Any earlier, and you will need to call them on the phone and pay in advance. As there are 10 of us, we decided to play it safe, so I called them much earlier to book the tour. When I called, the first tour of the night at 9pm was already full, so I booked us on the 9.10pm tour. It cost A$35 for adults and A$15 for children.

No photography is allowed on this tour. But they will provide digital copies of photos of the penguins to all participants. So my photos below are courtesy of Bicheno Penguin Tour.

The penguins were really cute and we could see them arriving from the sea and moving towards the beach and coming up to their nests where their partners and young ones were waiting. There were no physical barriers between us and the penguins and a few came right up to us. We all had to stand very still so as not to scare or hurt them.

Seeing the penguins here was very different from seeing them on Philip Island (from what I remember of my visit more than 20 years ago). Although there were fewer penguins here, the experience was much more personal. There were also fewer visitors here and we could go right up to their nest to see them. Comparing all the penguin tours that we have done over the years so far in Australia (Philip Island and this) and NZ (Dunedin), we rate this as the best!

This is definitely one of the highlights of our trip. Thoroughly enjoyed by all young and old. Highly recommended for everyone visiting Tasmania!

Next up: Day 7 – Bicheno – Binalong Bay – Sheffield

The post 15 Days Tasmania & Melbourne Self Drive, 2017: Day 6 (Port Arthur – Bicheno) appeared first on Mums Travels.