Penguin & Devonport


On the morning of Friday the 13th April we left Smithton to stay at Penguin which was where we began our trip in Tazzie. There are three free camps near Penguin. This time we stayed at the Surf Club. We were not there to sight see this time. Our trip was nearly over as we were sailing back to the mainland on the Sunday. We had now seen all there was worth seeing in Tazzie. Smithton and the Tarkine Forest where we had just come from had been the last area we had not covered.




We chose Penguin as it was near Devonport and we were going there for our last night on the Saturday. When we had been to Penguin previously the free camps were packed but we have found so many of the camps and van parks have been emptying out over the last week or two.
That night we had a fire as we still had a bit of wood left on board. We had got talking to our neighbours soon after arriving. The two couples were from Woollongong and very nice people. So they joined us around the campfire and it was a good night.

 As you can see from the previous photo the weather was calm, albeit overcast. That night we had huge winds again and the sea had turned very rough. So a different scene Saturday morning.






After saying goodbye to our neighbours we headed to Devonport. The winds were still blowing a gale, 57kph to be exact. We were concerned that the sailing on the Spirit of Tasmania would be rough. The winds were predicted to drop to 40kph but that changed during the day. We booked into the Abel Tasman Caravan Park and set up.

After unhitching we went and checked out our very short trip to the Spirit of Tasmania Terminal. Then got some things we needed and checked out Devonport. We had not seen it until now. It was one of the only things we had not seen in Tazzie. It is a big town. We had a look at the mouth of the river where the Spirit docks and a bit either side of the mouth.

In these shots you can see a green and red marker which the Spirit travels between. That is obviously a deep channel. But this side of the channel were big waves which a half dozen surfers were riding. When we arrived in Tazzie on the Spirit the sea was calm and there were no such waves. I do not envy the people who travelled on today’s trips on the Spirit. I just hope, and yes am praying that the weather is good for Sunday and Bass Straight is calm.







So here we are on our last night in Tazzie, the end of our trip apart from the trip home. Mid April and there is snow falling in the highlands and there will be snow falling down to 700 metres altitude tomorrow, and that covers a lot of Tasmania. For a large percentage of our trip the wind has been ridiculous, especially the last three weeks. However, we are very comfortable and warm in our van and Linda cooked up a beautiful fish curry dinner. Shall give more reflections of our trip in the last post but for now I feel compelled to say that if I ever return to Tazzie, it won’t be for the weather.

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