22 Jan 2023
Today was a rest day from cycling, and I began my day by getting breakfast at the Blue Edge Bakery which opens at 6am every day. I went for a walk up to the lookout rock near the blowhole. It was a very nice view with a short walk of just a few hundred metres so definitely worth doing. I went over to the blowhole too, which was the main reason I decided to come here for my rest day. Very fun to watch, and the rock formations are also very pretty. You can also take a short walk along the coastline to see some more of the rock formations.
I wandered up to Little Bay Patisserie on my way back and got a bear claw. I didn't know what that was, but apparently it's a pain au chocolat with hazelnut. There were some nice clothes boutiques on that street too, but I don't have the money for new clothes right now. After that all I did was get a pizza at Food and Brew for lunch until it was time to see the penguins.
My penguin tour began at 9:20pm and went until about 10:50pm. It was GREAT. Much better than the attempt at Bruny Island, though that one was free, and this one cost $66. We saw dozens of penguins exit the ocean and wander about the rock formations on the beach, before wandering up the paths that we were standing on and had walked down to get to the viewing location. A few walked past us, and we got to see quite a lot of them and up close! We even got to see inside some wooden homes that had been made to replace burrows for penguins that hadn't managed to make one, as it takes a penguin about 3 weeks tk make a burrow. The wooden boxes mean the penguins save time and therefore get to produce more babies.
We ended up standing next to the other tour groups and my guide seemed to be the only one not really giving any predetermined presentation, but he answered all of our questions and was quite knowledgable (and there were a lot of questions). He looked maybe 19 so was probably just not as experienced as the other guides, but we still learned heaps.
I got into my camping quilt at 11pm and set my alarm for 6am to be ready for the morning bus to St Helens.
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