Last night I heard snuffling near my tent again. I got out to see what it was, and it was a large wombat. I was hoping for a bandicoot, as I haven’t seen one of those yet. In my getting in/out of my tent, I must have inadvertently invited a mosquito into my tent. I have a hard and fast rule that no insects are allowed in my tent. Of course, I didn’t know the interloper had come in until I was laying in my sleeping bag and heard the high-pitched whine near my ear. I turned on my headlamp, searching for the offender. I saw him, and squashed him...so I thought. Just after I had started to drift off to sleep, there it was again! Dang! I tried again to end its life. The cagey little bugger evaded me once more. Now, you might be thinking why bother? Why not just go to sleep and ignore it. Well, apparently, the mozzies here carry a virus called Ross Valley Virus. While there is only symptomatic treatment, it causes painful joint swelling, and otherwise makes one miserable. I certainly don’t need that! So, I was determined to kill the thing. I was finally successful, and managed a few more hours of sleep.
Today’s ride was very short, just 42km. I did stop at the Pondering Frog Cafe again for a mid-morning snack as it was 29km in and I was ready for a break. I also thanked he owner again for helping me ring the NP to see about a space. The cyclist guys I met yesterday had already been there, and gone. They had more distance to do than I did.
The 42 kms was not terrible exciting. Mostly the scenery looked like this.
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| On the way to Bicheno |
No, the goal was to get to Bicheno early in hopes that on this Easter weekend, there would be a spot for me at the caravan park. I needn’t have worried. There is a large spot for tents, and there were only two there when I arrived. Three guys on motorbikes came in shortly after me, as well as another vehicle, so it was still a good idea to get here early.
I was also in need of some clean clothes. After showering (free hot shower until the hot water runs out—I didn’t run out of hot water, and I even washed my hair), I through my clothes in the washer. It’s a sunny and windy day here on the East Coast of Tassie, so I hung the clothes on the line. It’s kind of tricky when you only have 6 clothes pins. I doubled and tripled up the clothes. Fortunately, it’s a good strong wind.
Once my clothes were on the line, I walked down to one of the star attractions of Bicheno, the Blow Hole. It’s one of those things where you just have to wait, and have your camera ready. I got a couple of decent shots.
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| The Blow Hole blowing |
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| Smaller blow |
I walked the road to the Lobster Shack. They had lobster rolls, so I decided to have one and compare it to my lobster roll I had in Maine last summer. It was good, but the Maine lobster roll was bigger. The one here, though, couldn’t have been any fresher as she just made it when I arrived.
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| Lobster roll |
I walked the Bicheno Foreshore Path back to where the Blow Hole was. It was a nice path, partly on the rocks (white blazes and arrows marking the way), and partly trail.
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| Trail marking |
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| View from the path |
Down at the path is where to go to see the penguins come back to shore tonight. There is this sign that tells all the rules.
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| Penguin sighting rules |
I think I will go back down there and see if I see any penguins tonight. There will probably be no photos, as it will be dark, and flash photography is not allowed. Suffice it to say they will probably look the this photo.
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