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We packed up early and rode the very short ride (for us) back to Devonport. Rain was called for and we got some on the way, and we rode to a little bakery near the ferry terminal and had breakfast and coffee. We had a reservation at the Eli Hotel on the other side of the river and headed there in hopes of dropping off our stuff and being free to tour around the city sans extra weight. The hotel folks were delightful and helpful and let us check in early since the people who booked our room the night before never showed. What a surprise bonus.
We dropped our bags in the room and I volunteered to take the laundry to a local laundromat while Dana went exploring. It was a good chance to catch up on posts and get everything fresh at the same time. The laundromat was an experience itself, with French, Aussies, and old American me all trying to get our laundry done. A long process, too, as the four washing machines and four dryers were all in use. No one was using the two washers labeled “Pet bedding” and I didn’t jump at using those either, preferring to wait. I struck up a conversation with a woman who was washing her duvet because “me daughter puked on it last night.” Sweet. 😉 The three French guys monopolizing the other machines were on holiday and driving a small camper van around Australia, hiking and camping when they weren’t in a city doing laundry. Mundane, but necessary chores.
Part of our afternoon was spent going back to the Spirit of Tasmania offices to see if we could change our return trip. We could, but it would almost double our fare and the very nice woman there gave us some gastronomical recommendations. We got back to the hotel, dropped the bikes and walked to Valentino’s Family Restaurant for the seafood linguine.
After dinner, we rode out in a drizzling rain to the Lillico Beach Penquin Viewing Platform, hoping to catch their clamber from the sea to their nests after sunset. The drizzle created a double-rainbow, and when the rain abated we were treated to some amazing skies. And we saw the penguins. A few in daylight, a fat, perfectly still molting adult (it takes 17 days and they’re not happy about it), and many under the red flashlights of the volunteer guides. The guides were great and knew just where to look. The red-hued pics below are of the penguins crossing the beach to scramble to the safety of the bushes. Quite a sight and experience.
The ride back was quite an experience, too. Now very dark (with very little light pollution), we had our lights on full. The path we were on went all the way back to Devonport, but went through farm fields replete with cow grates and some forested areas. Well, just as I crossed one of those grates, I hit a brush-tailed possum square on. It yelped, I kept the bike up and it ran off. There were more, and they are not small; probably 25-35 lbs. We started singing and whistling but rounded the next curve only to see more on the trail – at one point it even looked like a convention of possums with about 20 or so milling about the trail and on either side. Our noise making didn’t seem to have any effect on scattering them, so we both started barking like dogs. That worked, as silly as it was. It was very silly, and we were laughing in-between barks, but it kept them scattering and the trail possum-free.
We climbed into bed still chuckling at that encounter, but happy we got to see the penguins.
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