CAIT AROUND THE WORLD

Hey! This is the fourth day of my tour through Tasmania with Under Down Under Tours (check out their website here — not sponsored). If you missed the first three days, go back and read them here!

February 22, 2023 — Today was much more chill and low-key as we met at 7:00am on the bus to head just a few minutes down the road to Cataract Gorge in Launceston. It’s an extremely picturesque walk; a little piece of rugged land in the middle of Tasmania’s second-largest city. There’s a suspension bridge running across to the other side of the gorge and chairlifts even operate across the chasm. They looked so cool, but unfortunately weren’t open so early in the morning.

When we finished at Cataract Gorge, we made our way to St Helen’s and the Bay of Fires. The Bay of Fires may be named as such for one of two reasons. The first story says that one of the early European ships sighted fires all along the coast one night. When they dropped anchor and rowed to shore in the morning, any sign of the fires was gone. (This is explained by the Palawa tradition of building fires in holes in the sand during low tide, covering them when finished, and allowing them to be fully extinguished as high tide rolled in, leaving no trace of a fire.) The other explanation relates to the orange nature of the lichen that covers the rocks at the bay. Orange lichen grows on the granite rocks at the Bay of Fires, caused by interaction between algae, sun, and other factors.

I loved clambering up and down the rocks scattered around the bay, and made my way to several incredible viewpoints. It was also a great introduction to the adventure that the next day held… 👀

We had stopped at the Bay of Fires for lunch and, about an hour later, we headed out again, on our way down the scenic East Coast. We made another stop at Shelley Beach to hunt for seashells along the bay and I can honestly say I’ve never seen so many different, beautiful seashells in one place at one time. I found so many different types of shells, and so many of them were actually still whole! (A rarity on other beaches.)

As we wound our way down the coast, heading for Bicheno, I clued into the fact that this day marked approximately 4 weeks since I left home. (I say approximately because I technically lost a day on the way to Australia; I left on the 29th of January and landed on the 30th.) Still, this was kind of a momentous occasion for me. I’ve never gone so long without seeing my parents and my brother, and this is also the absolute furthest from home I’ve ever been. Literally on the other side of the world. I thought that homesickness would sink in around now, but being on tour, I wasn’t dwelling on the amount of time that had passed, which has probably been a bit of a saving grace. I’m also still so imbued with a sense of rightness and such happiness when I think about the fact that I’m doing what I’m doing: solo travelling around the world. This is something that I’ve wanted to do for a long time, and being here feels so right. I miss home, but I’m not ready to be done.

We drove into Bicheno, where we dropped off some of the crew at a wildlife sanctuary (it was an optional extra on the tour). The rest of us, me included, made our way fully into Bicheno and to the Bicheno Blowhole. I spent a solid minute and 42 seconds filming, hoping that a great big wave would create an epic spray, and six seconds after I got a semi-decent one, a massive spurt blew out of the hole and I missed it. Oh, such is the fickleness of the sea. I still got to witness some pretty awesome blows, though! (I just couldn’t catch them on camera.)

We had a quick grocery stop while Keygan, our tour guide, picked up the rest of the group, then we finally all made our way to our accommodations for the night. The hostel was the last stop, and we were all so relieved to finally get our stuff and get off the bus.

We chilled for a while, having dinner and playing Uno, until dusk started to fall and I had to head off my Bicheno Penguin Tour and everyone else headed to the beach to see what they could spot.

I cannot recommend the Bicheno Penguin Tour enough. I paid just shy of $50 and it was completely worth it. We were taken around the sanctuary area by a very knowledgeable guide, who explained the life cycle of the penguins, showed us a bunch of penguins in their little huts, and then we got to watch the penguins walk up from the ocean…right between our legs! We saw little blue penguins, the only type of penguin that calls Australia home, and the smallest variety of penguin. It was such a cool and incredible experience.

When I returned, the rest of the group was just getting back from their penguin watching adventures. We’d all been able to see them walk up from the ocean, which is awesome. We were also all pretty beat by that point and after I showered and got my pyjamas on, I curled up and fell asleep, excited for the adventures coming the next day.

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