We were particularly impressed with the Red Feather Inn at Hadspen - a series of buildings and beautiful grounds:
Once back at Launceston we drove north to Grindelwald. Many of the houses have some quaint Swiss features and beautiful gardens and worth a look if you find yourself in the general area. We weren't too fussed on the 'Swiss Village' at the resort - it was a bit tired and twee:
We had lunch at the Bistro there - fairly ordinary pub grub.
Whilst at lunch, the blue skies disappeared and grey clouds closed in. We were lucky not to get rained on, though we could see plenty of water about in some of the places we visited in the afternoon.
Cataract Gorge in Launceston has plenty of walking paths (not that we had time to do them):
The outdoor lift up the hill to the car park took my fancy as it was operated by the user.
We were lucky to make Hillwood Strawberry Farm just after 4:30pm - plenty of time to pick 750g of their strawberries before closing time at 5:00pm. We had no time for a coffee but the sweet goodies in the cabinet looked delicious.
After a quick dinner, we rugged up and drove up towards Low Head lighthouse for a penguin tour. At $20 a head, it is excellent value and you wander through the rookery and on to the beach with a guide for about an hour. You get very close to the penguins and non flash photography is allowed. There were about 40 people split into 3 groups so everyone had the opportunity to see clearly. This is a very different experience to Phillip Island.
The wind had risen, the sun had set and obviously PD was feeling the cold. Luckily beanies were on sale for $5 at the penguin tour office:
The clouds had mostly cleared and the twilight sky almost looked like a rainbow:
And then the highlight of the night:
It was PD's first wild penguin encounter and she thoroughly enjoyed it, despite the wintery conditions!
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