Slept mostly ok - bed was almost *too* firm and woke up with an aching back/ribs a few times. Normal wakeup time (fairly good blockout blinds).
Had a small breakfast of cereal before heading out around maybe 9:40ish.
First stop was out to Akaroa to see Tim and Fuzzy's old house they're trying to sell.
We also went all the way out to Burns Bay to have a look around.
Rockpool near Beerbarrel Beach
Beerbarrel Beach near Akaroa
Stu at Burns Bay boat ramp
Stu at Burns Bay boat ramp
Drove back into town and stopped at Banjo's for coffee/croissant/hash brown toastie (which was very nice!).
Then we headed out to Binalong Bay to find where the parents took a photo there. Yet again trees (and blackberries) were in the way (and the tide was too high) to reproduce.
Welcome to Binalong Bay sign
Binalong Bay
Binalong Bay
Rocks at Skeleton Bay
Rocks at Skeleton Bay
Rocks at Skeleton Bay
Rocks at Skeleton Bay
Rocks at Skeleton Bay
Farewell from Binalong Bay sign
We also headed up to the northern end to have a look around.
North end of Binalong Bay
Binalong Bay panorama
Rocks at Binalong Bay
Rocks at Binalong Bay
Binalong Bay
Wave crashing at Binalong Bay
Then we headed south.
Beauty Bay near St Helens
We stopped at Shelly Point around 13:05 to have a look and have a pitstop.
Shelly Point lookout
View south from Shelly Point
View north from Shelly Point
Moth in the toilet at Shelly Point
View south from Shelly Point
Also stopped at a couple of beaches south of Falmouth around 13:30.
View south from Four Mile Creek Scenic Lookout
View of Lagoons Beach from the Tasman Highway
Then I tried to find another one of the parents' photos. It was possibly taken up Elephant Pass Road, but there's too many trees so couldn't find the spot at all. So that was a fail.
View of Lagoons Beach from Mount Elephant Road
Then there were roadworks which held us up for around fifteen minutes.
Finally got to our resort a bit before 15:00. Checked in and dumped our stuff and I went for a wander down to the beach and around the grounds.
Penguin viewing area next to the beach
Then I went into town to get supplies. This town is fairly small but does have an IGA and I picked up a four pack of beer from the Farm Shed which sells Bicheno Beer which is pretty cool.
Had a beer and then we went for a walk down to Diamond Island. I tried to find three of the parents' photos. Had an idea where two of them were but couldn't find the exact spot. And the third required climbing a big rock mountain but I didn't want to keep the sweetie waiting any longer (he'd been waiting for ages for me already.. sorry sweetie!!!)
Diamond Island and Redbill Beach
The sand bridge to Diamond Island
Stu on Redbill Beach near Diamond Island
View towards Bicheno
The sand bridge to Diamond Island
White-fronted chats on Diamond Island
Diamond Island
Pacific gull over Diamond Island
Diamond Island
Diamond Island
Diamond Island. My Dad took a photo from the top of that. I didn't have time
Diamond Island
The sand bridge to Diamond Island
Came back and tried to connect to the wifi, but while it could connect, it couldn't get an ip address. After trying for a while I wandered up to reception and found the dude in a cupboard with comms gear and I asked "are you trying to fix the internet" hehe. So left him to it.
Heated up tv dinners for dinner, but the freezer is not very freezy and the ice cream is melting all over the place :(:(:(
Did gps/photo/blogging stuff but annoyed there's no internet because I need *something* to keep me awake til the penguin run later.....
Aight so just before 21:00 I went up to join the group to see the penguins. They don't join the other company's tour (which is like $50pp) you just have hope that some of them come further inland past them. In the end we saw two that were actually camped out (probably moulting) but none coming in from the water.
Little penguin at the resort
Little penguin at the resort
Made for a very late night :(
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