April 8 Penguin (Day 194)
We started the day (after breakfast of course) looking for gas and a car wash. Those gravel roads and the rain did a number on our little home on wheels! We found both across the street from each other near Launceston, the second largest city in Tasmania. Not to scare you, but THIS came crawling out of the hot water heater vent when we sprayed the motorhome down with water and started soaping it up!
A Huntsman spider, as big as any tarantula I’ve seen!
I know that Australia has lots of snakes, crocodiles, sharks, octopus, etc., even spiders, that can kill you, but this spider apparently is not one of them. However, I would not like to be bitten by it! I flicked it off the rig with a scrub brush and unfortunately it landed in a pool of soapy water that was probably toxic to it. I scooped it up and put it in a nearby box and hope that it recovers.
We continued on our way to the tiny town of Penguin on the northwest coast to resupply, dump and get water. We had an adventure trying to find an operating water spigot, then trying to find a water hose long enough to reach from said spigot to the rig!
The town of Penguin is decorated with all things penguin! Even the rubbish bins!
The town dates from 1861 as a timber town, supplying timber to Victoria, a state on the mainland of Australia that was experiencing a gold rush at the time.
All was figured out and we moved on to the free camp area just out of town, Midway Point. We explored the area on the walkway between the road, the railway and the diverse beaches.
The sandy beach is west of the grassy parking area site. The rocky ‘point’ is directly across the railroad tracks from the site.
A little color from the sunset.