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| The high iron content in the rocks created this colorful scene. |
We’re anxious to get on the road today. So, as a result, today’s post will be to the point. Also, Terry has more guests moving in later today, so the sooner we’re gone, the sooner he’ll be able to prep for their arrival.
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| The surf has been impressive on many days. Surfing is popular in Tasmania. |
We rushed about the house, gathering last-minute items, attempting to leave the house as tidy as possible. I’d packed my clothing on Saturday, leaving out a few items for Sunday and today’s road trip.
Since we don’t have to have our luggage weighed, it was the easiest packing ever, taking only 10 minutes to put the clothing in my one suitcase. This morning I packed our third bag with supplies, shoes, and toiletries which takes a little longer than the clothing bags, especially when we don’t want any liquids to spill.
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| Check out this surf! |
It takes time to put the following expenses together from the various sheets in our Excel spreadsheet to ensure the final numbers we post here match the numbers on the entries in the various spreadsheets.
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| Views in Binalong Bay in Tasmania. |
We keep miscellaneous expenses on a separate sheet in the workbook and the food, which numbers are transferred to the main sheet at the end of a stay in a vacation home, with separate line items for cruises. It’s hard to explain without seeing it, but it’s working well for us.
In this particular case, we can bring leftover food items with us, so we packed our remaining oversized tinfoil pans with items for the cupboard in the next house with a few perishable items (cheese, butter, etc.). Packed in a cooler bag packed with ice.
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| Wildflowers growing along the beach. |
Below are the total expenses for the six-week period we spent in Penguin, Tasmania. This includes airfare from Sydney (where our 33-night cruise ended). Also, the expense for the rental car includes fuel for the trip from Hobart to Penguin and that which we used while here.
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| Neatly planted fruit trees. |
The cost for the rental car was considerably more than we’ve paid in many other locations, greatly impacting the total figures. Also, groceries were higher than usual, especially when we’d purchased expensive cheese we had shipped to us from a Tasmanian dairy farm.
Over the holidays, we purchased some pricier foods as special treats, including filet Mignon, jumbo prawns, and scallops, all throwing off the usual lower costs. However, we didn’t eat out much due to the difficulty in ordering meals befitting my dietary restrictions, which has always been a little tougher to accomplish in Australia.
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| Not only are there gorgeous white sand beaches in Tasmania, but there are also many rocky shorelines. |
The “tips and miscellaneous” category included some clothing we purchased, toiletries, and various products from the pharmacy. As shown, there was no cost for the excellent WiFi Terry provided with the availability of 200 gigs of data usage per month.
In total, we’re not disappointed by these totals. But, of course, Australia is more expensive than some other parts of the world. Still, it’s a tradeoff with the quality of the experiences, wildlife, scenery, and, most of all, its people, some of the warmest and friendliest on the planet.
| Expense | US Dollar | Australian Dollar |
| Vacation Rental | $ 3,143.80 | $ 4,228.38 |
| re | $ 241.68 | $ 325.06 |
| Hotel (St. Helens) | $ 133.33 | $ 180.00 |
| Taxi | $ 100.72 | $ 135.47 |
| Rental Car | $ 2,642.77 | $ 3,554.50 |
| Wi-Fi | $ 0 | $ 0 |
| Groceries | $ 1,470.65 | $ 1,978.01 |
| Dining Out | $ 84.21 | $ 113.26 |
| Tours | $ 34.17 | $ 45.96 |
| Tips & Miscellaneous | $ 523.45 | $ 704.03 |
| Total | $ 8,374.78 | $ 11,264.67 |
| Average Monthly Cost |
$ 5,789.38 | $ 7,786.66 |
| Avg. Daily Cost – 44 days |
$ 190.36 | $ 256.02 |
Usually, when we’re leaving a location, we’ll post favorite photos. However, based on this short period in Penguin, we’ll save those for our final post when we leave Tasmania, which will include the Huon Valley favorites as well.
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| The statue we passed on the drive from Hobart to Penguin. |
Instead, today, we’re posting photos we’d yet to share from our original road trip from Hobart to Penguin and more photos we’d taken while in Penguin. There were too many photos to share as we posted each day with the continual flow of new stories and adventures we encountered in this wonderful area.
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| White sand beaches are commonly found in Tasmania. |
Will we return to Penguin someday? No doubt, we’d love to. But, as always, the reality remains that we still have a lot of worlds to see. So it’s a stretch that we’re returning to Marloth Park next year, coupled with the serious intent of traveling to other African countries to observe more exciting wildlife and scenery.
A special thanks to Terry for his conscientious attention to every detail to ensure a phenomenal experience we’ll always treasure. We’ve “friended” one another on Facebook and look forward to staying in touch for many years to come, as we have with most of our past landlords/property owners.
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| This cove view was taken in Burnie, Tasmania. |
If you’re looking for a fabulous place to stay in Penguin Tasmania, please click here to reach Terry. We have no doubt he’ll be happy to provide you with the same amazing experience.
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| Entering the city limits of Penguin. |
Goodbye, Penguin. Hello Huon Valley! We’ll be back tomorrow from our new home located on the banks of the Huon River!
Thanks to all of our new and long-time readers for sharing this special six weeks with us.
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| The charm of this town celebrating its fairy penguins is whimsical. |
Happy day!
Photo from one year ago today, January 16, 2016:
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| The men’s Nautica store on the ship had nothing that appealed to Tom, although he liked this brand name in our old lives. For more cruise photos, please click here. |