The little town of Penguin sits midway between Burnie and Ulverstone on Tasmania's Bass Strait coast. It's one of those pretty places that you can keep coming back to time and time again and never get tired of. Though it gained its name from the fairy penguin colonies which dot the coast in this part of Tasmania, you will be unlikely see one of the cute little critters as you saunter along the north-facing Penguin Esplanade, but the chance of seeing a sunbeam shimmering off the sea is likely. And if you are very lucky - and it has happened to me - you might catch a pod of dolphins at plasy or even a whale on its way up or down the coast.







One penguin you will see is the 3m tall Big Penguin, one of those Big Things Aussie take great delight in erecting at spots where tourist frequent, and tourists love to pose in front of and take a photo to remember the occasion by. He's been standing proud on the foreshore since the town commemorates its centenary in 1975. It has become one of the most photographed landmarks in Tasmania.



Something else you might like to take a photo of is the Penguin Uniting Church or St Stephens Church a little futher up the street - both are classified by the National Trust. The Uniting Church is a beautiful old timber church with some particularly attractive decorative flourishes. It was completed in 1903 with some attractive woodworking flourishes. St Stephens Anglican Church was built on land given by Alexander Clerke in 1874. Its construction - a bluestone base and timber with a shingled roof and bellcote - is typical of the materials available in the local area at the time. It is a simple church which comprises of a nave, chancel and vestry.



Between the two churches is the old Penguin railway station, now home to the local historical society. It was built in 1901, when the rail line was extended from Ulverstone to Burnie, with the first train arriving at the Penguin Station on 15th April, 1901. In the early days crowds would fill the platform to watch while teams of horses and bullocks would arrive from the outlying rural areas to unload potatoes to be transported on the train. Passenger trains haven't passed through here since 1978, but there are moves afoot for the Don Railway Museum, on the outskirts of Devonport, to get a special heritage passenger train on the mainline rails again that would run on weekends between Don and Penguin. Now wouldn't that be something?



Alongside the station you'll notice what looks like a giant outhouse. It's not - it's actually a fully functional gaol. Built in 1902 it is the smallest gaol in Tasmania, if not the whole of Australia, and was originally sited in Crescent Street behind the Courthouse (now the senior citizens club). It was built to hold prisoners awaiting transport by train from Penguin on their way to the Law Courts of Launceston. The old gaol was restored and re-sited in 1992 by the Penguin Apex Club. Speaking of trains, though there are no passenger services passing through Penguin any more, freight trains loaded up with containers and other goodies do travel back and forth on the line between Devonport and Burnie, so keep your eyes (and ears) open for a photo opportunity with a difference.



On the other side of the railway line is the Hiscutt Park, its lake is home for ducks and the elusive platypus and where you can see remote control enthusiasts race their sailboats on Sundays. The park's replica Dutch windmill was presented to the people of Penguin as a Bicentennial Gift from the Dutch community to commemorate the Dutch settlers in Penguin and the Dutch explorers who were the first Europeans to make contact with Tasmania. The Mill is dedicated to the memory of Janneti Tjaers who was the wife of Abel Tasman. Hiscutt Park also has a picnic area with BBQs, a playground and public toilets.



Another BBQ and picnic area is the popular Lions Club Park at the end of Surf Drive on a headland overlooking Penguin and Watcombe beaches that has a picnic area and public toilets. It is a quite popular spot with RV and campervans. A third picnic area is up on the knoll at Johnsons Beach, that has views of Penguin town. The beach has a playground and public toilets, a skate park and a miniature railway track that loops around the knoll. It used to operate twice monthly on the second and fourth Sundays, and was a big hit with children and adults alike, but I haven't seen it running recently. The long piles of black rocks on Penguin beach here have historic significance as they are the ballast off-loaded from ships loading timber back to Victoria. The area was settled in the 1860s.

Penguin Market

Penguin Market (Cnr King Edward & Arnold Street) is northern Tasmania’s largest market offering over 70 stalls, all under cover. Quality product lines include fine Tasmanian woodwork, jewellery, fashion, giftware, hand-made craft and home wares, as well as fresh produce and a food court where live music performed therein throughout the day. It operates every Sunday from 9.00am to 3pm. Phone 0400 903 031

Former Richardson's Motor & Cycle Garage

The IGA Store at 66 Main Road looks like any other store in any regional Australian town, but in fact has a link to Australia's aviation history. Built in 1910 as Penguin’s first Motor Garage, it is where renowned inventor Goachem Swain Richardson designed and built Australia’s first cycle pedal flying machine, in 1908, the first successful flight in Australia.

Perry-Ling Gardens

If you prefer a walk along the Esplanade, we'd recommend you continue past Penguin Beach to Surf Drive, then proceed along Watcombe Beach. Walk along the grass strip before climbing to cross the railway track, where you discover the start of the beautiful Perry-Ling Gardens along the railway verge. For those seeking an extra two kilometres of power-walking, cross the road onto the footpath that takes you to the eastern end of the township for a return trip. Perry-Ling Gardens is a mass of colour in spring. This seaside garden bordering the eastern entrance to the town follows the road and rail route for approximately one kilometre. You'll find it on Main Road, Penguin. Keep an eye out for trains on the line as they do pass through Penguin daily.



Watcombe Beach (above) lies on the eastern side of Surf Club Point. It is a north-facing beach with a 50 metre wide sandy low tide bar, bordered and fringed by extensive rock flats, particularly to the east. A low narrow foredune, then an embankment rising up to the rail line, back the beach, the line now used as a bike path with the road behind the beach. A Lions Club picnic area is located on the western Surf Club Point.





MOUNT GNOMON FARM
Mount Gnomon Farm is a free-range pig farm where you can taste ethically raised meat and garden produce; forage in the gardens and wander through the paddocks on a guided “secret life of pigs” tour (by arrangement). A full lunch service available on weekends - bookings are essential. Farm shop open Wednesday - Sunday.
886 Ironcliffe Rd, Penguin 7316
Ph: (03) 6287 6933

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Beyond Penguin

Coast Road

If you are travelling between Devonport and Burnie, it is worth taking the old Bass Highway which hugs the coast if you have the time and want to enjoy some very pretty coastal scenery. The road winds its way around the bays and headlands, so it is by no means a fast route, but the scenery and a chance to pass a train on a line that follows the road and the coast makes it worthwhile.



Between Penguin and Ulverstone are a group of small granite offshore islands known as The Three Sisters. Goat Island (above) to their east is accessible at low tide -but be very careful not to get stranded. The island is a beschcombers paradise - there are jagged edges, fiery lichen, unusual seaweed, muscles, a cave and a fishing pool that's big enough to swim in. Goat Island even houses a breeding colony of little penguins.



The Three Sisters island group (above) has been identified as an Important Bird Area by BirdLife International because, with up to 400 breeding pairs, it supports over 1 percent of the world population of black-faced cormorants. Because landings are difficult owing to the lack of beaches and safe anchoring points they are little affected by human visitation and disturbance, although Australian fur seals haul-out on the lowest of them. Pacific gulls and sooty oystercatchers breed there every year in small numbers, and Caspian terns have nested there. White-bellied sea-eagles forage around the islands.



Nakaervis Reserve (qbove) runs along the shoreline opposite the Three Sisters island group. On the western side of the point there is a small beach, but to access it, one must cross the railway line. Though there are only a few trains travelling the line each day, care must still be taken doing this as the line is in regular use by freight trains.


Neptune silver mine site

The site of the Neptune silver mine is just outside of the town on the eastern side on the coastal road to Ulverstone. It was here, in 1850, that silver ore was first discovered by James 'Philosopher' Smith, an indifatigable Tasmanian explorer. By 1871, Penguin Silver Mines Co. had sunk a permenant shaft from which some of the richest sampled had yielded ore as high as 157 oz. to the ton. The ore also contained considerable quantities of copper, nickel, cobalt, lead, arsenic, sulphur, manganese and a small portion of gold. The mine, however, did not live up to expectations, and was soon cloded and the shaft filled in. The site is marked with information signs but little evidence of the mine remains. Please take care if you cross the railway line looking for the mine site as goods trains do pass along along it every day.



Preservation Bay, between Pentuin and Burnie on the old coast road, is one of the prettiest beaches on Tasmania's Bass Strait. It features a north-facing curved ribbon of sand set between low rocky bluffs. There is good access to the beach from the large car park next to the Penguin Surf Life Saving Club located behind the rocky shore at the eastern end. It is a popular swimming beach, hoever rips do occur during higher waves at low tide, with a strong rip running out against the eastern clubhouse rocks during northwest wave conditions.

It is common belief that George Bass and Matthew Flinders came ashore here to take on fresh water in 1798. Contrary to popular belief, the bay was not named by James Cook (he came nowhere near the place) but recalls a visit by three early European settlers who took refuge here in 1845 when the whaleboat they were sailing in was amost swamped in a storm. They camped for the night here, then sailed on to Emu Bay (Burnie).



Sulphur Creek, beyond Preservation Bay, has a curving 250 metre long sandy beach bordered by rocky shore and boulders. Volcanic activity has been the main determinant of the current landscape of North-West Tasmania. Weathering of the numerous lava flows has resulted in both the rich red soils so important to the agricultural industry and very prominent landforms, such as the amazing rock formations lining the shore near the boat ramp here.

Sulphur Creek is reputedly named because of the perceived smell of sulphur in the area when first explored by Europeans. Sulphur is associated with volcanic activity. This site is very interesting in that it contains rocks from the geological period just prior to, and the geological period following the most violent period of volcanic activity when chains of volcanoes formed across Tasmania.



Blythe Heads is where the Blythe River enters Bass Strait and the coastal road joins Bass Highway. The highway runs around the base of Titan Point (eastern side of Blythe River) and clips the western end of Blythe Mouth beach with a seawall backing the first 200 metres of the beach.



To the east of the Blythe River is a 200 metre long section of rocky shore and rock flats, followed by a beach which curves to the east, terminating at a low protruding rocky point. This is a narrow sandy high tide beach, backed by some cobbles and fronted by ridged rock flats. The community of Heybridge is located on the southern side of the highway. Blythe Point is the home of the Max Stonehouse Woodchop arena, Blythe Heads Azmens Club and the annual Blythe Heads woodchopping carnival.



The shore of Round Hill Point consists of a strip of high tide cobbles, fronted by ridges of metasedimentary rocks and intertidal rock flats. The railway line clips the rear of the beach. The once 400 metre long beach around the point now consists of an 70 metre long wedge of sand between the western boundary rocks and the seawall, where the small Chasm Creek drains out against the rocks.


Ferndene Gorge State Reserve

Dial Range

23 km south of Penguin via Fabers Road and Riana

It comes as a surprise to many that the first discovery of silver in Tasmania was in Penguin (see below), followed by discoveries of copper and manganese. However, settlement occurred a decade after the 1850s gold rush in Victoria that created a demand for palings provided by splitters cutting in the Penguin district. There are, however, a few left overs from bygone mining days in the Dial Range, 6 Kilometres south of the town, which provides the scenic backdrop for Penguin.

This chain of mountains and valleys was given its name because the silhouette of one of its summits, the Gnomon, resembles an ancient sundial. Dial Range has numerous trails for bushwalking, mountain biking and horse riding. Two of the best places to visit are Ferndene and Mt Montgomery State Reserves. Ferndene Gorge State Reserve comprises 35.16 hectares (86.9 acres) and is managed by the Tasmanian Parks and Wildlife Service. It was established on 2 August 1939 and is described by the Parks and Wildlife Service as a "scenic fern glade". There is a beautiful walk through the fern glade along a clear stream, surrounded by huge tree ferns reminiscent of Gondwana.


Brownling's Tunnel

The picnic area has plenty of parking, a bbq, outside picnic tables and under-cover picnic tables and a well maintained toilet block. It’s a great spot for a picnic and also is the starting point for an easy 30 minute walk under the manferns along the banks of Mcbrides Creek. Just off to the left of the picnic area and over a little bridge is the walk to Thorsby’s Tunnel, an old silver mine shaft. You will also pass Brownings Tunnel along the way. Short walks include Ferndene (30 mins return), Tall Trees (45 mins), Mount Montgomery (2 hrs), Leven River (40-60 mins) and Mount Gnomon (2 hrs). For more information, purchase a Dial Range Recreation and Management Map from a local visitor information centre, or write to the North West Walking Club, PO Box 107, Ulverstone.

Penguin Cradle Trail

If you'd prefer a cross country hike, the Penguin Cradle Trail would suit you better. For experienced bushwalkers only, this 80km trail heads inland from the coast to Cradle Mountain. Some sections make for a pleasant stroll, while others provide a definite bushwalking challenge. The complete walk takes six days, but access roads mean that sections can be done as day or overnight trips. Please Note: The trail is not currently maintained and is not accessible between Gunns Plains and the Leven Canyon.

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Gunns Plains Caves

Gunns Plains

31.9 km south west via Mission Hill and Pine Roads

Gunns Plains is a rich fertile area dotted with dairy farms, potato growing, poppy growing and beef cattle. In days gone by vegetables were grown here and it was also one of the three major hop producing regions in Tasmania. The Leven River winds slowly through its pastures that support a variety of grazing stock. Agricultural endeavours are also very successful, benefiting from rich red volcanic soil. The town was named after botanist Ronald Campbell Gunn, who visited the valley in 1860. Gunns Plains Caves are in the Gunns Plains State Reserve. The Reserve overlooks the beautiful Leven Valley farmland and has toilets, a wood barbecue and a shelter hut. A shop at Gunns Plains sells food and petrol.

Being approximately 30 kilometres south of Ulverstone in northwest Tasmania, Gunns Plains is easily accessible and a relatively short drive from both Burnie and Devonport. It is an ideal half day destination if you are short of time, however there is plenty to do if you devote a full day or more to explore the area. Camping, accommodation and refreshments are also available nearby.

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