Penguin - North Coast, Tasmania.
Penguin is a pretty little resort town on the north coast of Tasmania between Burnie and Devonport. Predictably, the township, first settled in June 1861, was named Penguin by the botanist Robert Campbell Gunn after the flocks of Fairy Penguins which still inhabit the area.
This coastline was explored by Bass and Flinders on their voyage of discovery and a local Van Diemans Land surveyor, Joseph Fossey is known to have traveled through the area in the 1820’s but, at that time the whole of the north-west coast was covered in dense bush and was relatively uninviting.
It took the 1850’s Victorian gold-rush and the resultant demand for timber to open up the area with timber cutters moving in to harvest trees and cut them into palings which were then shipped across Bass Strait and eventually to the gold-fields. Wharves sprang up along the north coast to serve the ships engaged in this trade and as the land was progressively cleared new settlers arrived and acquired land holdings. The first was Edward Beecraft who took up 167 acres in 1861.
Penguin prospered and was a prominent port until around 1901 when the arrival of the railway meant that local produce could be carted to the larger and more efficient ports of Burnie or Devonport.
Today Penguin is a tourist town which boasts the largest undercover market in Tasmania, a plethora of seaside cafes with great views to Bass Strait and, naturally, the world’s largest Penguin. The 3.15 Metre (10 Feet) high statue constructed in fibreglass and cement was erected in 1975 to celebrate Penguin’s centenary.
This Tassie Local snapshot was produced by Footloose Photographic & Media Solutions
The average maximum temperature in Penguin is 21 degrees Celsius in January and 13.5 degrees Celsius in June.
Things to see around - Penguin
Penguin - North Coast, Tasmania
