The Spirit of Tasmania

The alarm sounded at 4:30am and team Burton sprang into action.  Within the hour we had breakfast and packed, wound up the Jayco and hitched.  I was a little anxious being responsible for navigating our ensemble into Port Melbourne on time. I have been to Melbourne countless times, but rarely have I driven in the city environs.  Fortunately, as we expected, the traffic was very light given the hour and time of year.  We saw the Spirit of Tasmania  from St Kilda beach and just kept heading towards it. The Dawn Princess was docking as we arrived which caused a lot of congestion and resulted in us sitting around for a couple of hours before we could actually board.  I can’t say it wasn’t frustrating getting up so early only to then wait in a car park with a bunch of other frustrated motorists. In the end we all became quite good friends – something to do with shared adversity I suppose.

Once we got moving, the boarding process was painless.  Rod was a bit miffed that they made him toss out his fruit “but we are not in Tasmania yet!” he protested.  Apparently the boat is considered Tassie, even whilst docked in Port Melbourne. He was even more annoyed when we saw several other passengers on board pull out a veritable cornucopia of fruit and veg while in transit.  In the end we had to supplement our packed snacks with a buffet lunch from the onboard café.  Yeah, it was ok, but I would not like to be suffering from motion sickness and see that lunch a second time.

The Captain had advised us we would experience seas of 3-4 metres as we neared Devonport.  Thankfully it didn’t get that rough and we all travelled without incident.  I was fine, but did have a few uncomfortable moments when a couple sitting a few tables away began ralphing their hearts out.  Special. 

Devonport was freezing, windy and overcast.  We elected not to spend the night at the recreation reserve as the toilets were locked and ended up at a local Van park. It was a bit dodgy, but it was for one night so we didn’t mind. The lady at the reception called Andrew “cobber”. I haven’t heard that in years, not even in Queensland. Rod stopped at the local supermarket to get some essentials that evening and the Cashier asked him if he had just come in on “the Spirit”. “Yes” he replied, “Do I look all wind blown?”  “No” said the cashier, “It’s just that I don’t know you”. ??!!??

The next morning we dropped into the information centre and had a look around Devonport. Then it was off to the Avers Chocolate Factory, the quirky town of Latrobe and it’s interesting antique shop called Reliquaire . Andrew and I goT lost in the shop – it’s hard to explain, so I will just post a few pics.  Next was the topiary town of Railton and then Sheffield, known for its murals.  Just south of Sheffield is Mount Roland which looked pretty impressive. It is part of the Western Tiers and only a dozen or so kilometres from Cradle Mountain - looking forward to that.

That night we ventured west along the coast road from Ulverstone to Penguin.  Astounding scenery once more, reminded me of the road north from Christchurch to Kiakoura in NZ. We had no real plans on where to stay and let serendipity do its stuff.  Serendipity lead us to a freecamp spot behind the Rocky Cape Tavern. The Bogan radar has sounded several times but we are having a great time. Our neighbours are just marvellous and we are looking forward to the Wedding  reception to be held at the Tavern on New Year’s Eve.

 I am seriously running out of vocabulary to describe the things we are seeing so thought I would just post pics. Enjoy!