Do you know how cold Melbourne is at 4:30am as we prepare to leave for the Ferry? No? Well it is! Fortunately Roscoe had hooked the van and Cruiser up last evening in a drizzle of rain, topped up the water tanks, stowed the hose and drainage pipe so all we needed to do was get dressed, have a Piccolo coffee, disconnect the power and we’re gone!
Traffic? Why is there so much traffic at 5am, haven’t these people any sense of decency and lifestyle? Thankfully we had done the journey yesterday so all went well and we were soon confronted with the Spirit Of Tasmania as we drove along the waterfront, all alight in the pre-dawn light. Gates open at 6am so we find ourselves quite close to the front of the line (did those ahead of us sleep in the expansive driveway?). At 6am the gates open and we move forward, then stop, forward, stop and so on for about 90 minutes as we pass checkpoints for tickets, check that illegal foodstuffs are not onboard, gas bottles turned off etc. The guts of the ship are huge and we feel dwarfed as we are directed down into the deck reserved for trucks and caravans.
Thankfully we have booked a cabin on this sailing and also when we return in May. Evi has a cold and is coughing, sneezing and wheezing, and now with Corona Virus in the news that’s not a good thing. We exit the parking deck and hurry straight to our room where Evi spends most of the journey in isolation. Roscoe does a lap of the “people’ decks to check things out then takes the suffering wife for a quick promenade on an outside deck…crikey it’s cold!
6:30am, a blast of the ships horn and we are underway for the 9 hour voyage across Bass Strait. We have occupied a “Starboard porthole cabin” which conjured up images of a reasonably spacious abode to while away the hours! Spacious doesn’t quite describe a room the size of an average 4WD that includes twin beds, bathroom/toilet/shower, and room to walk between the beds….just! It is clean and quiet though. Evi is on the bed reading and knitting as we pull away from dock, as she’ll be doing for the rest of the day between naps! Roscoe heads off to the cafe to get two piccolos, then he heads off to the onboard cinema to watch the latest Star Wars movie, “The Rise of Skywalker”. Apparently this is childish and beneath the dignity and intelligence of his cabin colleague. No matter, a good way to spend a few hours!
As the day progresses Evi appears to be pretty good, especially after an hours sleep. It’s 2pm, so we go to the main restaurant for a late lunch, and as there are only a few doing so it seems a good move to do late. Lunch is a buffet with a really wide selection of very well presented and tasty food, washed down by a red wine. We waddle back to the room and it’s not too long before madam is fast asleep again.
About 4:30pm an announcement directs “all owners of vehicles on Deck 3 to proceed to their vehicles”, we are approaching Devonport and shall disembark at 5pm. We are the first deck to dive onto Tasmanian soil and are quickly through the customs check, then at the end of the driveway we turn right for the 400 metre dive to the Abel Tasman Caravan Park where we are booked for one night. Hello Tassie!
Our site is a “drive through” and with no need to unhitch we are soon in our camp chairs with sundowner drink in hand. Another Lotus caravan pulls in beside us, Greg and Jenny, new friends who we will cross paths and travel with during the next four weeks.
Australia. Dust, Fire, Flood & Pandemic 