We drove to Melbourne via a night in Albury, and naturally stopped for our first lunch of the trip at Long Track Pantry at Jugiong. Delicious, and we hope it sets the food-tone for the trip.
We arrived at Port Melbourne in plenty of time, and noted the frustrating lack of parking and facilities for the travelers waiting to load their cars and vans onto the Spirit of Tasmania. Only one public toilet open and it was grubby. Lucky the Avan only takes 2 parallel park spaces so we were able to park and wander about. It was fun watching the trucks being loaded and prowling along the pier.
Once the gates opened it was a simple process, through quarantine, and on to the boat. Our porthole cabin was right at the front of the boat, and was very comfortable.
We enjoyed the facilities on the boat, with Ben quickly finding the xbox stations while we enjoyed a lovely glass of Tasmanian wine.
We had a long chat with the onboard tourism advisor and changed our intended itinerary - we now intend to move camp less often and drive about as everything is even closer than we realised.
We had a gentle crossing with low swell, so it was a surprise when the early morning wake up call came over the loud-speaker. Disembarking was as easy as getting on-board, and before we knew it we were driving out of Devonport towards Penguin.
We had planned to stay for two nights in Penguin, but we were there by 7.30am. Over a delicious breakfast (uh oh, yes, we had the smashed avocado), we decided to head to Stanley to explore the Northwest and Tarkine before backtracking to Burnie and down to Cradle Mountain.
We diverted a little to Cape Table to see the tulip farm (and the lighthouse), but it was beginning to rain so we decided to push on to Stanley.
We were set up by 12.30, with no annex as the forecast is for lots of wind. A short drive to Woolworths at Smithton for fruit and veg and milk, and then home to crash out with sudden tiredness. And then it rained. And rained. And rained. Luckily our trusty Avan is warm and dry.
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