Fresh from a night where dad and Colin attended a way cool Coldplay concert while Allie and mom had their very own movie night, Thursday saw our busy family stuffed into a taxi and on the way down to Station Pier eager to set sail for Tasmania! A late addition to our Australian travel itineray, we had booked ourselves a four day "holiday" that coincided with Australia's Labour Day weekend. We were all quite excited by the prospects for this trip as Tasmania seemed to represent the far off, the exotic and the unknown. We would not be disappointed!
Boarding the Spirit of Tasmania, the boys were giddy with excitement. Admittedly, I too, was giddy but more perhaps with trepidation. I wondered if my sea legs would hold up under 3-5 metre swells and if the good ol' ferry itself might have just one more journey in her across the notoriously nasty Bass Strait. The total distance is about 460 kms and takes about 11 hours from Melbourne to Devonport on the north coast of Tasmania. The Spirit is quite a large ship and is capable of carrying several hundred cars and 1400 passengers with a majority in cabins. The boat is very well appointed with a casino, gift shop, two restaurants and two bars and while at sea we ate dinner, enjoyed the arcade and watched High School Musical 3 - woohoo! It was a perfect mix of activity for the kids and as the boat began to bounce we were all comfortably tucked into our bunks - excited to be sailing the ocean blue and relieved that Troy and Gabriela were reunited for prom!
Apparently we didn't sink during the night because as the sun broke over the horizon we were steaming into Devonport. Though not as bad as sleeping on the Ghan, the boys were again the winners in terms of good versus bad sleeps. Linton and I shared a collective group of ailments including insomnia, sore backs, temperature issues, etc. Or maybe we're just getting old. Regardless, we were keen to extricate ourselves from a cabin and grab a breath of fresh, albeit Tasmanian, air.
Once we had successfully failed the sniffer dog test - he managed to nail for us for apples and croissant residue(!) - we collected our stylish Ford Falcon and headed where else but McDonalds. Keen for a second cup of joe and maybe, just maybe, an egg McMuffin, we gathered our thoughts and still wobbly sea legs to come up with the day's plan. The weather was gorgeous and with that as our guide we turned toward Cradle Mountain National Park and the prospect of seeing one of Australia's few Unesco World Heritage sights.
One thing we were to quickly appreciate about Tassie is that it is a land of hills, vales, and mountains and the roads are all of the twisty variety. We had crossed over with a large number of bikers and once on the highways we could see why - the driving is unbelievable. If you were on a motorcycle, or in a fast car, or without a little guy in the back who is prone to twisty-road-induced nausea, you would have the drive of your life down here. It go so that my brake foot was cramping and I was longing for a straightaway of more than a few hundred metres!
Once in the Cradle Mountain National Park we did a few shorter walks and checked out the visitors centre. Tasmania is a place for hikers and they do a very good job of creating a variety of hikes for all ages and abilities. The boys seemed to love the outdoor activity and there were very few moments where a piggyback was required. We then drove a few more kilometres into the park to have a look at the actual Cradle Mountain so named for the rounded shape created by the two peaks. Snow blanketed the very topmost parts of the mountain and a cool wind kept us in fleeces and pants. The air, light and colours gave us the sense of a cool Canadian fall day and made the land far more familiar than many parts of Oz.
Once in the Cradle Mountain National Park we did a few shorter walks and checked out the visitors centre. Tasmania is a place for hikers and they do a very good job of creating a variety of hikes for all ages and abilities. The boys seemed to love the outdoor activity and there were very few moments where a piggyback was required. We then drove a few more kilometres into the park to have a look at the actual Cradle Mountain so named for the rounded shape created by the two peaks. Snow blanketed the very topmost parts of the mountain and a cool wind kept us in fleeces and pants. The air, light and colours gave us the sense of a cool Canadian fall day and made the land far more familiar than many parts of Oz.
With Launceston, our eventual destination, a few more hours away we drove down the mountain and out of the park with rosy cheeks and happy to have made this diversion. Tasmania, as we were quickly discovering, is a land of unique and remarkable natural beauty and though it might take a few extra twists and turns to get there, it was already proving to be well worth the effort.
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