March 4, 2016. On the ferry to Tasmania

We had breakfast at the guest house in Melbourne, hopped on a taxi and arrived at the ferry terminal for our 9:00 AM departure.  We will be traveling on the Spirit of Tasmania.  

 

  Unfortunately, the departure was delayed, partly due to the arrival of a cruise ship.

We watched lots and lots of cars, especially campers, load.

Finally, we left at 11:00.  The Melbourne skyline was beautiful.

We sailed on the Bass Strait for 9 hours. The ferry was the largest we have been on.  It was beautifully appointed, like a cruise ship.  There are 6 floors of garages, and 4 floors for passengers.  There were lots of activities, and 3 movie theaters.  We played Disco Bingo.  What fun!  I even won a prize.  We had sandwiches and sipped Tasmanian wine to pass the time.  We listened to a park ranger who gave a talk on the animals of Tasmania, including this Tasmanian Devil charmer.

We arrived at about 9:00 PM in Devonport, on the northern coast.  Terry and Althea, the homeowners for whom we are housesitting, picked us up.  Terry is a professional chef, and prepared us a gourmet dinner. Yum!