Spirit of Tasmania - Devonport to Melbourne

Up early for a 7am departure from Devonport, on board the Spirit of Tasmania. 
We booked a cabin again for or return voyage and took our supply of ginger ale, ginger biscuits and ginger tablets to our room, just in case we had a rough ride ahead. 
We bid Devonport, and all of Tassie, a fond farewell. 







 







    
Again, we scored a 4 berth cabin right at the front (to look out  for icebergs, whales, crazy solo yachtsmen, etc.) and settled in our bunk beds to read and relax. 
We watched a movie in the twin cinema, ate lunch from the eatery, listened to live music in the bar and played arcade games in the dedicated games room.

Halfway across Bass Strait, we sailed past our ship's sister, a wonderful sight to see out in the middle of the ocean. 















Homeward bound....
From our room we spied the city skyline coming into view.  We packed up our things from the cabin and headed down to our car, parked in the lower decks. 



We had a fantastic time on our road trip, saw many wonderful sights, ate our body weight in scallop pies and seafood chowder and tried some wonderful wines.
Arriving in Station Pier, we queued patiently in rows of vehicles, as each deck was unloaded. A parting look at the ferry in the mirror, and we were off to our home, sweet home. It was an amazing trip, that I highly recommend to anyone. 

 

 Travel tips from me to you:

• book the ferry in advance
• day sail
• book a cabin for the sailing journey
• take your car
• pack all your creature comforts from home
• pack ginger products
• buy an RACV personal membership to get discounted ferry and nat parks tickets
• buy an Entertainment Book membership for even more discounts
• stay in self contained cabins 
• eat all the scallop pies and seafood chowder you can
• give Tassie a big hug for me

Tasmania Travels - Beaconsfield Mine

2006. For almost 2 weeks, we were glued to the tv. Watching, waiting, wanting to hear some kind of news about the miners trapped underneath Beaconsfield Mine. Todd Russell. Brant Webb. Larry Knight.
The miraculous news that followed - Brant and Todd were alive and rescued.
The tragic news - Larry Knight did not survive.

The mine has since closed down and has been turned into a museum and heritage centre. 

We wandered around the site for a few hours, exploring the interactive exhibits and recreations of the mine disaster.

The workings of a mine are fascinating and I have visited a few over the years, but Beaconsfield is the most modern mine I have seen. 

The views from the 'Monkey Cage' were amazing. 

The historic buildings and relics provided a glimpse into the past, when the mines were an even tougher place to work. 

A quick game of Shafts and Ladders and our visit was complete.

Outside, a plaque sits, paying respects to the many people in the community who helped make Todd and Brant's rescue a success and honouring the memory of Larry. 

























Across the road, in the rose garden where news crews huddled for 2 weeks, another plaque commemorates journalist Richard Carleton, who passed away during the event. 

Beaconsfield Mine was the last attraction for us to visit on our Tassie road trip and it added a poignant ending to our journey. 
Onward to Devonport for a night before we set sail in the morning.

Tasmania Travels - Cataract Gorge, Launceston

At Cataract Gorge, we boarded the chairlift to the northern station.



































At the Gorge Cliffgrounds, we wandered around the shady gardens, spotting wildlife like the glamorous peacocks, with their peahens and pea...babies? Baby Peas? Chick Peas? Whatever they're called, they are the cutest little fluff balls ever.

Wallabies hopped around the place, not at all bothered by the tourists...


This rock was sitting by the track,  having a salad for lunch...
























We walked along the river via the Cataract Walk, before taking the footbridge back across the water to our car. 

It was a great place to spend a few hours, and we hope to return one day to do

the river cruise and stay in Launceston for a little longer.

But now, we're off to Beaconsfield. 

T

Tasmania Travels - Wineglass Bay Cruise

Up with the Swansea sunrise again, we jumped in the car and drove 50 mins to Coles Bay Jetty, where we boarded Wineglass Bay Cruises' big beautiful catamaran, for a 4 hour cruise around the Freycinet National Park. 
Rugged up in our winter woollies, we found our seats and got comfy as the big cat's motors purred out of the bay and hugged the rugged coastline.

Plenty of birds to be seen and lots of Australian Fur Seals sitting on the rocky outcrops. This guy blended in so well with the rocks, we almost missed him. I gave him a 9/10 for camouflage skills.

The sandy coloured rocks changed as we headed south, becoming stained salmon pink, similar to the colours at Wilson's Prom in Victoria.

As we moved into a sheltered cove, the waves became calmer, with just a feathery touch from the wind causing a rippled effect on the water.

But conditions can change quickly on the high seas, and the sea was angry that day, my friends. 
Ok, maybe not angry. Maybe just a little annoyed. A bit frustrated and teary. 

We've all been there. Like when we spent 3 months in Covid-19 lockdown. 

That's why there's places like Wineglass Bay. Places to look forward to when we can travel again. Places to tick off our bucket list. Places where our Aussie dollars can help small businesses, artists of all genres, farmers, country towns and tourism operators get back on their feet again. 

Because the grey clouds blow away, the rough waves subside, the dark blue seas turn to turquoise green, the sun shines again and before you know it, you're having a lovely lunch on a boat in one of the most picturesque places on Earth.

 

You find yourself having a glass of wine in a magical setting like Wineglass Bay. 

Cheers to future travels, hopefully not too far in the future!

Tasmania Travels - Richmond to Swansea

We left the city of Hobart and headed East. With my 3 family members all mad Tigers fans, we just had to visit Richmond!

Not a tiger in sight, not even a stuffed thylacine, but Richmond still had a lot to offer. A beautiful little town filled with lovely old Georgian buildings, a gaol and a bridge. Sounded good to us.  

Another day, another prison – but we were all enjoying the history lessons we were learning at each site. 

Richmond Gaol was small and easy to see in a short time. 

We managed to get another Tiger Track stamp to add to our collection. 

Behind the gaol, we wandered down to the Coal River and along to the postcard famous Richmond Bridge.  The sandstone arches were built by convicts in 1825 and it is the oldest surviving arch bridge in Australia. The iconic image is even better in real life.

Ducks immediately swam over to us looking for a feed, but quickly about faced when they saw we were empty handed. "We swim onwards, to the next tourist!"

Wild plum trees growing along the river banks showed off their ripe red fruits glistening in the sunshine. We just had to try them, all the while hoping we wouldn't be thrown in the jail for stealing.

Our bellies full of pilfered plums, we ran up the well worn stone steps alongside the bridge, got back in the car and made our getaway.

The drive through the rolling green hills was wonderful. The roads were great all over Tassie. Our SUV isn't 4WD, but we still managed to get off the main roads and hit the dirt trails and gravel tracks away from the highways. There's always something special to see when you detour off the beaten track and we always find a reason to stop during our travels and take a look at country towns.

Just before Swansea, we stopped at the Spiky Bridge. Yeah, it's just a bridge, in the middle of nowhere, on the side of the road - you don't even drive over it, but it's worth taking a look at the structure and design of this bridge. Built by convicts, without using cement, rocks were placed horizontally to build the bridge, then placed vertically, creating a spiky top row. I'm not really sure why they did that, but it's a pretty cool feature.


We arrived at our amazing accommodation, Swansea Beach Chalets, after sunset and stood in the dark on our little deck overlooking Freycinet National Park. Another day done and dusted.
Bliss.