Tuesday morning we drove from CRADLE MOUNTAIN north to BURNIE on the north coast, intending to find a campsite and then explore the area. When we got to BURNIE it was showery weather so we decided it would have to be a cabin again. Unfortunately everywhere we tried was booked out. With the weather looking pretty shitty we finally decided to cut our losses and head straight back to DEVONPORT.
We drove through the pretty little coastal towns of PENGUIN and ULVERSTONE, arriving in DEVONPORT at about 3.00pm. Luckily the first motor camp we tried had one cabin available for the two nights we wanted it, so we moved in. Then we went sightseeing around DEVONPORT, before buying groceries for our first really healthy meal in a long time. Lots of veggies and meat.
Wednesday morning was spent doing school work, and drying out and airing our camping gear. In the afternoon we took a drive through farmland very much like New Zealand, to the town of SHEFFIELD, about 30 km south of DEVONPORT. SHEFFIELD is known for its murals. Then it was back to DEVONPORT by another route.
We had decided to spoil ourselves with a meal out on our last night in Tasmania, and ended up at the Devonport RSL Club. (Aussie equivalent to New Zealand’s RSA). While there we ran into two lots of campers we had met during our travels around Tassie , all returning to Aussie on the ferry the next day.
Our car trip to the ferry on Thursday morning was extremely boring compared to our saga in MELBOURNE 5 weeks earlier. Every major road intersection in Tasmania, no matter what part of the state you are in, has a sign post indicating which way to the ferry terminal. In DEVONPORT there are sign posts on almost every street corner pointing to the ferry. Even I couldn’t get lost this time !!!
We were the fifth car in line to go on, and ended up below sea level on Deck One. Unfortunately as were to find out at the end of the trip, first on – last off. The ferry trip back to MELBOURNE was uneventful until we tried to ring ahead to book accommodation. Unbeknown to us it was Labour Weekend for Victoria and everything was booked out. However we finally managed to get a last available cabin in a motor camp out near the airport.
With Christel acting as navigator, we were soon zipping through rush hour traffic to our motor camp. For some strange reason Cameron wasn’t all that keen for me to get my hands on our map, and gave very firm instructions that I was to drive, and mum would be our navigator. That bloody trip to the ferry is going to haunt me for the rest of my life.
Safely installed in our cabin, we were all looking forward to being reunited with our caravan the next day. Little did we know what was in store for us. But that will have to wait for the next episode.
No comments:
Post a Comment