The spirit of Tasmania
My next port of call was to be Tasmania. This was the next thing on the list of things to do after skiing, I have over the years visited all the states of Australia but Tasmania, the small island in Bass Straight, now was the time. As usual I hadn’t given much thought to it until the time came and discovered when going to Port Melbourne for a ticket, that the Ferry was mostly full for the next month. No good! My old mate John was off to Antarctica for his second stint and was going to be in Hobart for a couple of weeks starting on the 10th, and I wanted to catch up and have a beer, it had to be in the next few days. Oh wait a minute! here’s a spot but it will cost you a bit more to get there… Ah ha! I thought that only happened in Asia… No drama’s, what’s another $100 in the scheme of things, I just won’t eat for a week. The Spirit of Tasmania leaves Port Melbourne and arrives in Devenport the following morning; the crossing was an easy one. I thought it might be a bit rough but the sea gods were kind to me. I didn’t sleep much, as the lonesome traveller can’t afford to take the bike across and get a cabin. On arrival in Devenport about 7am, nothing much was open, a healthy breakfast at MacDonald’s and a cruise around town, perfect! An Irish pub with cheap accommodation, a garage for the baby and Kilkenny on tap, who could ask for anything more, I was in Tassie but wasn’t going to be doing much today, a bit of a walk around to get my bearings, a visit to the tourist place for a map or two, a nanny nap and a few Kilkenny’s I think.
I am….THE LONESOME TRAVELLER….travelling east….BE HAPPY!