Tassie Tourists Final Blog

Views of Devonport from the Ferry

Where we farewelled Judy













Looking towards Bass Strait












Cabins where we stayed on Thursday and Friday







Tassie Tourists Final Blog
We left Devonport in the Spirit of Tasmania II on Saturday morning. It was a little late in leaving because it arrived from Melbourne a little late. We started embarking at about 8.00 am. We had arrived at about 6.15 am. According to the blurb that we got from the shipping people we could go into the wharf area approx 3 hours before. Start embarking 2.5 hours before departure and the latest we could get there would be 8.15 am.

There were cars and other vehicles still being booked in as we were embarking. We shoved off into the Mersey River (Devonport's river) at around 9.45 am under an overcast and rainy sky.
The passage itself wasn't too bad. A little boring because there wasn't much to do. We were lucky because we had a cabin where we could go back to and have a snooze or get away from all the people that were circling around the restaurant, bars and gaming area.
We at least were able to have breakfast, lunch and afternoon at the Captains Table. (The cafeteria area was called the Captains table). Even though they had a captive audience the prices weren't through the roof, just passing through the ceiling.

The passage was uneventful and we arrived in Melbourne at about 7.20 pm, about 1 hour 20 minutes late. They again observed union rules (first on last off) and we were among the last vehicles to leave the vessel.

While on board we were able to check for some accommodation and settled for a motel in Seymour. It was $75 per room and we got what we pain for. The room that Deb and I had was a smoking room and we could tell. (I didn't think there were such things in this day and age.) We arrived there at about 9.45 pm and were away the next morning at about 8.00 am. We breakfasted at the local Maccas and were on the road to Gunnedah at about 8.45 am.

The trip to Gunnedah was uneventful and I think everyone was keen to get there. We arrived in Dubbo at 5.20 pm and after a toilet stop headed for the nearest Hog's Breath where we had a good feed and were on the road by 6.30 pm.

Poor John Welch got a surprise when he came down to turn on our heater. The washing machine was running. Jan and Nerissa had come in to wash some clothes after their visit to the Western Plains Zoo at Dubbo. We arrived home to a nice warm house with a bit of washing ready to be hung out. Jan was coming back in the morning to hang it out but we thought we might surprise her.

Now for some statistics:

Distance travelled from Gunnedah to Gunnedah: 5,502.8 km
Distance travelled from first fill to last fill: 5,505.9 km
Fuel consumed 432.92 ltr
Average fuel consumption 7.86 l/100km (35.93 mpg)

I don't know how much our accommodation cost because the tour manager hasn't divulged that information.

This is the last of the Tassie Tourists blogs. We hope you have enjoyed them. I think it was a good way to let everyone know what we had been up to.

Deb, Den, Pat and Phil