Our departure day was occupied with last minute packing and preparations. We were eventually underway and on our way to Port Melbourne to join the queue for vehicle security checks and to receive boarding passes. Because we were towing and had a kayak on top of the Prado, we had to wait for most other vehicles to board. We were assigned to the high clearance deck along with the trucks and buses. The Spirit of Tasmania departed from Station Pier around 7.00pm for Devonport and we watched most of Port Phillip Bay pass by from the comfort of our restaurant table.
Roughly 3 hours out from Station Pier we entered Bass Straight through Port Phillip Heads. The seas were “lumpy” and it was only going to get worse as were forged further into Bass Straight. Fortunately a few glasses of enjoyable wine helped us off to sleep.
Our arrival into Devonport was on time and we were one of the first off at around 6.45am on a brisk morning. Made our way into the center of Devonport to stock up on fresh fruit and veggies as strict quarantine regulations prohibit such things being brought into Tasmania. Had to wait for the supermarket to open at 7.00am and were on our way east by around 7.20am.
Our itinerary had us making our way across to the Mt William National Park at the top of the east coast of Tasmania. As nothing is too far away in Tasmania, there was plenty of time to explore the small towns and wineries along the way. We also took the chance to gather some wood for our evening fire when the opportunity presented itself. After a quick stop at the National Park information center to check in, we were at our camp site mid-afternoon and set up with plenty of daylight left to explore the park. We went for a long walk up a near deserted beach to the next headland. A brilliant white beach all to ourselves!
That night, the local wallabies introduced themselves to us as they went looking for any food scraps we may have discarded – sorry to say they went away disappointed.
