Today has been our last day, wrapping up our Tasmanian adventure that seems to have gone on for some time. It was a mild but cloudy start to the day with a gusty wind from the north-west persisting. We had no specific plans and the distance across to Devonport wasn’t all that great, so breakfast and packing up was a leisurely affair. Even so, we were on the road before 9:30am and on our way to Low Head – beyond George Town at the mouth of the Tamar estuary.
Low Head has been host to a light house and pilot station since the early 1800s. The pilot station is the second oldest in Australia and the oldest that has been in continuous operation. When you get to see where the estuary and open ocean meet one another it is very obvious why pilots have an important role to play. Shoals, reefs, sand bars and strong currents are all present; when combined with strong unpredictable winds and a good share of fog added in for good measure, this is a challenging port to enter and depart.
The northern coast of Tassie is home to fairy penguin colonies. The coast around Low Head was no exception, with evidence of numerous occupied burrows above the high water mark. We headed back to George Town for a morning coffee and raw raspberry slice – which turned out to be a very moreish version of a cherry ripe.
From George Town we headed south back to the Batman Bridge, where we crossed the Tamar River and headed to Port Sorell on its western side. Like much of Tasmania, the journey was through rolling hills that supported a mix of agricultural pursuits including berries, poppies, fruit trees, plantation timbers and cattle.
Port Sorell and its sister town of Shearwater were sheltered from the north westerly wind and looked out across a choppy Tamar estuary. We stopped for lunch at Trip Advisor’s ‘#1 rated café in Shearwater’ and made short work of a ham-off-the-bone toastie and a chicken caesar salad.
We filled in the remainder of the afternoon with a walk along Devonport’s Mersey River, opposite the SoT berth, seeking out a couple more geocaches before boarding for the journey across Bass Strait tonight.
Check-in for the SoT involves checking tickets and issuing boarding passes, then driving on to an inspection area where attendants checked under the bonnet of the Prado. Then the gas bottles on the Tvan were checked and tagged to confirm they were turned off, and the back of the Tvan was opened and checked over. The attendant had no interest in a detailed inspection of our porta-loo.
Boarding is complete. We were directed onto the ramp that took us to Deck 5, starboard side, where we parked behind a motor home and were surrounded by large SUVs towing dual-axle caravans. We are parked close to the bow of the SoT so we should not be held up when driving off in Melbourne.
Our forward-facing deluxe cabin (exclusive occupancy) is spacious, with a large TV, a complimentary bottle of Goaty Hill pinot noir and chocolates. The two windows look out over the starboard bow with strict instructions to keep the curtains drawn while underway at night if the room lights are on. Apparently this has something to do with navigation but exactly why remains unclear. What is a little disconcerting are signs of seepage across one of the windows. Possible evidence of a past rough crossing!
The restaurant opens for dinner at 6:30pm and we will be there soon after it opens so we can hopefully get a half decent sleep before berthing at the scheduled time of 5:30am tomorrow.