Spirit of Tasmania
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Up early at 6am again to eat brekky and pack the car. Then wait until just after 7:00 for the motel reception to open.
We drove quickly to Pakenham on lots of freeways without really stopping except for petrol at Traralgon. It rained most of the way but cleared up nicely by the time we got to Pakenham - which was still only 8:40am. We stopped at a cafe for some drinks, then ate the bread rolls we bought yesterday with some cheese. Then it was on to Melbourne.
We arrived in Melbourne before 11:00, making sure not to get on the nasty toll road. The traffic and Melbourne drivers were all wonky and the lane marks where there were trams were really weird.
We made it to St Kilda Rd and parked near the National Gallery of Victoria in a 1 hour zone, but asked a man at the Arts Centre where else we could park. He said there was a parking place under the Arts Centre but it cost $3 an hour. We said "Oh that's cheap compared to Sydney!" So we moved the car and went into the city to browse shops and get some food. Myer was having a special food festival with lots of tastings - I tried some cheese and pie filling and apple juice. Then Michelle got an egg and salad sandwich and I got a Thai curry beef pie - yum!
We walked back to the car and drove down to the port where we boarded the Spirit of Tasmania! We had to wait in a queue of cars for about half an hour and then we could drive in. Michelle had to get out and board separately - lucky she couldn't see how close the cars had to be parked!
Spirit of Tasmania |
After boarding at 2:30pm we had to veg and wait to 6:00 for the ship to even move - pretty boring. Then dinner is at 6:30 and hopefully the evening will be more fun.
The dinner was pretty good. All you can eat buffet with a wide selection of dishes. Michelle has vege lasagne, fried rice, baked spuds, broccoli, bread. I had pizza, fried rice, fish, potato salad, bread, and an apple slice for dessert.
 Heading across Port Phillip Bay |
We were dead tired and Michelle fell asleep early. I found out the bad thing about having so much dinner when the ship left the heads of the bay - the rougher seas induced a bout of distressing nausea. I saw one woman throw up on the deck outside - which was enough to send me for the seasick pills. In the half hour before they took effect I stayed in the fresh breeze on the deck. A fellow passenger chatted to me about seasickness and what a funny thing it is - then proceeded to tell me his life story. Eventually I got away and spent a mostly sleepless night in the cabin bunk.
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