After a full three days in Canberra we joined Chel and Rob and drove to Melbourne to pick up the car ferry – Spirit of Tasmania – for the overnight trip to Devonport.  This was the third time we have done this voyage and so knew exactly what to expect!  The drive to Melbourne took about 7 hours with a couple of stops along the way.  We had lunch at Benalla at the wonderful art gallery overlooking the river and situated in the Botanic gardens.

 

The current exhibition is called “Dawn till Dusk” Gifts of Light and Landscape and is well worth visiting if you are in the area.  As usual the lunch was excellent and the break was refreshing.

Then it was on to Melbourne in time for boarding at 5.30pm.    The sun began to set and as we sat in the line up, we observed wonderful colours and light on the water.

 

Fortunately it was calm weather as crossing Bass Strait can be very rough and hazardous, even in a large ship such as what we were on with six decks of cars, two decks of cabins and a deck of entertainment, restaurants and sleeper seats.

After a gourmet dinner and beautiful Tasmanian wines, we retired to our cabins and were woken at 5.45am on arrival in Devonport.

Our destination was Bruny Island, at the bottom of Tasmania and which is accessed by vehicular ferry.  Something I didn’t realise is that Bruny is the same size in land mass as Singapore which has a population of 6 million and Bruny only has 650 permanent residents!

We stopped in Hobart to shop for supplies for the house we were renting and, as always, went to Salamanca Place where there is the most divine Deli.  Tasmania is known for its produce – wines, cheeses, fish, meats and so forth and here was everything we could wish for all under one roof!

 

Hobart is beautiful at this time of year – all the leaves are changing colour and there is a crispness in the air.  This is the car park at Salamanca Place.

Then it was on to Kettering where we caught the little ferry.  A pretty little port village with a large marina, the area thrives on all things marine and visitors come daily to take the ferry, with or without cars.  The journey takes about 15 minutes  and once on the other side, you have reached another world!

 

And so we set off on a 40 minute drive to Adventure Bay to begin the next part of our “Tasmanian Adventure.”