DECOROUS DEVONPORT

The Spirit at Rest Devonport Wharf

Well, here we are in down-town Devonport – actually, that’s a bald-faced lie, we are as of yesterday, in Stanley, but let’s pretend we are still in Devonport, and I will tell you about Stanley next time.

As you know we arrived in Devonport, last Sunday evening, quite late and so didn’t have a chance to get our bearings until the next morning. We were of course, armed with an absolute abundance of literature, all advising us of ‘must sees’, ‘must dos, and of course, ‘must haves’. It is a little bit overwhelming when you arrive in a new spot and wade thru’ all the promotional bits and pieces.

The most ‘in our face’ message we received was that pretty much all roads from Devonport lead to Cradle Mountain! I kid you not, almost every single road sign indicates Cradle Mountain, or at least ‘Cradle Country’. It isn’t really very surprising when you realise that most of the surrounding countryside is literally dominated by views, sightings and glimpses of the big mountain. For a West Aussie girl like myself the sight of any mountain is exciting, having basically none at all at home. I was in a perpetual state of awe and excitement. At every turn and around every bend we saw the awesome rocky faces of the mountain.

The Mountain Dominating Most Views

We went shopping the first day and purchased some cold weather gear for our lad. He really is quite sure all his bits are going to freeze and drop off. He picked out, all by himself, some tracky-dacks, camouflage style, covered with buffaloes and gum leaves (I know, a rather odd combo!) – they are water-proof, wind-proof and basically everything proof. He is very pleased with his purchase and a couple of days later saw DD striding along the paths of the mountain adorned in his ‘cammo’ gear, despite the very warm 25 degrees on the mountain that day. Our lovely friend Fleur once commented on DD’s propensity to wearing striped shirts, dubbing him Pyjama Man – Fleur, not sure what you will make of these strides!! I also managed finally to find myself a warm jacket for the colder months to come and we both invested in some gloves. Yes, we are ready for whatever the weather might throw our way now. Needless to say, since we arrived here the weather whilst not always fine, has been balmy temperature wise. I had heard that temperatures feel different here and I have to say that has been the case so far. 25 degrees here feels more like 30 at home – doubtless due to the seemingly constant high humidity. The locals tell me it is not usual, just how it is right now. We have also been told that this is the driest season in most memories, and many cannot ever remember seeing the dry golden paddocks we have been confronted with. I’m not sure whether we are lucky or not. I dare say we will have memories of Tassie that won’t be shared by many and of course, as the season changes we will see much more in the way of the verdant green fields I was expecting.


Golden Fields


Speaking of locals, what an absolutely delightful group of people! This morning I encountered for the very first time, a local who didn’t bend over backwards to please. Not that he was rude, but certainly not particularly accommodating. I bet he was a ‘newy’ from the mainland. Apart from this fella’, everyone else we have met has been super obliging and very friendly. Nice people certainly enhance the experience.

We feel very much like locals, even tho’ we have had to shake our heads a couple of times at what appear rather quaint customs and behaviours. Tassie, so far, is like stepping back in time to when folk were friendlier and life a little slower. We are hill-billies from way back of course, and so fit right in. No offence to the locals!

So, where have we been and what have we seen. Hmmm, Devonport itself is a fairly atypical small port town and frankly isn’t really outstanding in any way. Just nice, small and relatively efficient. We didn’t venture east of Devonport as we will cover that territory at a later date. We simple explored to the west and slightly south. What we discovered is that most small country towns have looked for and found something to ‘hang their hats on’. For example, Railton has exploited topiary and has a selection of quite lovely topiary running along the main street. It seems to be a fairly recent thing and so many of the plants are still in the developmental stage. Sheffield has adopted murals as their claim to fame and a great many of the buildings are decorated with quite stunning murals. Another town has taken letterboxes on board, and of course Penguin is full of Penguins of all shapes and sizes. I think you get the idea. In Sheffield we bumped into a jazzy looking local and his mate Pedro. This dapper fellow charges $2 for a photo with Pedro – we were happy to pay the man for the experience and lauded his enterprising idea.

Cute & Clever Elephant Topiary - Railton

Stunning Murals at Sheffield

Names here are quaint to say the least. I can tell you, we have been Nowhere Else and also to Tasmazia and The Town of Lower Crackpot. Don’t even get me started on Leith and Howth! Most of the country towns, are tiny, well presented and totally beautiful, just like the surrounding countryside.

Nature Mimicking Art - Sheffield

Pedro & His New Girlfriend

I just cannot seem to get used to the fact that everywhere we drive, we see astounding huge tree ferns drifting along the side of the road, amazing drops away from the road and incredible tall hills and mountains along the way. Whilst the fields are not their usual verdant green, they are multicoloured patchworks of gold, brown, green, blue and red as they are either watered for stock and vegies, left to rest for the next planting, planted in blue cabbages, ploughed ready for new planting or simply left to do what comes naturally. It seems only logical that a popular crop down here is flowers. I can’t wait to see some of these beautiful hills adorned with oceans of tulips. Interspersed amongst the hills and paddocks are myriad streams, rivers and ponds, all of course, decorated with the obligatory ducks and geese. The paddocks are dotted with sleek glossy cattle and clean woolly sheep. The overall effect is one of rural serenity.

Stunning Patchwork Colours

Yellow Brick Road - Lower Crackpot

Where Else?

We had been told that it was rare to see the top of The Mountain without cloud cover – we were also told that on any given day it could be sunshine followed by snow or vice versa and so to expect anything and everything. As a result of this advice, we waited until the first totally clear day, Thursday, to take a drive to the top of the mountain. The drive there was just glorious, a mix of heavily wooded mountains and farmlands, all with teasing views of The Mountain. Finally we arrived at Dove Lake, in the middle of Cradle Mountain. I think we felt a little bit of an anti-climax as the surrounding countryside and the drive there was just so incredibly beautiful, the mountain itself somehow just couldn’t eclipse our journey. I expect we would have felt differently had the mountain been dusted with snow.

Dove Lake - Cradle Mountain

The Peak of Cradle Mountain Up Close and Personal

It was quite a long day, driving up and back to the mountain, as even though the distance is not that great, the roads are definitely testing and DD had to exert strong concentration all the way. Poor lad, he is still not particularly well – the bug he picked up is waning, but even today, he is not himself and is currently snoring gently in the background. I still have not succumbed, but can am fighting the good fight against swollen glands – I am not giving in! We have our mates Steve and Sylvia joining us tomorrow, last time we saw them I was recovering from a lurgy, I AM NOT going to be ill again this time!! NO, NO, NO.....

Where was I? Oh yes, The Mountain. It was great and I would suggest a definite ‘must do’. The following day we took a leisurely drive up to Wynyard and back. The coastline along the way is a little tame by WA standards, but pretty never the less. Penguin really appealed to me and we will take a drive back as far as Burnie while we are here in Stanley, so that we can have a proper look. As DD wasn’t the best, we just drove and didn’t really explore that day. There is a Maker’s Workshop in Burnie that I really want to have a good look at. Burnie is quite a big town and it would be very easy to get lost there I suspect. We will wait until DD feels better.

Pretty Coastline between Penguin & Burnie

We are staying here in Stanley for at least a week and so I will have a chance to put up the next blog before we leave here. Then we will be all up to date, for a little while at least. As DD is still floating little snores thru’ the van, I will take it upon myself to say his bit – he wanted to talk to you about the roads. As far as the mountain is concerned, leave your vans in a CP, the roads are just toooooo steep and bendy. The road to Stanley however is just fine – 4 lanes most of the way and plenty of overtaking lanes after that. We stayed at the Big 4 in Devonport, the park was neat and tidy and for our ‘doggy’ mates, it is pet friendly. In fact, there were a couple of very hippy types in two vans, (one each) who had a rather pretty pussycat on a lead. Very unusual, not sure what it says about the fellows in the vans, but hey, it’ a free world here (so far). Until next time, be cool, don’t judge and stay well – Steph.
PS - I tried to fit in more photos but they just fidn't dit - never mind, I'm sure I will be able to fit some in next time.

SPIRITED AWAY

The Spirit of Tasmania waiting for us to board

Waiting in queue

Last time I sat down to write, we were still in the delightful little hamlet of Kennett River. We are now in downtown Devonport. I am in major catch up mode, so will try to keep this fairly brief. I do however want to give a fairly accurate description of what is involved in catching the ferry over to Tasmania with your car and van. I have to admit to having a few butterflies about the whole thing and realise now that a little sound information would have avoided most of my nerves.

From Kennett River we headed east to Lorne and then took off northwards toward Whittlesea, thus avoiding towing the van over the eastern most section of the Great Ocean Road. As I mentioned last time, we drove that stretch without the van so didn’t need to repeat that bit. Actually, the worst of the road (curves/hills wise) was west of Lorne anyway, so it didn’t really make that much difference except that we managed to cover more country and see more of beautiful Victoria. The road to Whittlesea wound through the Otway Ranges and was quite spectacular in its own right. From Whittlesea the countryside was much less hilly and we meandered through some very pretty rural countryside until we reached our off-ramp to Werribee. The caravan park was in South Werribee right down next to the sea. The park was a ‘council’ park but the managers were brilliant and the park a friendly one.


In Queue - looking at the Westgage Bridge


It was quite interesting in fact to see just how many permanent and semi-permanent vans were there. By our WA standards, the area is not particularly scenic – just mobs of market gardens set on really flat low-lying land, finishing abruptly at the bay. Regardless of this, it seems that it is very popular. Quite a few folk there spend their winters in Queensland and their summers at Werribee! Anyway, as I said the park was very friendly and we made some new mates there and re-connected with a couple we had met on our way across.

Even though Werribee is some 40ks out of Melbourne and away from the ferry, it seems to be a favourite spot for ferry travellers to stay pending boarding The Spirit. I suppose their reasoning was similar to ours. Close enough for an early morning drive in without being right in the insanity of a big city. It turned out there were 3 other couples all leaving on the Ferry at the same time as us – excellent!

Speaking of big city insanity, one of my plans was to meet up with one of my Victorian relatives whilst there. My father’s cousin Edna, lives in Malvern, an inner-city suburb of Melbourne. WELL..............................DD was that day, Daring Douglas as we headed off to cross the Westgate Bridge and fight our way through Melbourne traffic to find Edna’s house. We had intended to take a drive over the bridge anyway just to determine where our exit ramp for the ferry was, but to actually head over and into major city traffic, now that was something else. We did have a photocopy of a map to help us, but as these things go, we did become for a little while at least, hopelessly lost. DD was wonderful and kept his cool amazingly as we dodged trams, buses, trains, heavy lorries, bustling cars and the odd (and I do mean odd) cyclist. Eventually in some desperation we activated our GPS and miraculously soon found ourselves in front of Edna’s little home. I have to say here girls, that even tho’ DD was at his sterling best that day, he still didn’t want to believe the dulcet female voice emanating from the GPS and I had to really push for him to follow her instructions. Perhaps we would do better if I changed the voice to a male one – blokes, as we know, usually listen to other blokes.

Anyway, back to Edna’s little home. This house has been in the family forever and is a tiny weatherboard home tucked between large commercial enterprises on all sides. The home is in Malvern Road Malvern and the tram (along with the rest of the world) goes past the front door. Edna and her hubby Bill are both octogenarians albeit very young ones. They were delightful and made us completely at home. I have had very little to do with this side of my family and it was both a pleasure and a revelation to hear some of the family history.

Aside from visiting Edna, DD also took us over to Hopper’s Crossing to find a Harvey Norman store where we purchased my new camera. The traffic over there was also pretty daunting. It all boils down to not really knowing where you are going. Not a problem in some backwater town, but more alarming when in a major metropolis.

Oh, one last item regarding Melbourne and the traffic – Edna mentioned in passing the bridge over the road in front of the Alfred Hospital. Helicopters land on the bridge bringing in patients from – you know, I don’t know where from, but I suppose out back somewhere. Anyway, as usual I listened with half an ear, but I’m glad that I did hear her. As we were fighting our way back to the caravan, lo and behold, a big chopper lowered itself right in front of us onto that very same bridge. The whole scene was surreal. Traffic everywhere and there in the middle of everything, this helicopter dropping down right in front of us! It was a good thing I had my trusty camera handy!

Helicopter Landing Right in Front of Us!

So back to the caravan park – we met a lovely couple there, Nellie & Martin – Nellie T is a very accomplished lady and a singer to boot. We purchased one of her CDs and will cherish that reminder and her beautiful voice. We also reconnected with Alan and Roz who we met previously in Port Campbell. This lovely couple were responsible for us staying at Kennett River and have earned our gratitude for that great tip.

I mentioned how good the manager at Werribee CP was, nice bloke by the name of Brett, was just so helpful. When we arrived there, he had already photocopied the map and highlighted the path to the Ferry Terminal for us. The big benefit to this, was that there were two ways to go, and without his advice we would most probably have taken the alternative route, which we now know would have been a pain as it encompasses a track just full of speed bumps. We caravanners hate speed bumps!!

So..............deep breath....................to get to the terminal, one needs to drive over the amazing Westgate Bridge and take the first exit after the bridge – Todd Street. From there it is pretty simple, but either a GPS or a copy of a map would be a good idea. We had a day-berth leaving at 9am on Sunday morning. Day trips are pretty much reserved for the summer months – the remainder of the year being pretty much dedicated to night crossings. We left the CP at 6am, and apart from having trouble getting Jezabelle through the exit gate at the CP we had a trouble free run to the terminal. When we arrived there, we joined a queue of fellow caravanners sitting in line waiting to board. We were really pleased to have been in company of the other 3 couples leaving from the Werribee CP – we more or less travelled in convoy and there was some comfort gained knowing we weren’t alone.

While we were waiting in line, we were approached by a security guard from the Spirit who questioned us regarding gas bottles, fuel and weapons. One cannot take loose gas bottles on board – these have to be handed over before the journey and they are returned at journeys end. We had several small bottles which belong to our small portable burner – we just placed them in a bag and retrieved them when we arrived in Devonport after passing through customs. The same rule applies to weapons. Any fuel receptacles, like the ones many of us carry on the back of vans, must be empty. One of the blokes in our group declared his brand new axe (weapon!) and he had all sorts of trouble retrieving it when he arrived in Devonport.

Looking down the line in front of us - still waiting in queue!

Slowly the line of vans inched forward and eventually we all drove into the very bowels of the ship. It was really interesting and not at all scary. The ferry personnel are very good and guide you at every turn (literally) and make sure that nothing goes amiss. Once in place, you simply jump out of your car, lock up and go upstairs for a look around. The ferry is quite large – although I still marvel at just how many cars, vans and trucks they manage to fit in- and quite comfortable. Level 10, there is a bar and plenty of seating; level 7 – a couple of eateries, live entertainment, theatrette and more casual seating. I believe level 8 is for cabins, but didn’t check this out.

Sister Ship Crossing Opposite Direction

We were on board by around 8 am and the ferry pulled out just after 9am. We had brilliant weather all the way across, and only felt the motion of the ship for a short period around half way across. We passed the sister ferry heading in the opposite direction at the mid-point. The day passed very easily, having a coffee, lunch, watching shorts on Tassie, chatting, sitting on deck and playing the odd hand of cards. All in all it was a very pleasant experience.


Level 10 - relaxing on board


We approached the port of Devonport around 6.30 and just before arrival we were called on the PA to move down to our vehicles. An orderly descent to the level where the van was parked and we then simply awaited further instructions. In due course, we were able to drive off to the awaiting quarantine personnel. If there were any complaints at all it would be that they could probably do this bit a little more efficiently. It was slow going and we didn’t reach our CP just around the corner until around 8.30pm.

I believe the day trips are all but finished until the end of the year and so when we go back it will most likely be an evening crossing, and probably not quite so calm, but having done this once now, I have no qualms about the return trip, whenever that may be. If you are curious about the cost, it cost us just over $800 one way – the price is based on the combined length of the van and towing vehicle (ours being 14.3m). If you travel at night, you would probably also have to factor in the cost of a cabin (around $100).

The meals on board were fairly average, but I noticed many folk came better prepared than us and had snack food and sandwiches with them. I think tho’ it is nice to have a coffee in one of the little eateries and perhaps a small something. It makes it all a bit more special.

So, we are now in Devonport, Tasmania – have been here for 5 days and leave here tomorrow for Stanley on the north- west corner of the island. We absolutely love the Apple Isle so far, but I will save my ravings for the next blog. Until then, smooth sailing – Steph.