Tasmania - Paradise Found
November 8-12, #4
Although the push to Geelong turned out to be grueling, it was a relief to now have a couple days to make sure we were fully ready for our ferry crossing to Tassie. We ventured into the city to replace a couple forgotten items, upgrade our bike mirrors and shop for the next couple days meals. Every where we went, it wasn’t long before someone stopped to inquire about our bikes and our travels. Apparently, fat bikes are not a thing in Australia and the common assumption was of course that they were motorized. Not surprising, since most of the RVs we had seen at the Caravan parks looked like they were designed to do battle with the extremes of Australian weather, terrain and animals.
We spent the next day on our new routine of travel chores, showers, laundry, charging/recharging, bike maintenance and reorganizing our packs for the ferry trip. Our plan was to wake up at 4 am and leave camp by 5, to ensure our arrival at the terminal two hours before departure at 8:30 am. That morning we were the only cyclists boarding the ferry in a sea of all-terrain vehicles and caravans. Without anyone to follow, the terminal staff and crew kindly navigated us through, stored our bikes away in an enclosed crew area off the car deck, leaving us no concern about their safety over the next 10 hours.
The Spirit of Tasmania is in actuality a small ship compared to the ferries we had been on. It has several car decks, cabin quarters on three decks, a theater, a buffet style restaurant, and bar/lounges on each level. From the car deck, a mirrored escalator transported us up to the first passenger deck. We were directed to the Blue elevators for the best views from the top deck on Level 10. We opted for the wooden deck loungers facing out the floor to ceiling windows and settled in. After an hour or more to exit the bay, our voyage across the Bass Strait was smooth sailing, nothing but blue skies, white clouds, calm seas and occasional dolphins. We spent the hours chatting with other passengers, sampled a couple Tasmanian Whiskeys and enjoyed the lunch buffet. Exploring around the other decks, we discovered the theater included 3 different films, one of the bar/lounges had an entertainer and a game area for bingo. Nivaun thought all that was missing was a water slide, until another passenger reminded him that was only in the event of an emergency.
A Devonport Welcome
Our first sighting of land after leaving the bay revealed the landscape we had been longing to see since our arrival in Australia. Lush, verdant, rolling hills, filled with trees of varied shapes and sizes surrounding a town nestled in along the harbor. We had heard that Devonport was also a larger city, but at first sight, it was exactly what we had hoped to see. Rolling off the ferry, our Caravan park was just a short ride to a spot underneath the trees filled with bird song next to the shoreline.
We settled in and almost immediately decided to book another night to give ourselves time to resupply and decide on a route. The next morning as we got ready to head into town, a local couple walking the beach trail with their dogs stopped for a chat. We exchanged details and later on received a surprise invite for dinner at their home.
That evening we found ourselves atop the hills of Devonport looking out over the bay enjoying a true garden salad, wine and risotto in the company of new friends, so unexpected and amazing! Nothing can top an evening spent getting to know ones that call this amazing place home. We left just after dusk, spooking two Wallabees hopping about their driveway.
Our first day came and went so quickly, we realized we needed yet another day to finish our resupply and choose a route, so two nights turned into three.
Food, Glorious Food
Other than a quick lunch at a corner cafe in Geelong, we had yet to have a full restaurant experience, and with meager leftovers in our bag for breakfast, we decided to treat ourselves to a leisurely Sunday brunch at Miss Jaqueline’s located in a historic Victorian house just a short distance from our camp. You could try to tell us, it is just “vacation glow” that makes everything look and taste more amazing, but I would deny it without fail. Everything here is locally sourced for meat and produce - it feels like stepping back a few centuries, when that was the norm most everywhere, and then there is a British flair woven in that makes everything feel like a treat. We enjoyed an amazing breakfast of Smoked Salmon Benedict and the Taste of Tasmania (A flavorsome sausage, crispy streaky bacon, blistered tomatoes, Dauphine pommes and bacon jam with perfectly poached eggs on toast) and of course two Long Blacks (aka Americanos).
Finally on our third day in Tasmania, with fuel for ourselves and the stove, we decided to head West and explore the further reaches along the coast and inland before heading back around to make another loop to the East and further South toward Hobart.
As luck would have it, that meant we were leaving on a Monday, and the bakery we had passed several times in town just happened to serve fresh donuts M-F. Unfortunately, only the cinnamon donuts were out when we arrived, so we chose to wait….a meat and bacon pie and apple turnover later, we had a Swedish donut, something like a fritter and two ham and cheese buns for later…it is true, what they say about cyclists and bakeries…we could have easily cleaned out the pastry case and more.
