Day1 – 17 Feb – Melbourne to Devonport

At Last - We're Loaded 

We left home at some ungodly hour in order to get a good position in the queue with our car and van. The previous day we received a SMS saying that boarding would commence at 6am because the Queen Mary II was docking in Melbourne at 8am.



Queued Up To Board The Spirit of Tasmania

 



Melbourne from The Spirit of Tasmania

 We arrived at Station Pier with caravan in tow before 6am and got directed to a holding queue where we stayed for nearly an hour. Our travel companions, David and Christine, for the trip arrived a few minutes after us and got directed onto the wharf. The stream of cars and van boarding the Spirit of Tasmania seemed endless and we sat there wondering how we’d fit on the ship.

Eventually we were loaded and enjoyed a smooth crossing to Devonport. Unfortunately we couldn’t remember which deck we parked on so when they called for drivers for deck 5 where our car was parked we stood patiently by ourselves waiting for deck 6 to be called. Eventually they called our rego and car make and model over the PA. We made a hurried dash for our car only to find it wouldn’t start due what seemed to be a flat battery. Bugger. I jumped started the motor from the fridge battery and eventually realised that the guys who fitted the snorkel the week before hadn’t tightened the battery connection properly after disconnecting it.

At Devonport we headed directly to a local caravan park and had a huge fill of hot chips.

The girls Enjoyed One Or Three Coffees

Queen Mary 2



Spirit of Tasmania 2 Heading Toward Melbourne