We departed from Bridport on Wednesday, 14 May, and headed back to Old Mac's Farm in Launceston. The last visit was quite busy, but this time we're staying near the powered area, which has only fourteen vans, with just two of them in the powered sites.
Google took us on a scenic cross-country trip to Launceston along both B and C roads, just to remind us how much we enjoy driving these Tasmanian routes.
We genuinely love Launceston and prefer it over Hobart. We only stayed for two days this time, with one day dedicated to a tour of Boags Brewery after catching an Uber into town. Unfortunately, the 200-year-old building where the tour concludes is currently undergoing renovation. While we could sample some of their beers included in the tour, they didn’t serve food. I compensated by buying two cartons of Wizard Smith’s Ale to bring home.
While the weather has been lovely during the day, the nights have been very cold, with the car covered in heavy frost each morning. Thankfully, our diesel heater has been a lifesaver.
The journey to Devonport was straightforward. After navigating some minor roads through Launceston and merging onto the Midland Highway, which then becomes the Bass Highway, we spent the last four days in Devonport at the Abel Tasman Caravan Park, just a three-minute drive from where we will board The Spirit for our return trip to Geelong.
After arriving in Devonport, we travelled south to Latrobe for lunch at Belly's Bar and Grill on the main street, which we both enjoyed immensely. Afterwards, we stopped at the local IGA for shopping before returning to the van for a peaceful afternoon.
On Tuesday evening, May 20, we spent our day exploring Devonport while waiting to board the boat. The previous Saturday and Sunday were very cold, with daytime highs only reaching 12 degrees. Our phone app's wind chill factor showed it felt like 7.5 degrees. On Sunday, May 18, the app recorded a temperature of 0 degrees but felt like -5.4 degrees, which seems accurate considering the frost around. Perhaps we waited a bit too long to leave!
On Sunday, May 18, we journeyed 6 kilometres south to Anvers for lunch at their café. Famous for their homemade chocolates, they provide both self-guided and booked tours. After reading reviews, we chose two different types of toasties; however, we both felt disappointed with our selections. These toasties didn’t match the quality of those that Ros makes.
On our penultimate day, we travelled east to Port Sorell and stopped for coffee at Rocky Gardens Café. This café makes homemade jams, jellies, relishes, chutneys, and sauces using ingredients grown in Tasmania. We particularly enjoyed their raspberry jam and bought several bottles to take home.
We are very satisfied with our fuel efficiency over the past four months, considering the types of roads we've travelled. Our Chevy and van combined weigh almost 10 tons. There are few straight roads; most are hilly, and as everyone knows, what goes up must come down.
Our departure from Tasmania was scheduled for 6:45 PM on Tuesday, May 20. Unlike the plentiful parking in Geelong, options in Devonport were limited. Consequently, we arrived at the boarding area around 2 PM and were surprised to discover we could queue just behind the entry gates, which opened at 4:15 PM.
We finally boarded in the dark, stored our gear in our cabin, and headed to the bar for beers and wine as the ship eased away from the Mersey River moorings just after 7 PM. After dinner, we went to bed. Fortunately, for Ros, the swells during our crossing to the mainland were even gentler than those we faced in January.
Our van was on deck 5, and we were the first to be called to exit once the ship was secured. Unfortunately, it was still dark outside at 6:30 AM, and Corio Quay Road into Geelong was closed. The closure signs were further along, near an industrial area where trucks moved in and out, making for a tense drive until we finally reached the A10 Princess Highway into Geelong. After that, we missed our turn onto the Bellarine Highway and ended up navigating side streets until we found our way back to the highway towards Point Lonsdale and my brother and his partner’s house.
Sounds like it was a tad stressful for you at the end there Ross.
ReplyDeleteGlad it was a smooth crossing for Ros.
Hopefully you'll miss all the bad weather at home. They've certainly been copping it.
Keep travelling safe 🙂
Thank you! We probably won't arrive home for several weeks, so hopefully, all the bad weather has passed.
ReplyDeleteLooks like a great time and you certainly saw a lot of Tassie! Yes, we didn't enjoy the drive out of Geelong in the dark. We'd blown a fuse in the car as well so the van's lights weren't operational to add to it. Hopefully things will have dried out a bit by the time you get home.
ReplyDeleteRoad closures in the dark with poor signage and trucks whizzing back and forth in the industrial area certainly get the heart racing. We've headed home after experiencing some extremely cold -3.5 degree nights.
ReplyDelete