Woohoo, what a ride this was. Jayne and I had an absolute ball. We met some lovely, lovely folk and we boogied our way to Tassie. (See proof in gallery)
Let me paint the picture.
The night before we sailed was stifling at 29 degrees at midnight and we were to rise at 4.30am to make the 6 am call to embark. I set the alarm for 4.30 to make sure we were up in time. (remember that)
We woke earlier than 4.30 so we rose and had showers, packed up Whimsy and were on the road to the port by 5.30. We were lined up at Port Melbourne behind 100's of cars ready to embark at 6.15. We actually boarded the ship in Whimsy at 8.30am. But that was after going through tight security and quarantine. There are very strict restrictions and we had to throw out or eat the contents of the fridge before going through the checkpoint.
Security actually board your vehicle and go through it asking questions like 'are you carrying firearms or weapons of any sort, such as knives?' I replied 'no' at first and realised we had a drawful of the suckers! So me being me I said 'oh we do actually' and immediately opened the cutlery drawer...There are some mean looking knives in that draw I can tell you, which could cause a mortal wound if aimed well and with intent! Security just waved them away but I thought that was just a bit too funny.
Just a note. The security guy looked super dodgy to me and for a second I weighed up whether we should deny him access just for our own safety, bugger Tassie!
Driving onto the ship was a little frustrating because it took so long but at the same time it was a fascinating experience. We were so glad we had a toilet on board and we felt really sorry for folks in their cars who were also waiting such a long time to board... god knows what they did.
The spirit can carry 500 vehicles at a time and on this day it was at capacity.
Once we parked Whimsy up in amongst all the tall motorhomes and large trucks and we caught the lift up to level 7. We sat at the stern (back) of the ship in a lovely lounge area next to the bar and what I thought looked like a DJ's set up (looked promising to me)
Once seated we looked over the paperwork we were given when we went through reception. Just at that point we read 'make sure you know the level on which you have parked the vehicle, before you leave'!!!! Shite, its a little too late for that isn't it? We were sitting comfortably with a coffee and had no idea what level we had parked Whimsy on. Jayne and I looked at each and I said 'oh bugger, 'Where's Whimsy'?
God bless her, after talking it through and looking at the sketch of the ship we worked out that we thought we had parked Whimsy on garage level 3, so Jayne headed back down into the bowels of the ship to find her. We were right, she was on garage level 3, phew! BUT, on her way to find Whimsy Jayne came across the level where all the pets were kenneled. Jayne came back traumatised swearing that we had 'sooo done the right thing by NOT bringing Pearl' on this trip. All the puppies were crying and yelping... and we weren't even moving at that stage. Jayne said she just wanted to stay with them to calm them down but it is not permitted.
Well we played music trivia and Jayne won one of the early games and had to dance to win the prize. She danced and won us lunch! I later won a cheese box so that was grand. The entertainment coordinator was brilliant and a good look into the bargain, see gallery.
During the day two lovely older ladies sat next to us. Stella and Lois aka Thelma and Louise, we discovered were travelling to Tassie to tour around the state freecamping. They told us that they have never paid for camping and that they had been around OZ at least twice and loved to go to remote destinations. Stella is 91 and Lois is a young 81, and they were off to see the wilderness areas of Tasmania.
Jayne and I have discussed this meeting a number of times since and we realise that we really need to get a grip and give freecamping a try...at some point.
We arrived at Devonport Discovery Park and its lovely. See Van Park Reviews in a day or two. But also see Gallery.
ps. The alarm I had set for 4.30 am went off at 4.30 pm on the ship.... note to self: make sure you set am and not pm if you want to wake up in the MORNING!!!
Take care, talk soon.