Spirit of Tasmania

 28 - 29 January 2025

Our time in Tasmania had finally come to an end and it was time to return to the mainland. We spent the last couple of days sorting, tidying and packing, and finished with a quiet night at home with the girls. We planned to leave fairly early so that we could do some sight-seeing along the way from Hobart to Devonport.

We finished packing the car, said our final goodbyes and were ready to leave just after 9:00am. We had about 8 hours to get to Devonport so made our first stop not far away at Gould's Lagoon. This is a great birdwatching spot that we have been to a number of times, but it wasn't as productive as we had hoped.

From there we travelled north along the Midland Highway and turned off into Oatlands. Pectoral sandpipers had been reported at Lake Dulverton so we drove around the lake to the spot where they should have been. It was cold and windy, but Mick found them and took a few photos before retreating to the warmth of the car. It was getting close to lunch time so we drove to a picnic spot and ate in the car. It was just too miserable to be outside.

Our next stop was Liffey Falls. Again Mick was hoping to do some birding so we drove up through Campbell Town, and then turned off to travel through Cressy and Liffey then on to the falls. We were surprised at the number of people who were there on such a cold, windy day and a little disappointed - it's never easy getting photos of birds when there's heaps of people about. We walked to the Tall Tree and a bit beyond, but didn't walk down to the falls.

We left Liffey Falls and drove through Quamby Brook to Deloraine. We had planned to visit the Tasmanian Arboretum at Eugenana near Devonport but realised we wouldn't have time. We stopped at Elizabeth Town for afternoon tea then made our way to East Devonport. We didn't want to be at the boat too early so we killed a bit more time down on the beach.

We timed our arrival at the Spirit of Tasmania perfectly - we checked in, went through the security check and were directed straight to the ship. We only had to wait a few minutes before we were able to drive on, once again to one of the bottom two vehicle decks. Expertly directed in the small space, we were soon on our way up to our cabin, before retiring the bar for a drink or two.

A farewell drink

We ate the dinner we had brought with us and settled in for the night. We'd had a big day so were both quite tired. We always expect it to be rougher than it turns out to be and this crossing of Bass Strait was no exception.

We arrived at Geelong terminal and we were soon on our way to Bendigo to collect the camper trailer - but first we had another spot of birding to do.