A perfect storm....

We made check in time at The Sprit of Tasmania ship and apprehensively went up to our 4 birth room with a window.

Greg kindly advised us this afternoon that the forecast going across was mental - 2&1/2 m waves, 100klph+ winds and hail in the bay. That means once through heads those numbers would double. We knew we were going to be in for a bumpy ride.  The captain advised as such also, shortly after we'd settled into an oversize meal.....

 To describe the night as best as I can, it would go something like this....

Imagine yourself at the apex of a roller coaster ride about to go down the decent and up the other side. It's pitch black, you head down and go up but at the summit you feel like you float over the edge....the floating feeling lasts for several seconds and you know you must come down, then BANG!!!! You hit the water and the metal structure sounds like it is going to fall apart.

That's one thing...

Then imagine being in bed, pitch black and you have 2 roosters - 1 each side - lifting your mattress up so that you roll over....side to side....constantly between roller coaster floating feelings...for 11hrs.

That's what our trip was like...

The boys slept right though and Nat & loaded up on tablets, so no sickness but a little tired today.

After disembarking in Devonport it was sunny, so we found a nice table beside the river and had a cereal breakfast, this was nice and we were rid of the sea legs.

We moved on to Beaconsfield gold mine for a look at where it all happened and that was interesting, as was the town. The drive so far has been picturesque and we anticipate it only getting better.

We moved on to Launceston via Batman Bridge where there was some brilliant free camps. We almost pulled up stumps there but we needed some power tonight to charge the batteries.

Into Launceston and again, a very pretty town with some classical old dwellings. We managed to get to Cataract Gorge, literally in the middle of town and the surrounds were just too good to be true. They have the longest single span chair lift in the world going across the water, cafes, walking tracks and a massive swing bridge to walk across.  A couple of hours well spent.

After this we went into town as they have Japanese monkeys in City Park to view for free & the boys wanted to see them. A great enclosure and quite a few in there. Awesome that it is free. They also had a horticultural exhibit  indoors which is a permanent fixture and was full of flowers blooming in the Tasmanian Spring. Great stuff.

The boys found a playground and I wanted to go and see the Boags Brewery, so Nat gave me a leave pass and they went back to the Monkeys.

The brewery was a good spot too. A family affair for many years and plenty of interesting reading on the walls, along with every type of beer and packaging ever made. Pretty cool.

Will have to compare this with Cascades which is on the agenda whilst down here also.

A fun packed day today, it will be good to get some sleep.....

Jase