All Aboard for Van Diemen's Land

Before setting off from Northern Melbourne, we enjoyed a portion of what it offers.

Our friend VC took us on a bike ride into the city from his house. What was planned to be a quick 20 minute bike ride turned into a hour long one due to some construction on the bike path and some gnarly winds. Nonetheless, we had a great time seeing different parts of the city, mostly traveling alongside the Yarra River. The path took us by some rowing clubs, boat houses, cool old buildings, and some jungle-like areas. We eventually made it to the city center and checked out some Formula 1 fan centers since the Melbourne Grand Prix was happening that weekend. Due to some unanticipated soreness and some strong hints from Tori, we decided to ride the train back to the house.

One day we when on a run to the Children's Farm, which is in the center of the city. The large property is bisected by the running trail, so we enjoyed the sights and (sometimes) the smells of the orchard, apiary, garden and all of the sheep, cows and even ponies. After watching the animals for a while, we walked over to the Convent, which has been brilliantly modified into a beautiful multi-use space. Thank goodness the efforts to demolish the stunning 1860s architecture failed in the early 2000s. Here in the Abbotsford Convent we perused a bakery separate bar before settling on grabbing a snack from a small bites Italian-inspired eatery.

Post Italian-inspired eatery physical activity was called for the next day, and what better way to accomplish that than to head to Melbourne Park, where a massive tennis complex hosts the Australian open. Here, we had the outdoor courts to ourselves, and made use of the surprisingly nice complementary rackets and balls. After an intense match, Ethan was victorious, but Tori still got a participation award.

Before we left for Tasmania, we planned on stocking up on items that would likely be cheaper on the main land. That led us to Aldi's, which they do not have in Tas, and even better, this Aldi's was located in Little Viet Nam, a small area in Melbourne that is filled with Vietnamese grocers, restaurants and stores selling a sundry of foreign items (to us).

We took full advantage of the area by grabbing the best banh mis from Hung's Bakery and, not satisfied that we had had enough of the area, went back to try the pho at the highly recommended restaurant I Love Pho, which was the best we have ever had. Ethan had never tried it but we have since had it at other spots, and it is still the best.

The night before we left, we went to a new friend, Ana's, house for dinner. She prepared her style of home cooking: a flavorful curry chicken with rice, and a delicious side of fried eggplant. After dinner, we enjoyed chatting for a bit and then went back to get some sleep; it was going to be an early morning.

We hit the road at 6:00 for Geelong, where we would board The Spirit of Tasmania for a 12 hour journey to Devonport, Tas.

We went through a squick screening and security point where we lost some commercially produced honey due to bio security measures. Their website said it was okay, but it wasn't worth arguing over. We then queued up with a few hundred other vehicles and drove onto the ship. Thankfully, we were one of the last vehicles on, which put us in line for the second vehicle off when we docked late at night.

We battened down the hatches of our ute, Sheila, and made sure the break was set tight in case of rough seas, and proceeded up the the passenger decks. This would be our home for the entire day, so we set about exploring. We settled around a coffee table on a 10th deck with a nice window view of Port Phillip and broke out the laptops. Not long after, Ethan, never one to waste an opportunity to wonder around a giant marine vessel, explored further. The ship had an arcade, x-box gaming room, other lounges and bars-- this journey would fly by!

It didn't. Shorty after leaving the port, the waves began to kick up, and Ethan began to feel sea sick. After putting on a sea sickness patch and taking other meds, he rested while Tori read Shogun and watched Troy. For such a big ship, it sure was affected by the seas.

A few hours later, the meds kicked in and we went to dinner, where we overheard people pleasantly surprised with how smooth the journey had been. "Flat seas," they said. Well, if this was the smooth journey, we sure don't want to experience the rough one.

After arriving in Devonport we pulled off and began looking for a spot to camp. Like any luxurious country club worth their dues, the Devonport Country Club offered camping. The thought of camping at Memphis Country Club or Shooting Star cracked us up, but it was close by and late at night, so we went for it. The next morning we paid the greenskeeper and set off to see what we could find in Western Tasmania.