Tasmania - Days Eight and Nine - Ships and fish

Today was our last day in Swansea, so we packed up our stuff early and headed back to Devonport for one day’s sight-seeing before jumping back onto the Spirit of Tasmania.

First stop - the Devonport Maritime Museum.  As a ship lover, I’d been looking forward to this for the entire trip.  Everyone else, I think, just came along to keep me happy.  The museum was set up in the former Harbour Master’s Residence, and was a fascinating place.  Everything you ever wanted to know about any ship that had ever been near Tasmania in the last 200 years!  There was even a model of the wreck of the Titanic, with a note saying that if you were to travel directly through the earth from where you stood, you would come out at the other end, approximately 20 miles from the wreck!  I was rather impressed with that (but then I am a bit of a ship geek).  There’s also a display that shows the comparative depths of water at various points around Australia.  It seems that Bass Strait’s really not all that deep.  There was even a letter from Captain Cook to the King of the time, saying that he was ready to set off in his ship and sail to faraway lands for the good of the Commonwealth (or some such navigational/historical/ maritime language).

After we left the Maritime Museum, we went to the Imaginarium Science Centre, a fantastically fun and interactive place.  Here we learned about Antarctica, air pressure, echoes, optical illusions, explorers, and so much more!  It was fascinating, although Alice just wanted to go and play with the little plastic sea creatures.

As evening drew near, we wandered down to the pier and watched the Spirit of Tasmania arrive from Melbourne.   We seemed to be waiting for so long and finally it appeared.  It came up so fast, and I couldn’t take my ship-loving eyes off it!  Maggie and Alice got a touch bored, but compensated for it by watching a man who was fishing off the pier.  He caught a big salmon and let them touch it.  They were pretty thrilled with that.

Next day, we packed quickly and drove down to the pier.  I have to say, I was extremely sad to be leaving Tasmania.  The holiday had gone far too quickly and I wasn’t ready to say goodbye yet.  Sailing away from Devonport was a dismal experience, a far cry from the excitement I felt on the way out.   I wanted to cry, but I thought people might think that was a bit of an over-reaction, so I bit my lip and soldiered on.  We filled in the 10 hour trip much as we had on the journey out, although the sea was a touch bumpier.

When we arrived in Melbourne, we drove straight off and straight away.  No security, no quarantine.  We were gone.  I kept looking at the ship from the rear window of the car until I could see it no more.  Just like a sad movie.

Now our holiday was over.

And we never did get to see a Tassie Devil.  Unless you count the one on the side of the road, but that wasn’t exactly what we’d had in mind.