12/10/09

At the urging of friends here, we decided to take the ferry from Sydney to Hobart instead of flying and we really made a good decision.  Thanks everyone!  We were in the lap of luxury for about 24 hours.  The ship had several restaurants and bars, a movie theatre, library, outdoor observation decks, a shop, and even a tourism office.  The meals were great and the accommodations were very nice.  Even the weather in the Bass Straights was cooperative.  The waves were gentle and rocked us to sleep.  (Of course, they continued to rock us to sleep for about 24 hours afterwards!)  There was a naturalist from the National Parks aboard who gave talks on the birds of Tassie and the Tasmanian devil, a 20 kg carnivorous marsupial which is now threatened by an aggressive facial cancer.  We also saw a movie on the Tasmanian Tiger or thylacine, which is possibly (probably?) extinct.  We met some really nice folks on the ferry and two fellows offered to convoy us to Hobart from Devonport when we arrived, so we drove with escort the 300 km from the north end of Tasmania to the south! 

We sailed at about 5:00 PM under the Sydney Harbour Bridge, past the Opera House,....
....away from the sunset....	and past the skyline of downtown.
Our cabin was spacious and really comfortable.	Even Bass Strait was smooth!
A smooth docking in Devonport and we were off to Hobart!