Exploring Australia - 2014: 10 - 12 December 2014 - Ferry and travelling to Adelaide

We packed up and headed back to Devonport where we started our tour of Tasmania. It was a short drive of about 100 kms and when we arrived is was quite warm. We visited the visitor centre and had a cup of coffee and a toasted sandwitch before visiting the Simon Martin Whips workshop as Vlasta has been looking for a leather belt for ages. They did not have what she was looking for but they offered to make one right away. We chose exactly what she wanted and watched as it was made from scratch in about 15 minutes by Simon Martin himself. What a delighful guy and shop with all sorts of great leather goodies. Next we tried to find a place to park and spend the last hour or so by the sea before boarding the ferry but was unable to find such a place so we ended up joining the queue for the ferry early. After boarding we had a glass of wine and then treated ourselves to a scrumptious meal in the restaurant before heading to bed.

The crossing of the Bass Strait was very smooth but we did not sleep well and we were up at 5 am to watch the sunrise as we approached Melbourne. The weather was bleak and typical of Melbourne. After disembarking at 7 am we headed directly out of the city which was quite painless and as we headed further west the weather slowly cleared. We had breakfast at a roadhouse and continued on our way. Just before the South Australian border we came across a pink lake and we took the customary photos before crossing into South Australia. We have now been in every state and territory in the country! We were getting tired after a short night and over 500 kms of driving so we just had to stop for the night in a town called Keith! We had supper and dropped into bed.

Next morning we set out for Adelaide. We were both feeling rather weary but fortunately the drive was not too long with Vlasta taking the first driving stint. The entry into Adelaide from the east is down a very long and steep pass, through a tunnel and into the city. This road was not expected and fortunately we had changed drivers and Keith was driving when we hit this road and the city. We checked into our caravan park which was near Port Adelaide on the coast in a suburb called Semaphore. We had lunch, a nap, and then did some grocery shopping before taking a stroll along the beach before drinks and dinner.