I Sat by the Ocean

I had never been on the deep ocean in my life before, until crossing the Bass Strait on a car ferry to get to Tasmania from the mainland of Australia via Melbourne, so I didn't know what to expect.

Map of Australia with Bass Strait
marked in purple

Map of Bass Strait including major island groups

In fact, I had never set foot in the state of Victoria until the same day I was to catch the Spirit of Tasmania across the Bass Strait, as well.

Driving in fog as I cross the Victorian border

A few minutes later I'm driving in sunshine

My first impression of Victoria as I crossed the state border from New South Wales was that the weather is as bad as Crowded House sing in their song written about the changing weather in Victoria's biggest city Melbourne.

Driving down the Hume Highway to Melbourne

My car's odometer hit 11111 as
I crossed over into Victoria.

Driving down to Melbourne was quite relaxing watching all of the farmlands pass me by, but hitting Melbourne and driving around was the exact opposite, especially when trams are sharing the same streets, something I don't have to worry about in Brisbane, or Sydney.  

Driving around the Melbourne
streets watching out for trams

But once I got to the seaside streets of Port Melbourne my nerves settled a little, especially when I caught sight of the boat I had to be on that night, which was docked and waiting in the water.

The traffic islands down here actually look like real islands

The streets of Port Melbourne

Spirit of Tasmania waiting in dock
to sail to Tasmania that night.

My car parked outside a strange
little house in Port Melbourne

I had nothing much to do for about five hours but wait until I could drive my car onto the boat, so I parked my car by the ocean and bought a $12 all day parking ticket and walked around thinking how different Melbourne is to either Sydney, or my hometown of Brisbane.

Great walking and bike tracks along
the foreshore of Port Melbourne

Interesting buildings down here in Melbourne

The old stuck between the new

I would have liked to have seen more of Melbourne that day, but seeing Melbourne was not as important as getting on that boat to Tasmania, so I would have to wait for my return in a weeks' time to see more of the city.

I Sat by the Ocean waiting to board the ship

'I Sat by the Ocean' randomly comes on
 first time today as I drive on-board

Driving onto the Spirit of Tasmania 15/6/2016

You don't realize how big this boat is
 until you drive up next to it

The lifeboats hanging over the outside
 decks frequented by smokers

I spent about an hour in line with other cars waiting to board the Spirit of Tasmania and just sitting by the ocean pondering just what was in store for me over the next few weeks on the road and just after the gates opened for us to start moving onto the ship the 
Queens of the Stoneage song 'I Sat by the Ocean' came on my iPod's random selection of 162 of the songs I had on it, which I found rather ironic, as there are two of these ships and they pass each other around 1am, so they are ships that pass in the night, just like in the song 'I Sat by the Ocean'. 

Inside the hull of the ship and my
 car stays here for the night

On the deck on the back of the boat watching
 the lights of Melbourne disappear

Moving away from Melbourne and out into Bass Strait

Looking over the edge of the boat into
 the water as seagulls chase the ship

It's a long way down and cold, time to head inside I think.

It's much cozier inside, but I don't think
 I should eat anything big tonight.

Cabin fever?

They even have one-armed bandits on this ship...
no thank you, not for me

Goodbye Melbourne

Hello Tasmania

Oh great, more fog, this time on the Tasmanian highway

I love those Tasmanian numberplates, 
"Tasmania, Explore the Possibilities".
No seasickness crossing the Bass Strait for me, so now it's off to Hobart and time for Dark Mofo. 

Going With the Flow in Devonport on My Last Day in Tasmania