Port Melbourne is a short drive from the city and is where the Spirit of Tasmania sails daily from Melbourne across the Bass Strait to Devonport on the north coast of Tasmania, a distance of some 250 miles. We boarded at 7.00 pm for the night service which gets us in at 6.00 the next morning. We have a deluxe cabin which boasts 'total luxury'. Having crossed the English Channel in similar sized P&O Ferries many times and seen what it's like, this was really no different, but they meant well and the service was good. The meal on board in the Leatherwood Café is surprisingly good; the fish was fresh and we had our first introduction to Tasmanian wines. Joseph Chomy Pinot Noir and Hinton Estates Sauvignon Blanc and Devil's something or other, sparkling or, as the local wineries call it, 'methode tasmanoise', not to be confused with method champagnoise. Those two grape varieties are really the only two that excel in the cooler Tasmanian climate. The Bass Strait is notoriously rough seas, with the coastline of Tasmania, King Island and Victoria on the mainland being littered with wrecks from the past days of sail. It was almost a disappointment to have an uncharacteristically flat crossing.