1530hrs It was time for us to head to Port Melbourne. We arrived a bit early, but so did everyone else going to Tasmania. There was a beautiful, trendy cafe/pub next to the pier - so it was time to enjoy a cold ale. The way the wind was blowing, I wasn't too sure if, 1) the roof would stay on the cafe and 2) if the Spirit would still be sailing........

Gates opened at 1630hrs and we were pretty close to the front. I didn't realise that you have to go through what seems like 20 different check point and custom inspection points. In reality, it was only 2 but it sure felt like more.

We ended up 2nd from the front at the second "blockade".... Reading the electronic info scroll," vehicles board from 1800hrs"..... WOO HOO only an hour and a half to go...... sitting in a vehicle.... on a dock.... with a bored 5yr old daughter and no toilet........... YEAH fun times......

We eventually boarded at 1830hrs and were in our cabin by 1840hrs. Saffron loved our cabin - 2 sets of bunks.... Her biggest decision was to figure out which top bunk she wanted..... LOL

Then off to find some dinner. We checked out the "Captain's Table" which wasn't too bad, but thought it wouldn't hurt to see what the "Leatherwood Restaurant" had to offer. We decided that at $56pp for 2 courses was a little out of our price range at Leatherwood - so back to the Captain's Table we went.

It was quite nice. We had a table next to the window and Saffron spent more time with her nose stuck to the window than eating her dinner. She had a ball. There's a kid's playroom which held her attention for all of 10 minutes while I went to the gift shop. So what I had planned to spend went out the window as she kept finding things for the grandparents....LOL

We went back to our cabin and beside the fact that you can't swing a cat, let's make that a bee's dick, it was really quaint. We had our own ensuite, but seriously, it's a case of turning on taps so no-one can hear you - the walls were thinner than rice paper. Flatulence could ripe a hole through the ensuite wall. But it seriously made the trip all the more fun.

Saffron settled off to sleep in the knowledge that if daddy got scared, he could reach across and hold my hand. Her whole concern was to make sure Daddy wasn't going to get scared that I would be the brave one to protect him....... Go figure!?!?!?

It got a bit rough as we headed through the heads, but Saffron was sound asleep and I found it strangely relaxing.

We all had the best sleeps on the ferry, it was just very unfortunate that we were woken at 0530hrs to get ready to disembark.

Saffron especially - she was not keen to get up, nor get dressed, and nor to smile. But when we were on deck that was ok, until she had to wait for our garage to be called to disembark.

We had very tired littlle girl on our hands.

Once we were in Clarissa, it still took another 45 minutes to get off.

Our first stop once on Tassie soil, was the Edgewater Pub for brekky.

We were able to check into the Cabin just after 1000hrs. So to pass the time, we wandered around Devonport a bit and one of the first places we saw was a pub that made me instantly think of my dad - "The Alexander Hotel" then we headed off to a new palyground at the Bluff so Saffron could play and not be such a ........... tired little girl.