Gismo Queen and her King

Home - 13 to 14 July 2019

Waking in our van for the last time on this trip was a little bittersweet. We'd kept the heater running all night so were toasty warm while we enjoyed our cuppa in bed and our breakfast. Before we started any of our pack up duties, we headed into the house to spend some time with Stu. A couple of coffees and a good catch up occupied a few hours until lunch. We then headed into Gisborne to fill our fuel tanks (both kinds - lunch and diesel). Back at Stu's he helped us clean up the van (removing any dirt that Tasmanian quarantine could object to), while we did some other kinds of cleaning until the van was prepared and we were showered and dressed. I wanted to head into Melbourne early enough while it was still light so we said our goodbyes at 4:30pm and less than an hour later, were lucky enough to find a carpark close enough. The ship wasn't in yet so we fired up the diesel heater and I went to get fish and chips for our dinner. It was a late sailing as the ship also did a day sailing while there is only one ship in action. Our Delish fish and chips were just that and from our park, I could see if the ship was in yet so we were very warm and comfortable while we waited. The traffic started to build up outside the van which I thought was optimistic, given the ship still wan't in. Then I got a text message saying the ship was delayed and check in wouldn't start until 7:15pm. So we put the kettle on for a cuppa while more cars moved nowhere on the road alongside. By the time we had finished our tea, the ship was in and the line of traffic was moving so we joined in. It didn't take long to get to the quarantine check which was all fine.....until they looked in the caravan fridge and even though I had disposed of fruit and vegetables and cleaned out the vegetable crisper, I didn't know about trout. The smoked trout we had bought from Deano at our campsite in Black Mountain was not allowed into Tassie! Despite being commercially produced and packaged. I was devastated and if I hadn't eaten so many fish and chips I would have eaten it then but no.


We then sat in the queue on the pier for over an hour and a half. We did feel sorry for the ship crew - they were qorking twice as hard to get the onboard vehicles off and then prepare the ship for us to board. Finally, at about 9:40pm (10 minutes after we should have been departing), we were on board. The Patriot was ready for it's first trip to Tassie!
We headed up to our room and then to the casino for Greg's traditional hour of entertainment. It was nearly 11pm before the ship sailed, and not long after that we were tucked up in bed and fell asleep quickly.......until we sailed out the Port Phillip Bay heads! The boat started rocking and rolling which kept me awake for the next 3.5 hours. Finally, the waters calmed and I fell asleep again, unil we were woken by the ship's intercom at the very civilised hour of 7:30pm. It was closer to 9am before we got off, so I didn't like their chances of being on time today either! We headed around the coner to park along the water's edge for our breakfast and morning cuppa - as usual in the van with the diesel heater running!
A quick visit to the East Devonport dump point and then we were on our way. Our usual stop at the Exeter Bakery for scallop pies was made better with a visit from Greg's mum so we enjoyed a catch up with her. Setting off for the last stretch, the wind was startng to pick up again but at least it was sunny. The pruning of our driveway must have worked as we didn't scratch the van on the way in. Our fur kids were delighted to see us and we heard lots of stories from our wonderful housesitter before they headed off. A bit of rearranging got the Patriot parked up near the shed (in a spot that would make a very good campsite - it meets most of our criteria!) and we started unpacking. We are home.
It was a really relaxing trip, and we enjoyed getting to some places that we have never been to before. The weather was pretty good while we were north although if time had permitted, it would have been nice to go further north too. We did just over 6,000km, stayed at 19 different campsites (which included 3 caravan parks and 5 showgrounds) and spent some quality time with lots of special people on the way. The most special are Neill and Jude who travelled with us and we really cannot thank them enough for this 5 1/2 weeks. Back to the real world now.

posted by Tracey @ 5:52 pm