Melbourne really turned on the weather the day we left, Port of Melbourne glowing in the late afternoon sun and the bay full of sail boats lazily traversing the water.

Such a tranquil spot but dominated by the massive Spirit of Tasmania! I think my daughters comment that “it’s bigger than my head” was the understatement of the decade!! I know the husband type would happily regale me with the theory of fluid dynamics (or something) and how this beast actually floats but it still seems to defy the laws of nature.><br /
There was much excitement about boarding the behemoth of a boat, from the multitude of cars in the parking deck to our pint sized cabin the girls loved it all (adults may have too truth be told!)

We received one very good piece of advice about the crossing – do it at night. Sleeping away eleven hours across Bass Strait was definitely the best option after watching the lights over the Bay slip away.

Our concern over sea sickness turned out to be unfounded – although I discovered that taking two Kwells (sea sickness tablets) with a glass of wine produces dizziness, loss of balance and a feeling of inebriation – who knew??!! So staying up wasn’t really an option anyway – count myself lucky not to have rolled out of the top bunk though, woke up at 2am to put a short person back in their bunk and there was a definite rock and roll motion going on!