We departed Hawkesdale on schedule and arrived in Melbourne with plenty of time to take a tour around the Albert Park Lake Grand Prix track, past Luna Park and along St. Kilda esplanade. We passed through customs without incident and boarded the “Spirit of Tasmania” with about 1,000 other people (Maximum capacity overnight is 1,050 passengers). With ten decks, restaurants, bars, shops, a cinema and various lounges, it was easy to get lost on board. After a very quiet and steady transit, we arrived in Devonport at 7.00am and returned to our coach. Breakfast was at a lovely bakery in Sheffield, a quiet country village with lovely painted murals all over the town’s buildings. We then travelled to the World Heritage Cradle Mountain and Lake St Clair National Park. We visited a replica of the first accommodation house in the region, built by a German bushwalking enthusiast nearly 100 years ago, before there were even any roads into the area. He believed that it was such a beautiful place, that it should be shared by all and everyone should have the opportunity to visit. Now the National Parks have to limit the number of visitors to prevent spoiling what everyone comes to look at! They limit the cars to 50 at any one time and only up to 60 bushwalkers can depart on any one day.

Report by Mrs Gow