In Melbourne we stayed with our friends the Grahams. The Graham’s where one of the first friends we made in Australia back in 1986. John was my first boss in the Burnie Paper Mill when we arrived in Australia. The Graham’s had two kids when we arrived (Ben and Claire) and we were with them when Lisa was born. We spend two days in Melbourne and had the opportunity to catch up with them. On the 22nd we had dinner with Karin and Wei.
From Melbourne we caught the Spirit of Tasmania, a ferry that crosses the Bass Strait daily. Bass Strait separates Victoria in the Australia main land from Tasmania Island. The 300 km crossing takes approximately 9 hours and this time we selected to cross during the day. Bass Strait is one of the world roughest stretches of water made famous during the annual Sydney to Hobart yacht race and anyone boarding the ferry prays for a good crossing.
When we arrived in Australia in 1986 and went to live in Tasmania, we experienced a bad crossing in the old Spirit of Tasmania. We boarded the new Spirit of Tasmania, a much bigger ship now, with the memories of the previous crossing very much in our minds. However the crossing was not bad and we enjoyed a nice lunch in the “a la carte” restaurant and rested for a few hours in our cosy cabin.
