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Our restful night wasn’t to be. About 2 AM, I was woken by a group of drunk German teens in the kitchen area having a party. I got up and reminded them that it was quiet hours — they settled down for a bit, but by 2:30 were still laughing and I went out again (and sent a note to the host). By 3, they finally settled down, and I was able to get back to sleep. The only thing that got Dana up was my going out — she can normally sleep through a lot of commotion.
In the morning, we went to make coffee only to find them sleeping on the couches in the common room/kitchen area. I ignored them, but Dana engaged and found out that it was one of the girl’s birthday and that’s why they were celebrating, and then they locked their key in the room and couldn’t get back in. Downside of a no-staff hotel. Anyway, she apologized and gave Dana their leftover wine. Some bonus I guess, but it didn’t leave me in a good mood.
On a positive note, we had been trying to book a ferry to Tasmania the night before but were getting stymied by the website, and even more so by the fares. We checked again and the fare had dropped by half, so we booked the 10 PM overnight ferry with “recliner” seats. It was a nice day and we decided to ride the 60 miles to the Geelong “Spirit of Tasmania” ferry port.
We did enjoy a lot of good riding on the excellent cycling infrastructure in Melbourne. Probably 1/3 of the ride was on roads, and the rest on paths. Also saw our first kangaroo warning signs and a “beware of snakes” on some of the paths. In Geelong, we visited the Cunningham Pier before heading to the grocery store to stock up for our ferry ride. Short ride from there to the ferry, where you loaded your bikes into a van, and they drove it on to the ferry. No going to the auto deck and strapping your bike in. It took a little longer, but it was nicer than breathing diesel fumes.
The ferry itself is more like a cruise ship (we’ll have pictures later). Bars, entertainment, a cinema, lounges where we watched some of the winter Olympics, and finally, our recliner lounge room where we spent the night. Mostly quiet except for one family having a video call for an hour. Errr. 😉 Anyway, going to try to get some sleep and get to Tasmania fresh!
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