We’re on the road again. But first we take the overnight ferry to Melbourne. The Spirit of Tasmania, is a big boat (okay, it’s a “ship”).  Our departure from Tasmania is at 19:30 and we arrive the following morning around 6 or 6:30. There are a couple restaurants, bars, a disco and casino, and a shop on board, but on this trip I went straight to the cabin and didn’t leave until ready to disembark in Melbourne. Adam (my son) got out and about a bit, but I planted myself on my bed and stayed there.  It’s a comfortable boat but having been on her a few times, I just couldn’t whip up any excitement for wandering around. My Mission—and I did choose to embrace it fully—was to Keep My Feet Up.  Mission Accomplished.

We got off the Spirit in good time, disembarking about 6:45.  Then came the part where we had to wend our befuddled way through parts of Melbourne we had no need to see at all.  I rather like Melbourne for an occasional get-away, but Adam has a long history of bad karma when in Melbourne, so does not enjoy any part of a visit there, no matter how brief.  I can now report that his record remains unblemished; the karma was no better this time.  For reasons which can only be attributed to a total breakdown of communication, we wound up having him drive and me navigate (using my iPhone).  Hah!  This was about as sensible as assigning Jamie Oliver the task of singing, while asking Rod Stewart to cook.   Nevertheless, we halved the time it usually takes him to get out of Melbourne.  It only took us half an hour, and four U-turns.

The drive from Melbourne to Adelaide can only be described as underwhelming. Once we untangled ourselves from the Melbourne CBD, the discovery that we were finally on the selected route was pretty much the last of the surprises.  Among a variety of possible routes, we chose the most direct. Except for a lovely stretch on the Great Ocean Road, (which we didn’t take) there isn’t much in any of the options that could be described as Great.  Let’s just say I know how a bowling ball might feel, heading relentlessly down the long, straight, flat, featureless alley toward the pins.  Boy-oh-boy, did the cruise control come into its own on Friday!

Victoria is big on “powernaps.”  That seems sort of a contradiction of terms to me.  I personally wouldn’t be inclined to put “power” and “nap” in the same sentence, never mind the same word. But in Victoria there are numerous places to stop for a powernap. Whatever that is.

(I’m not quite sure why my iPhone photos are purple, but I rather like the effect.  It adds some colour to what was otherwise a fairly grey day.)

As you can see, the trip from Melbourne to Adelaide was pretty uneventful.  But that’s probably a good thing, given some of the alternatives.  We had a good weekend in Adelaide, visiting family and friends and Keeping My Feet Up.

Sometimes uneventful is good.   MM