Our next stop was Burnie, Tasmania. The ship arrived at 9 am. We had dinner in the Grand Dining Room--lamb chops, omelette and avocado toast.
From the dock, we boarded a shuttle bus that took us into the center of Burnie. The mayor & vice mayor came out to greet us. There were tables set up with vendors offering tours, if you didn't sign up for a ship tour. We had arranged to have a tour of Cradle Mountain with several other fellow passengers. Unfortunately, our driver came down with COVID and our tour was cancelled. We found a driver (Discover My Davenport) to take us out to Cradle Mountain--a 2-hour drive. The cost was A$460 ($300) to have the driver all day and it included admission to Cradle Mountain--A$22.35/person ($14.25).
We parked at the Visitor's Centre and got information on hikes in the park. From here, you'll board a shuttle bus to get into the interior of the park. We took the shuttle all the way to the end of the line--Dove Lake, a beautiful lake with a boat shed. On the way back, we stopped at the Rangers Station and took a couple of hikes. One of them passed by Peppers Cradle Mountain Lodge, one of several lodges in the park.
In the park, we saw wallabies and echidnas. We saw wombat poop (you can easily identify it because it is square) but no wombats.
Driving back to the ship, we stopped and toured Tasmania's Outdoor Art Gallery in Sheffield. It's a series of murals painted by local artists. After that, we stopped at the Mersey Bluff Lighthouse in Devonport, a red & white striped lighthouse.
Back in Burnie, there was a Christmas Fair.
The ship left Burnie at 6pm. We had dinner at the Polo Grill.
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