At 8:00am on February 24th, our ship arrived in the Port of Burnie located in Tasmania, Australia. It is a town known for timber and paper production. The current population of the city is about 19,000 and is one of Australia’s largest and most significant deep water shipping ports. From there is shipped honey, fine cheeses, fruits, vegetables, paper, and timber products.
We were met by the Mayor of Burnie pier side and a group representing the Chamber of Commerce. They provided large buses as our shuttle into the city which was 1 ½ miles from the ship. Once downtown we walked the town and made our way to the local McDonald’s to use their free Wi-Fi. We got a Big Mac Meal for each of us at a cost of about $7 US dollars each.
Afterward we continued walking the town and looking through the shops and stores. We chose not to do an excursion out of the town because Cindy was ill with an upper respiratory infection and she wanted to get better prior to our overland tour of Australia.
There was a very unique sail away here in Burnie. A local group performed playing drums and bag pipes in their traditional kilts. We left the harbor at 5:00pm out across the Bass Strait heading for the Tasman Sea and our passage to the Australian continent.
