spirit of tasmania

Submitted: Wednesday, Feb 05, 2003 at 10:36
ThreadID: 3236 Views:1812 Replies:6 FollowUps:15
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has anyone travelled on the new tassie ships and can they tell me if when loading is it like before where last on the boat meant first off or is it a different procedure now. Also by the pictures I've seen it looks like there are some cars parked in the open, is this true and how to avoid this
thanks
Darren
02 Prado td
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Reply By: Truckster - Wednesday, Feb 05, 2003 at 12:37

Wednesday, Feb 05, 2003 at 12:37
Saw a mate from Qld off a few months ago in Melbourne, they drive on the front of the boat.. No idea how they get off....

i cang see how any are out in the open, from lookin at the boat.

What does it matter if your first on last off anyway?

$105 inc car at the moment seems good to me.!
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Follow Up By: Victor - Thursday, Feb 06, 2003 at 07:36

Thursday, Feb 06, 2003 at 07:36
Truckster,
"$105 inc car at the moment seems good to me.! "
I recently booked on the Spirit bound for Tassie on the 13/03/03
We get to pay $210 per person each way including car at the moment, but maybe we're just lucky cause we're Queenslanders.
Vicror.
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Follow Up By: Truckster - Thursday, Feb 06, 2003 at 09:45

Thursday, Feb 06, 2003 at 09:45
http://www.spiritoftasmania.com.au/index0.htm
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Follow Up By: Djr - Thursday, Feb 06, 2003 at 11:00

Thursday, Feb 06, 2003 at 11:00
victor, are you in a cabin or sitting, we are going in april (out of peak season) $100 per person including car
darren
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Reply By: Mr Bean - Wednesday, Feb 05, 2003 at 14:23

Wednesday, Feb 05, 2003 at 14:23
Hi djr,
Did the trip last Oct, went over on 1 and came back on 2 both vessels are virtually the same. There seems to be no ryhme or reason about when you get on or off but its very quick and orderly. It depends which deck they feel like emptying first. On the way over my brand new 100 series ended up at the very back of the boat out in the open. I wasn't to happy with that as salt spray ends up all over your car. Even if you end up under cover your car can still get salt spray on it as the big round windows along the vehicle deck don't have any glass in them and let spray in. The only way to avoid it is to ask them for a car birth that is below the deck line ie; in the bottom of the hull. If this fails Davenport has a car wash which I hi tailed to as soon as I got the car off. I spent a good deal of money washing the salt off very carefully. Then it started to rain and for once I was glad Tassie has so much rain.
Mr Bean
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Follow Up By: Djr - Wednesday, Feb 05, 2003 at 16:25

Wednesday, Feb 05, 2003 at 16:25
This is what we were worried about, did you get a car birth on the way back? So what were the boats like and how did you enjoy tassie? where did you go and what would you reccomend.
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Follow Up By: Mr Bean - Thursday, Feb 06, 2003 at 09:04

Thursday, Feb 06, 2003 at 09:04
Hi djr,
yes I did get a birth on the way back, the car was in under cover but still got salt spay on it from the big round windows that don't have any glass.
A car cover would have been a good idea but I didn't know I was going to get salted. You now have the bennefit of experience! Take a cover with you and wash the car at Davo as soon as you get there.
There are several different travel options to take, I opted for an overnight cabin, which was comfortable if not a little cosy. Or you can sit up in an aircraft style chair overnight. I chose to put my stuff in my room and then went straight down to the restuarant and had dinner.Smoked ostrich if I can remember correctly and bloody nice it was to. A bottle of wine and then I was ready for battle. But I needed not to worry because the whole trip was very smooth and I had a few more sherbets and went to bed. They wake you up at about 5.45am while you are still about an hour out of port. Get up and have a shower quickly and get yourself down stairs if you want b/fast because all the coffee and food goes off at 7.00am. If all runs smooth you will be off the boat by 7.30am.
Ps sorry I may have given you the wrong impression when using the term "Car birth" as once you have parked your car you can't stay with it or for that matter get access to it. So take EVERYTHING that you will need for the night and the next morning. Oh, and don't forget to put your hand brake on (thanks for however said that)
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Follow Up By: Mr Bean - Thursday, Feb 06, 2003 at 09:20

Thursday, Feb 06, 2003 at 09:20
Forgot to tell you about Tassie.
Brillant is all I can say about the place, actually another word I can use with confidence to describe Tassie is "RAINY" but then I was there in spring. I did the complete circumnavigation of the island and took three weeks to do it and still didn't get to see every thing I wanted. There isn't enough room here to tell you about every thing but a couple of must sees are Cole bay, Wine Glass bay, Tarkine air walk, Stanley, Strahan, Queenstown, simply as a good example of what you shouldn't do when mining. Heaps of other places, I fished and camped and 4wd my way around in a clockwise direction. I was only dissapointed by one place, that was Aurther River on the west coast.
Ps you just have to go on the 4wd motor bike tour at Henty sand dunes, near Strahan. Don't care how old you are you can do this and it will be the highlight of your trip. Also they have some great Atlantic Salmon fishing down there. I caught a 6.5kg (cleaned)salmon on a fly rod, took about twenty mins to land the monster.
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Follow Up By: Member - John - Thursday, Feb 06, 2003 at 11:06

Thursday, Feb 06, 2003 at 11:06
Mr. Bean, Just a quick one if you don't mind? Why disapointment about Arthur River? Going over in March and was planning on visiting/camping at Arthur River. Your reply would be appreciated.
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Follow Up By: Djr - Thursday, Feb 06, 2003 at 11:10

Thursday, Feb 06, 2003 at 11:10
Thanks for all of the advice.We are planning to spend about 3 weeks there but most of that time will be spent on the east coast where we are planning to get married at Bicheno and attend my step daughters wedding in Scamander. After that we are spending 3 nights in Hobart at the casino then travelling to the west coast and staying at Strahan, Cradle Mountain and Stanley then back on the boat for our return to Central Queensland. Cant wait to go back there, we were in tassie in Jan last year for about 10 days.
Darren
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Follow Up By: Mr Bean - Thursday, Feb 06, 2003 at 11:26

Thursday, Feb 06, 2003 at 11:26
Hi John,
please accept that this is only my oppinion of the place, and others may find things different. When I was there the weather was.........not nice, is about as tactful as I can be. As you would have noticed on the map its very exposed to the Roaring Fourties. So if your going to camp choose a sheltered camp, beachfront is not a good option. While I was there I found the locals to be unhelpful, also there was no pub. This is definately not a good sign when you go to a settlement that doesn't have a pub. How ever there is a small town about 15 ks up the road to the north that does have a pub and the people were freindly, so thats where I stayed. Overall the sumary was the weather was bad the people discouraged me from staying there and everything was closed up. It had no pub and the place gave me a feeling of dismal desolation. this might be just what you like, but it didn't impress me.
Jeff.
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Reply By: MikeyS - Wednesday, Feb 05, 2003 at 18:22

Wednesday, Feb 05, 2003 at 18:22
Djr- if you're worried about your paintwork perhaps I should worry you more. We went over in the DevilCat last year and although the vehicle deck is enclosed, my vehicle got drips of some salty/metallic/corrosion gunk from the ceiling of the car deck. It ate into the paintwork like bird poo does and left a permanent mark on the bonnet. Maybe the new ships are different but perhaps a complete car condom would be the go. Then again it wasn't anywhere as near as tragic as for some others. Someone didn't put their handbrake on and in a 2.5 metre swell in the middle of Bass Strait there was a bit of automotive pinball going on down below as the car was rocked as bashed into all those around it.
At least there's no risk of scurvy.
Cheers

MikeyS
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Follow Up By: Stephenf - Thursday, Feb 06, 2003 at 12:59

Thursday, Feb 06, 2003 at 12:59
You mean they don't tie them down? It's been a few years since I've done the trip but they tied every vehicle to the deck with chains.
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Follow Up By: Truckster - Thursday, Feb 06, 2003 at 16:00

Thursday, Feb 06, 2003 at 16:00
we went over on the bike in arouns 95, they didnt chain down cars.... in fact we took our own tiedowns for the bikes...

All they wanted to do was throw a rotted old rope over the seat... not to my $19,000 bike ya not pal!
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Follow Up By: Stephenf - Thursday, Feb 06, 2003 at 16:51

Thursday, Feb 06, 2003 at 16:51
I'm talking back in the mid-70's when the Australian Trader did the Melbourne-Devonport trip. I can't believe that they don't tie vehicles down. It might be ok in summer, but in winter Bass Strait is the roughest stretch of water around. One decent roll and the whole load could shift. Maybe the company figures that it's cheaper to pay for the odd bit of damage than employ people to tie vehicles down.
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Follow Up By: Mikeys - Thursday, Feb 06, 2003 at 17:28

Thursday, Feb 06, 2003 at 17:28
No, they certainly didn't tie the vehicles down on this trip (Easter 2001), although there were certainly chains and fixing points all over the car deck. I guess the (formerly employed) person in charge decided weather conditions didn't warrant it, but then again, everyone was supposed to leave their vehicle in gear or in park and with the handbrake on. Don't panic DJR, the big boats don't lurch around like the DevilCat did.
MikeyS
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Reply By: Mark - Wednesday, Feb 05, 2003 at 22:07

Wednesday, Feb 05, 2003 at 22:07
We went over and back on spirit 2 last september and the new boats are a vast improvement on the old spirit, exept that food is no longer included in your fare. We got loaded at about half way through and we got off roughly the same time but it did'n't seem to take to long. Having said that I have heard a rumour that they are now checking through cars due to terrorism and that is slowing things down a bit. Have fun over there djr, I am extremely jealous, love the place!
AnswerID: 12580

Follow Up By: Mark - Wednesday, Feb 05, 2003 at 22:10

Wednesday, Feb 05, 2003 at 22:10
Also forgot to add that cars are a lot further apart on the new boats, your passenger even gets to stay with you now.
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Reply By: djr - Thursday, Feb 06, 2003 at 11:12

Thursday, Feb 06, 2003 at 11:12
Mark, did you have any experience with the salt spray
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Follow Up By: Mark - Thursday, Feb 06, 2003 at 17:29

Thursday, Feb 06, 2003 at 17:29
No I didn't but we were parked up in the pointy end away from the windows both there and back. I can see how it could be a problem though, you only have to look at how much spray is on the outside of the glass around the ship.
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Reply By: Member - John - Thursday, Feb 06, 2003 at 12:05

Thursday, Feb 06, 2003 at 12:05
Mr. Bean. Thanks for your candour. Was it Marrawah that you stayed at rather than Arthur River? Thanks for info.
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