Spirit of Tasmania

Our dream of travelling around Tasmania has finally come. We booked our tickets early last year and we’re pleasantly surprised at the cost of approx  $1262 for Buster and a porthole cabin return. The 7 week duration of our trip is flanked by a wedding and a birth of a grandchild. Buster is ready after his first service and a few more modifications (namely an Endless air compressor and air tank, outside usb point and a few smaller mods). 

We chose day sailings and so headed to Geelong the night before to be ready for an early start the next day. It’s a busy afternoon in Geelong but manage to find a lots of parking at Eastern Gardens. 

After some lunch we enjoy a stroll along the Waterfront.

We then go for a drive to Point Henry. Around 6pm we drive to the port at Corio and settle in for the night at the parking area with a few others.

We watch the Spirit of Tasmania II depart on the night sailing.

Around 5:30 am the next morning we have a quick coffee then line up. 

The gates open before 6 am and we breeze through quarantine with nothing to declare. 

At around 7am the cars start to load. As we are on the bigger side (6.75m long x 3.4m high x 2.35m wide) we are in the last 3 rows to board parking up on Level 5. 

We make our way to our cabin on Level 7 before strolling around to various decks as we sail off at 8:10am. 

It takes around 3 hours to sail out of Port Phillip Bay and through the heads into Bass Strait. 

We are well secured to the jetty….

The parking area we stayed at last night..

On our way…

View of Geelong.

View of Melbourne

View of the ship from Mount Martha

Going through the heads between Point Lonsdale and Point Nepean.

The swells were a bit higher here but we were told that 2.5m is quite mild….thank goodness. At this point the kwells have kicked in and along with a poor sleep last night, we find ourselves napping until 1:30pm. Mark is not too keen on the meal options at the restaurant so he gets a small pizza from one of the bars. At around 4:30pm we spot land again…Tasmania.

Unfortunately due to an another ship blocking the passage into Devonport, we dock a little later than scheduled (6:30pm). We originally planned to do some shopping but decided to head 8km along the river to Latrobe instead. 

There is a low-cost RV parking area and a lady and her daughter came to pickup the $10 fee which goes to the local school. The express IGA is open until 8pm so we zip in and get something for dinner. 

After a peaceful night we have a stroll through town.

It was once a major port on the Mersey River but now it’s become Bells Park. 

We were looking forward to having a look at the Axeman’s Hall of Fame but unfortunately it’s closed on Monday and Tuesday. The first wood chopping championship in the world was held in Latrobe in 1891.

We did get a photo with the Big Platypus outside the centre.

Then we set off for a new destination…