I use to think ferries across the English Channel were expensive until I discovered the Spirit of Tasmania. Enjoy your trip.
Bobdown said
09:47 AM Nov 3, 2020
Tony LEE wrote:
$3400 round trip for a 35' bus plus a car dolly and mazda3 to Tasmania.
Guess spread over 90 days it isn't too bad
Better be plenty of free camps still open to compensate.
Do they go by length and height Tony? Also I believe certain times of year are dearer than others.
Hoping to go when they move the departure from Geelong 2022.
Cheers Bob
Whenarewethere said
11:18 AM Nov 3, 2020
They also go, day departure, night departure, day of week, week, month.
If it is not critical the day you must go & the day you must return, look at multiple times for both departure & return. You can save a lot of money.
You could leave & week or two later on a different day & day trip & save a bucket load. Same on return. So it is worth doing a thorough search.
the rocket said
03:43 PM Nov 3, 2020
Whenarewethere wrote:
They also go, day departure, night departure, day of week, week, month.
If it is not critical the day you must go & the day you must return, look at multiple times for both departure & return. You can save a lot of money.
You could leave & week or two later on a different day & day trip & save a bucket load. Same on return. So it is worth doing a thorough search.
The reason we do not return to tassie with our caravan is this stupid pricing. can spend my 3,400 on the mainland , no hassles. last 2 times we flew and hire car for 2 wks. Much better option for us.
Tony LEE said
04:45 PM Nov 3, 2020
Yes, if the pointy end of the boat is where that picture comes from.
One trip we did a crossing in the chairs. Moved on since. Pointy end of ships and planes and bugger the kids' inheritances. Got used to a bit of luxury during last trip to Iceland when we splurged on the "owners cabin" which was palatial and which even had a huge spa bath in it. That cost about the same as this trip but for three days and hugely further. Bass Strait is not a cheap trip.
Yes, we could have reduced the cost considerably by taking a basic cabin and having Betty drive the car towing the trailer so as to get the subsidy on both vehicles as we did on a previous trip in the BigBus flat towing a Vitara, but she no longer has the fine leg control to drive in tight situations
At least 10C cooler there compared to the mainland (36C here in Renmark, so have splurged 30 dollars on a caravan park so we can run the aircons - so that pays for one day of the amortised ferry cost)
Our environment-destroying cat goes on the cheap this trip. She can stay in the vastly more comfortable motorhome as she is feral enough as it is without being subjected to the terrors of the pet kennels. 12 hours of not being able to terrorise dogs in plain view would tip her over the edge.
-- Edited by Tony LEE on Tuesday 3rd of November 2020 04:47:29 PM
-- Edited by Tony LEE on Tuesday 3rd of November 2020 05:00:09 PM
dabbler said
05:57 PM Nov 3, 2020
It's my understanding SOT charges for length but need height to determine availablity of appropriate space. A trip to Tassie on SOT needs months not weeks to be better value than a flight plus rental.
Tony LEE said
08:48 PM Nov 3, 2020
Two height classes under or over 2100mm
At least this ferry the traffic flows straight through so no need for u turns or reversing which would be a bit of fun with a dolly trailer
We are going for three months which I find covers my travel attention span unless there is a natural break where we can just sit for a week or so and then get going again
Tony LEE said
08:54 PM Nov 3, 2020
Flight plus rental requires you rush around seeing the sights to get your moneys worth and you need to find somewhere to stay each night and are eating out a lot - and that is a completely different lifestyle to mooching around between the hundreds of free camps, driving for an hour and then relaxing for the rest of the day and enjoying the view.
dabbler said
09:36 PM Nov 3, 2020
Agree Tony. 3 months is about my limit. There are nice spots to lazily spend your time and we particularly liked Scottsdale and Northeast Park. There's lots to explore locally and not too far. The West coast is great too but we always felt on the move (probably trying to do too much).
woolman said
09:33 PM Nov 4, 2020
Take your car off and take on seperately. You get 7 metres of vehicle for free with each passenger. Takes about 5 metres of paying.
Neil
Tony LEE said
10:38 PM Nov 4, 2020
Yes Neil, I've done that on previous trips but I can only drive one at a time and Betty's mobility problems have reached the point that she isn't able to drive under conditions that exist getting on and off the ferry. That is the reason for the car dolly trailer we bought a couple of weeks ago. She wanted to drive the car separately even though I didn't think it was a good idea and managed to and from white cliffs OK, but has reached her limit.
I briefly considered ringing up the ferry people to see whether they would honour the "free car" allowance even though it was being dragged behind rather than being driven but....
Anyway, it is only money.
Tony LEE said
12:46 PM Nov 17, 2020
Best laid plans....
Due to hit the SA Vic border early tomorrow and head non-stop to the ferry dock to spend the summer in Tasmania. Special deal by Tasmania that we could travel from an uninfected state to another uninfected state through contaminated Victoria as long as we didn't breath on the way through. Trouble is the tables turned yesterday and SA became the pariah state and Tasmania no longer wanted us to visit - and not a lot of chance anything will change anytime soon. So we rebooked the ferry for 18 days time and escaped into "clean" Victoria this morning. Reasoning is that Victoria emerges from the darkness into the sunshine in a few days, so as long as we have been in Victoria for at least 14 days, tassie will once again welcome us.
Could be worse. Delightful free camping with just us here, on edge of town and 30 day maximum stay.
Just have to remember that to step outside without a mask means a $200 fine
Gaylehere said
08:27 PM Nov 17, 2020
That's a nice looking spot. May I ask where is it? Hope all your plans work out this time around.
Tony LEE said
09:43 PM Nov 17, 2020
https://au.wikicamps.co/site/61472/37581379
Tony LEE said
09:47 AM Nov 18, 2020
https://www.tripadvisor.co.nz/Attraction_Review-g552147-d9858765-Reviews-Ess_Lagoon_Reserve-Casterton_Victoria.html
Has 30 photos
Gaylehere said
09:21 PM Nov 18, 2020
Thank you. Used to live in Millicent (many moons ago) which is just down the road from there on the other side of the border.
$3400 round trip for a 35' bus plus a car dolly and mazda3 to Tasmania.
Guess spread over 90 days it isn't too bad
Better be plenty of free camps still open to compensate.
-- Edited by Tony LEE on Monday 2nd of November 2020 10:56:33 PM
About $38 a day, cheaper than staying at home.
Are you staying in the pointy end of the boat?
-- Edited by Whenarewethere on Monday 2nd of November 2020 11:24:24 PM
I use to think ferries across the English Channel were expensive until I discovered the Spirit of Tasmania. Enjoy your trip.
Do they go by length and height Tony? Also I believe certain times of year are dearer than others.
Hoping to go when they move the departure from Geelong 2022.
Cheers Bob
They also go, day departure, night departure, day of week, week, month.
If it is not critical the day you must go & the day you must return, look at multiple times for both departure & return. You can save a lot of money.
You could leave & week or two later on a different day & day trip & save a bucket load. Same on return. So it is worth doing a thorough search.
The reason we do not return to tassie with our caravan is this stupid pricing. can spend my 3,400 on the mainland , no hassles. last 2 times we flew and hire car for 2 wks. Much better option for us.
Yes, if the pointy end of the boat is where that picture comes from.
One trip we did a crossing in the chairs. Moved on since. Pointy end of ships and planes and bugger the kids' inheritances. Got used to a bit of luxury during last trip to Iceland when we splurged on the "owners cabin" which was palatial and which even had a huge spa bath in it. That cost about the same as this trip but for three days and hugely further. Bass Strait is not a cheap trip.
Yes, we could have reduced the cost considerably by taking a basic cabin and having Betty drive the car towing the trailer so as to get the subsidy on both vehicles as we did on a previous trip in the BigBus flat towing a Vitara, but she no longer has the fine leg control to drive in tight situations
At least 10C cooler there compared to the mainland (36C here in Renmark, so have splurged 30 dollars on a caravan park so we can run the aircons - so that pays for one day of the amortised ferry cost)
Our environment-destroying cat goes on the cheap this trip. She can stay in the vastly more comfortable motorhome as she is feral enough as it is without being subjected to the terrors of the pet kennels. 12 hours of not being able to terrorise dogs in plain view would tip her over the edge.
-- Edited by Tony LEE on Tuesday 3rd of November 2020 04:47:29 PM
-- Edited by Tony LEE on Tuesday 3rd of November 2020 05:00:09 PM
Due to hit the SA Vic border early tomorrow and head non-stop to the ferry dock to spend the summer in Tasmania. Special deal by Tasmania that we could travel from an uninfected state to another uninfected state through contaminated Victoria as long as we didn't breath on the way through.
Trouble is the tables turned yesterday and SA became the pariah state and Tasmania no longer wanted us to visit - and not a lot of chance anything will change anytime soon.
So we rebooked the ferry for 18 days time and escaped into "clean" Victoria this morning. Reasoning is that Victoria emerges from the darkness into the sunshine in a few days, so as long as we have been in Victoria for at least 14 days, tassie will once again welcome us.
Could be worse. Delightful free camping with just us here, on edge of town and 30 day maximum stay.
Just have to remember that to step outside without a mask means a $200 fine