Exploring Tas in 2015

[billmcn]

G'Day all fellow travelers, we are planning to visit Tas in Jan 2015 taking our 6mt caravan and Pajero on the Spirit of Tas, intend staying at least a month.I can only find information about such a trip on this forum dating back to 2013 any up to date information would be most helpful. So far we have been quoted $1,627 return including an inside twin cabin traveling at night, does this sound right? All information will be gratefully received.
Cheers Bill

[Old Techo]

Bill, when you say quoted do you mean by a human or were you testing a booking online here? http://www.spiritoftasmania.com.au/

You need to know the length of your van from tow-ball to rear bumper. The prices for cabins ramp up as more people book them. The later ones will pay much more for the same deal an early bird got. The day of the week can be a big factor. You need to test different dates.

[billmcn]

Thanks for the reply Old Techo yes we were testing a booking on line.
Bill

[Frank & Brenda]

Bill, if you can then plan on at least double the time, you'll need it, we spent 7 weeks there and we missed a lot of things, it is a beautiful place and needs to be all seen.

We were there in 09 and paid $1500 for the 15ft van and car and 3 people going over and 2 coming back the Mother-in-law flew back (I bought her a new broom for the occasion ) so your quoted price sounds about right, but as said before try different nights and days if they still have day cruises

[Bluecruiser]

Good economy having an inside cabin Bill. You can't see anything on a night crossing. We spent three months in Tassie and absolutely loved ever minute of it. The organisation of getting on and off the Spirit is top mark. We arrived Melbourne early and wondered why so many cars went on before us. They all went down to the lower decks, while we were up with trucks and tractors on the top deck. The top decks are first off. Enjoy.

Colin.

[jessdogster]

...Just a suggestion and you may have already thought of it. You are coming in peak season and school holidays. Depending on what methods of camping you intend to do, you will find most popular areas full together with a need to book at Caravan Parks. Personally, as a local, I'm not a January weather fan either as the wind tends to be a bit of a pain. I take holidays in Feb-March when schools gone back and the weather seems to be more settled. Depending on how hard you push yourselves, you will be stretched to see the state in 4 weeks.
regards
Jdog

[Motherhen]

Hi Bill

Like Frank and Brenda, we went to Tasmania for seven weeks, and only had time to see a sample of each area. Considering the cost of getting there, extend your planned time frame if you can, or leave it until you can take at least two months.

[Murray & Anita]

Hi Bill
we went for 8 weeks last year, mid February to mid April. We played with dates to cross over and went on the first day after the high season fare drop, landcruiser plus 21 foot van plus cabin was just under $1900.
We wanted to extend our stay a few extra weeks, unfortunately the earliest return date we could change to was near the end of May, so had to stick with our original April return, as we had other commitments.
Make your stay as long as possible - we decided we will have to return some time in the future as it is such a great place to visit.
Also there are any number of great freedom camping places - we never visited a caravan park, just stopped by lakes, rivers and dams.

[jessdogster]

Not sure if this thread pops up in the current Forum format search - it may help you with info

http://www.candm.com.au/forum/viewtopic.php?f=7&t=3842

cheers
Jdog

[jock]

You may find it very crowded if you go at this time. Tassie school hols are later than mainland ones... they usually dont finish till mid Feb. even then, finding vacancies in the 'Hotspots' can be difficult and you have to book well ahead which spoils it somewhat...Free camping opportunities are good but they, too, will be very crowded at this time.

Jock