Spirits of ferries past and present

I took the Bass Strait ferry over to Tassie and back the other week, as you do.

These days it's the Spirit of Tasmania plying backwards and forwards between Melboune and Devonport, or more accurately, it's Spirit 1 and Spirit 2. It was a comfortable ride each way, with a greatly improved layout of spacious lounges and eateries.







There's a gap in the accommodation options for single travellers though, in my opinion. You either spend the night in a communal recliner lounge area, or you spend an extra $200+ on a cabin. The previous ferry, the Abel Tasman, had a very civilised intermediate dormitory option with spacious, curtained-off bunk beds.

Older Tasmanians often refer to the Princess of Tasmania as the quintessential Tasmanian ferry, but that one was before my time. For me it was the Empress of Australia, which was doing the Devonport - Melbourne run between 1972 and 1985. On that one you were allowed to sleep on the floor in the little space behind the rear toilets.

(Photographed in the Maritime Museum of Tasmania in Hobart)