Budget Boating

In Melbourne's St Kilda, waiting to board the Spirit Of Tasmania

When we decided to head across the Bass to check out the beautiful Tasmania on this trip, there was only one way we could get there, and bring Kombi Jefro along with us, and that was by boat. And to tell you the truth, the thought of travelling across one of the roughest stretches of Aussie water for 10 hours from Melbourne to Devonport on the Spirit of Tasmania, made me a little queazy. Actually, I was a tad nervous about the journey - not because of the possibility of a Titanic re-enactment, but because when we booked our tickets on the ship, we chose the 'budget' option to save a few bucks ($120 per person, each way to be exact).

Before you judge, let me paint a picture of your travelling options when jumping aboard the Spirit of Tassie. If you have money to burn, go for the deluxe cabin option with double bed and port hole views of the big, wide blue. Not so cashed up but not yet in the Centrelink line either? Then book into a double cabin, with 4 single beds, take your pick which you'd like to rock in for the night. Okay, wanting some privacy and feeling not completely stingey? Then pay for a bed in a cabin with up to 6 bunk beds and face the possibility of sharing your night on the sea with some randoms. But if like us, your first thought as to how to get to Tasmania was to try and take your car on Jet Star as carry-on, then book yourself a delightful Ocean View Recliner a.k.a Odette and Luke style. Yep, it was the recliner for us.

On booking this little baby, visions of a bunch of chairs on the open deck of the boat came to mind, with seat belts perhaps, to stop the scrooges from falling overboard. But as Luke and I drove our car aboard the ship, (and asked the staff one last time whether there was any way we could sleep in our van below deck) we went searching for our 'recliners' and were pleasantly surprised!

Driving onto the Spirit of Tasmania.

The lovely Ocean View Recliners.

The Ocean View Recliners, were in fact, pretty similar to a seat in first class on Qantas (or what I imagine a seat in first class on Qantas to be like... C'mon, I'm the one who booked the cheapest option on this boat remember!). They were spacious, clean, comfy and reclined all the way back as their name implied. And the best bit? No open boat deck in sight.

Settling in for the night - 10 hours to go!

The Spirit of Tasmania is a huge ship, with movie theatre, restaurants, bars, cafes, TV rooms and tourist information centre on board. I'm impressed (but still not tempted to book a 20 day cruising holiday aboard the P&O anytime soon - have you seen the size of those lifeboats?). So all in all, we survived and had a great trip on the Spirit of Tassie and strongly recommend the understated comfort and style of the Ocean View Recliner. Sometimes going with the cheaper option does pay off. Or does it? Take a little listen of just one of the many fellow cheap-skates sleeping (deeply) just near our seats. I wonder if we can upgrade for the trip back...?

Yours in the great outdoors, Odette