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

Office With A View

Yeah, sure, some inner-city office blocks have a pretty sweet view over the Sydney harbour or bridge but check out the amazing office space Luke managed to secure for himself while he processed some invoices for his online business on our night in NSW's Batemans Bay. Not bad, not bad at all.

Caravan Park Etiquette

Fresh on the road, with a new found freedom that neither Luke or I had encountered since University summer holidays, nothing could dull the excitement welling inside us both, as we drive off down the south coast freeway, (Goodbye Sydney!) towards our first destination. But where should we stay on night one? Ah, who cares? We've got plenty of time, no annoying appointments to keep, let's just see where we end up.

A trip down that new bit of ocean front highway just south of Wolloongong (you know, the fancy million dollar road that every car company seems to exploit in their latest advertising campaign), a couple of lookouts and a trip to the local pizzeria to celebrate Luke's 27th birthday, hip-hooray, and we finally rock into the Kiama Tourist Park at approximately 8:36pm.

What's that? Reception is closed for the night? Not to worry, we'll just find ourselves a cosy little powered site and pay in the morning. So we drive on in, choose a spot and start setting up for our first night in the kombi, when from beneith the shadows of the toilet block, a man storms towards us shouting, "Can I help you? What do you think you're doing?" And he really should have added "you lazy, cheap-skate hippies in your kombi - who I know full well are planning on doing a runner tomorrow morning..." which, of course, we weren't (okay, the thought had crossed our minds for about two seconds). This guy was the owner and not too happy about us rocking into the park after hours. He was cranky. The words furious and outraged could also be used to describe his state of mind.

A couple of apologies (from us, not him), $26 and a toilet key later and we were good to stay but not before ol' mate made us feel like we had committed one of the cardinal sins of caravan parks - never make yourself at home before you get the okay from the owner and always arrive before dark. Future campers, let this be a lesson.

Yours in the great outdoors,
Odette

Introducing Jefro

Yes, there may be typos throughout this blog (spellcheck cuts into my R'n'R time), but no, there's no mistake that our kombi's name is Jefro with an 'f' and not a 'th'. Luke has had a longstanding love of the name for obvious reasons that I'm yet to discover and has even joked that he would call our child Jefro, because it's so damn cool. He was kidding of course, but that's how our Kombi came to be christened. And now for the grand tour...

Oooo, ahhhh... the kitchen is smick!


Home entertainment system? You're pulling my leg!

Dining/ lounge chairs that double as a comfy double bed? Jefro, you really are too much!

See? It's practically like living in an inner city apartment but without the pricey rent.

Yours in the great outdoors,

Odette

First things first...

How many pairs of jeans can one kombi fit?

When you decide to pack up shop - handing in your resignation to what can only be described as one pretty sweet gig, giving notice on a sort-after, newly renovated, beachside Sydney unit, temporarily waving goodbye to family and friends - a few thoughts go through your mind. 1. Did I really just agree to swap my queen sized bed, covered in matching sheets and quilt set (complete with a pretty pile of pillows) for a fold-out, vinal covered Kombi back seat, that reclines to a rather squashy king single? 2. What is the reality of showering in a caravan toilet block, nightly, and lugging all of my essential bathroom products (thanks Girlfriend magazine) across a tourist park full of strangers? 3. What the hell am I going to do with all my shoes?

But superficial lifestyle differences aside, husband Luke and I have decided to try something new. Test ourselves. See a few things. Create some memories to harp on to the grandkiddies about. And what better way to do it, than in a 1976 VW kombi camper, recently refurbished by none-other-than husband himself. And what better place to do it, than in good ol' Australia. It all sounds terribly romantic. Or a bit silly. Or perhaps a bit of both. Whatever it is, it's an adventure and one I'm going to try and post snippets about, so you can judge for yourself.

Yours in the great outdoors,
Odette