Taking boat to Tassie

Planning to take the nav and camper to Tassie in January .We will sail around 30th Dec and spend about 3 weeks over there .Will drive down from Toowoomba after Christmas .Wondering about free camps in Tassie at that time of year and suggestions on places to go and see .Should we book any areas ahead of time ?Hopefully the nav goes ok will have nearly 190km on by then .But I know of d22 will nearly 600k on it and never touched so ours will be fine.
Chris

Hi Chris, have you booked the ferry yet? Spaces for cars with trailers fill up pretty quick.
There is plenty of great camping spots all around tassie. For free camping spots just follow the grey nomads. My grandparents used "free camps australia" book Or somthing like that when they wee here a few months ago.
Woukd highly recommend getting a Parks Pass, i think you can get them cheaper online or on the ferry trip over?(of course you can get them anywhere over here aswell) As alot of sights you wanna see and stay at will be in national parks.
Cheers Adam

^ Yeah, book early & be prepared to have your boat inspected for hygeine.

Grab a two month park pass - $60 for access to all national parks

tassie here we come

Well just spent $1600 odd dollars tonight and booked and paid for trip over and back to Tassie ,Prices change by the hour let alone by the day Thanks for the advise hopefully will get some more tips .Chris

nakedape said:

^ Yeah, book early & be prepared to have your boat inspected for hygeine.

Grab a two month park pass - $60 for access to all national parks

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Does this include Cradle Mountain?

+1 on camping everywhere. We plan on taking our caravan next time, in spite of the extraordinary cost of taking a 3.2m tall 14.5m long rig (including the car, of course). Caravans and campers are automatically inspected at the dock before departure for prohibited food products.

^ Yes it does cover cradle - but you'd need to stop at the visitor centre to check what they do about bus passes (you won't need to pay again but may need extra tickets for the shuttle bus. You'd be taking the shuttle cause they no longer allow vans into dove lake).

nakedape said:

^ Yes it does cover cradle - but you'd need to stop at the visitor centre to check what they do about bus passes (you won't need to pay again but may need extra tickets for the shuttle bus. You'd be taking the shuttle cause they no longer allow vans into dove lake).

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We can park the van in a caravan park - there is one nearby - and can we then drive our own car up there or do we still need the shuttle bus?

Cradle Mountain - and Dove Lake - were places we really wanted to see last time, but one of our passengers bitched like a demon about paying anything to see trees and water, so to shut them up we left.

Depends on the season Tony - peak season the dove lake carpark fills quickly & given the narrow road you're often better off on the bus (there's heaps running every 10min or so).

Your passenger missed out on seeing one the country's iconic sights - there loss.

Sing out if your after other ideas of what to see.

Chris T said:

Well just spent $1600 odd dollars tonight and booked and paid for trip over and back to Tassie ,Prices change by the hour let alone by the day Thanks for the advise hopefully will get some more tips .Chris

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Hey Chris, did you pay a bit extra and get a cabin???? You get a bed and shower/toilet.
The ocean recliners are basically airline seats, not real comfory for sleeping, although you can get up and walk around whenenver, or stay in the lounge areas.
take some Quell's (sea sick tablets) if you dont have sea legs, or just take some anyway Bass straight can get quite rough. Although if you lucky it will be dead calm.
Things they dont tell you, are jerrycans must be empty, loose gas cylnders have to go in one of their special cages(pick up at other end) They ok if correctly fastened to front of camper/caravan. Usuall quarantine stuff. You go through a check point at the dock, nothing to stress about.
It is a beautiful spot down here.

Resto said:

Bass straight can get quite rough. Although if you lucky it will be dead calm.

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Yeah, 6.5m swell last time I was on the ferry - bastard boat!

Another tip - eat in melbourne before you board, cause the food is shit. And, grab brekky at Elizabeth Town bakery (10min east of devonport).

Hey Chris. I only lived in Tassie for a year but did manage to tour and camp around a fair bit of it. Cradle Mountain is a given and well worth the hike to the top if you're feeling energetic.

The west coast is rugged but has great camping and 4wding. I think Montezuma Falls has been mentioned on here before and is well worth a look. Trial Harbour is straight toward the coast from Zeehan and is probably my favorite camp spot on the island with spectacular views and it's free. Great fishing and craying but you will need a licence to do this. Will probably be very busy that time of year though.

The east coast is beautiful and more temperate actually reminds me of sunshine coast in Queensland. It is a more touristy area and camping options are limited. May pay to book a place.

Southern end has plenty of options and we often used rest stops to stay overnight near the big towns and Hobart but may be harder with a camper trailer. Having said that heaps of towns across tasmania are RV friendly and provide designated camp spots with basic facilities for free and give you a great chance to check towns you may otherwise pass. Like Sheffield the town of murals.

www.parks.tas.gov.au lists all the info on their camp sites and permits, some free and others not.

Look up forestry tasmania also as they provide and maintain some excellent camp grounds all around tasmania and are mostly free. We used them a lot in the north and south of the island. They often have facilities like showers, toilets, kids parks, fire pits (sometimes with firewood), are well maintained and even allow dogs.

Diesel can be expensive in some areas, I always carried gerry cans and filled them all and the tank if going anywhere remote (ie West Coast).

Hope this helps. Cheers

Thanks for the tips Guy's
Yes booked a cabin both way's ,Night trip over on New Years eve so booked inside cabin and return trip is a day sail so booked port hole .
Was only $84 dollars extra for a cabin so why wouldn't you ,I preferred the cabin more for security as well you can drop your gear and just look around or up and down if the sea's are bad
Had not thought of sea sick tablets so will pack them .
Will have to empty the generator fuel jerry can ,but gas bottles are all secure .
I take it they only looking for fresh fruit and veg at quarantine ?
Some friends said it may be best not to plan which way we travel first due to weather conditions .
Wife would like to spend a few day's it Hobart for the festival that they have so may book that for a start point .
Yes will fuel up in Melbourne (125l tank) and now I know to top up in Larger towns/cities .
Thanks for the food tip will have early tea before we board the boat and then head for the bakery
Can you take food /esky on the boat or do they control it so you only use ?purchase their food
We know its a busy time of year but that's what happens when you marry a teacher and have kids going into highschool
Thanks again for the advise
Chris

We arrived in Devonport on Christmas morning and there was nothing open anywhere (not even McDonalds), so we headed for Launceston where we had booked a cabin at Treasure Island Caravan Park (and won't stay there again). The Coles/Shell servo was open and the fuel was not bad, and the Coles supermarket and the 3 IGA supermarkets were all closed but this supermarket on Wellington St was open and even sold hot food. If you're going to try a restaurant in Launceston, I recommend the Jailhouse Grill and particularly their burger (for $25 we thought it would have to be bloody good and it was).

They search for fruit & veg, and seeds too. Basically if it's plant material and not in a tin can, it stays at home. I agree with the others - the boat food is in dire need of an overhaul and makes McDonalds look like five-star cuisine. It's also dear as poison.

In future we're going to do night trips on the boat, because when you're asleep you aren't eating or throwing up (from either the food or the boat movement).

When you get to the dock they do the vehicle check/ quarantine thing they you drive out on the pier and wait in vehicle till they start loading(6pm).
You drive on to the boat, park where they tell you, take your overnight bag( packed with some drinks and nibbles) and take the stairs to upper deck, find your cabin and find the bar! Remember what level you parked on as they announce who goes first over the P.A about 5:45am.

Old.Tony said:

this supermarket on Wellington St was open and even sold hot food.

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We had xmas dinner from there a few years ago - xmas lunch was in melbourne airport. Tassie can be a bit backward in terms of opening hours at times (try getting a feed outside of hobart or lonnie after 6pm in winter).

Night sailings are the best - sit up the back of the boat drinking beer as you pass through port phillip, then off to bed to sleep it off

We paid just over $1600 (seniors rates) to take our 14' Jayco and Navara over earlier this year. We did a day trip south and just used the recliners as we spent the day wandering the deck and had a cabin for the north bound trip at night. Seas very calm both ways.

Camp ground at Cradle Mt $35/n unpowered and $55/n powered (if available). Good showers and camp kitchen. Definitely a must do, need at least two days. Plenty of free camps around Tassie. We liked Sulpher Ck near Penguin, Gravel Oval at Queenstown, Lake King William (near Derwent Bridge), Oatlands, Cockle Ck (as far south as you can drive), Mayfield Bay, Friendly Beaches, Cozy Corner, the list goes on.

Must see places, Cradle mountain, Boat Cruise at Strahan, (book on ferry, much cheaper), same with train ride at Queenstown, The Wall (Derwent Bridge), Richmond Bridge, MONA in Hobart, Mt Wellington, Women's Factory, Wine Glass Bay and Lookout, Bruny Island Cruise, Sea Horse World @ Beauty Pt, Beaconsfield Mine site

Great tourist place, we spent 6 weeks touring and still missed a lot. Good luck with your planning and enjoy your trip

I'll add a quaint little steam train ride at Sheffield to that list. We missed out on heaps too, can't wait to get back. Unfortunately it won't be $1600 for our 8.5m long 3.3m high caravan!