Spirit of Tasmania

On Wednesday night I got aboard the "Spirit of Tasmania". For those not aware, it's a large ship that travels from Devonport to Melbourne. It allows you to bring your car and due to the time it takes (11hrs), you can even get a cabin.

I got to the loading area near 5:30pm and surprisingly found a queue already formed. Considering I didn't have much else to do, I decided to join the queue. I sat in the car for just an hour or so, passing the time by listening to some podcasts and filling out a Tourism survey that was annoyingly long. Once aboard the boat I put my stuff down in the cabin, had a wander, then sat down for dinner. It was a "no seconds buffet" and the menu was interesting. I settled on a piece of fish, some pasta and a roast dinner.

After dinner I headed back to my room, realised there wasn't much to do there (2 bunk beds, toilet and a shower in an area half the size of my bedroom), so headed back upstairs. There was a theaterette showing "Marley and Me", which didn't interest me at all, so I listened to some podcasts out on deck, then headed inside to watch "Spicks and Specks" with 2 other people. The rest of the ship (maybe 100 people in 2 different areas) was watching "Australia's Got Talent". What a shock. While watching, a lady in a towel come running out demanding a medic, then another man in a shirt and towel came looking for her, also asking for a medic. I don't know what they got up to in that tiny bathroom. With that episode behind us, I pulled up a comfy chair and did some reading and snacking, then back to my dog's box for more reading and podcasts.

Was awoken at 6:05am by the PA system to be ready for a 6:50 disembarkment. I got my stuff together and headed for one of the lifts. I waited there for about 50mins so that was good. My deck was the last called to go to our cars and we were held up by some clown they couldn't locate who's car was blocking the first lot getting out. Once I got to my car it was another 30min wait until we got to leave.

Overall more entertaining and not as uncomfortable as I imagined and an insight into what it must have been like on the "Titanic".