One of Australia's Main States/Territories is NOT Accessible to Most People Without Some Assistance From People's Engineering, Courage and Fate.

TASMANIA

Keep Reading to learn about the history of Passenger Transport across Australia's Most Treturous waters, where thousands of people have lost their lives to either start new lives or to go on holiday (some of them not that long ago either).

Bass Strait Passenger Ships have been around since the 1890s, the ships we use today have vastly changed since those times, though and where they depart and dock after the journey. In 1890 the Tonnage and type of boat used was a 776-ton Coogee. The current Spirit of Tasmania (SoT) I & II weighs a whopping 28,000 tonnes. And that's not all, as a new fleet is currently in the making.

The ports that have been in over the years in Tasmania all over the northern coast, from Burnie to Launceston (also known as Bell Bay), to the current Port and Home of the SoT, Devonport.

Some of the Ships that have been recognised as part of the History of the crossing include 'The Pateena' (1883-1904), which was fast for her day as a ship that could go at 15 knots. 'The Roromahana' (1891-1920) was another ship of graceful lines, bad a bowsprit and figure and sailed at 17 knots. The handsome 'Loongana' (1904-1934) was the first Ship to cross the Bass Strait under turbine propulsion. She still holds the record for crossing the Bass Straight in 12 Hours, 46 minutes at 22 knots when she was conveying rescue gear to Burnie to help with the Mount Lyell mine disaster, which lost the lives of 22 men. The Nairana, which weighed 3042 tons, was an armed seaplane carrier due to the 1st WW. in 1935. The 'Taroona' was an oil-burning steamer until regular passenger ferries returned to service. In 1959 the Australian-Built Princess of Tasmania, which is based on the English Chanel roll-on ferries, began it's Melbourne to Devonport service. She could hold 330 people and 130 cars and trucks through the stern door. In 1985 the Tasmanian Government introduced the first Ferries with both bow and stern doors. In 1985 the Ship Abel Tasman began operation under the current ferry crossing owner TT-Line and was retired in 1993. in 1977 the Devil Cat was introduced, that shortened 6 hours but was only rad during peak operation. In 2002 TT-Line purchased two new ferries, which are now the Spirit of Tasmania I & II, that are currently up and running. In 2004 the Spirit of Tasmania III was introduced, which sailed from Sydney to Devonport, but this has now been discontinued from 2006 (sadly, a 2-year run for the Ship). In 2015, both Spirits were refurbished and made nice and new. In 2022 The Spirit decided to move from Station Pier to Geelong. And in the future of lat 2024 and 2025, the Spirit of Tasmania IV & V will be replacing the getting old Spirit of Tasmania I & II.

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Now to the Logging Requirements:

UPDATE: Due to FTF Finder finding an actual anchor, I have updated the logging requirements so that a photo of the old anchoring point or the Anchor is allowed 😊

1. Get a photo in front of EITHER the Anchor in the Car Park (see waypoints for more details) OR the Old Anchoring Point which is the closest to the terminal (preferably with the ship in the background of either photo, but it is not required for logging purposes), with at least your geo-name or yourself/your team in the photo 

2. Optional: A photo on the Ferry if you are sailing on the spirit.

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And that's it ;) a very simple one for everyone to find

Anyway, get out there and be a spirited traveller on a Geojourney ;)

Safe Travels
James0116

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Virtual Rewards 3.0 - 2022-2023

This Virtual Cache is part of a limited release of Virtuals created between March 1, 2022 and March 1, 2023. Only 4,000 cache owners were given the opportunity to hide a Virtual Cache. Learn more about Virtual Rewards 3.0 on the Geocaching Blog.
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!! CONGRATULATION TO Sims_Family ON THE FTF !!