Spirit of Tasmania to set sail from Geelong.

[xr6er]

As of 23rd October, the Spirit of Tasmania (the ship that operates between Melbourne & Devonport) will be relocating it's Victorian operations from Station Pier, Port Melbourne to Corio Quay South Wharf in North Geelong. It is being renamed the Spirit of Tasmania Quay.

Introducing Spirit of Tasmania Quay

In spring 2022 we will bid farewell to Station Pier, Port Melbourne and wave hello to Spirit of Tasmania Quay, Geelong, where our new state-of-the-art terminal will come to life.

www.spiritoftasmania.com.au

 

[AIRwin]

Flights will be busier?

 

[drron]

Better change the thread title otherwise there may well be a few unhappy Tasmanians.

Spirit or Tasmania​

 

[RooFlyer]

I'll take the Spirit - gin, preferably!

 

[Stealthflyer]

Flights will be busier?

why?

 

[AIRwin]

Journey from Melbourne will be longer

 

[jase05]

Journey from Melbourne will be longer

There are plenty that use it that aren’t from suburban Melbourne so it will make some people’s journey quicker. There are a lot of people from SA for instance that drive over and it may actually shave some time off. As with most things there will be some winners and some losers in the time saved/lost department

 

[xr6er]

They're getting a couple of new boats.

 

[Stealthflyer]

Journey from Melbourne will be longer

Shorter for everyone outside Melbourne though. The mainlanders who use the Spirit tend to stay longer because they are bringing their car at considerable expense. I don’t think that will dissuade Melbourians from using the Spirit either. After all, it drops you in Devonport which requires a drive to get anywhere of real interest (apart from the gallery. The gallery is fantastic).

I’m disappointed that it’s not a few weeks earlier. There’s an event north west of Melbourne in early Oct that I’m hoping to get to and Geelong would be very convenient. I loathe driving off the ferry and immediately having to navigate out of Melbourne.

 

[drron]

A few Queenslanders have been known to drive down and catch the Spirit.
And I like Devonport.

 

[tgh]

My first Ocean Voyage to a far away land was on the Bass Trader…. from Melbourne to Devonport……..

 

[RooFlyer]

Bring back Sydney-Devonport! (Spirit III for while in early 2000s). Looking out the porthole at 7am and seeing a couple of islands glide past, abt 100m away was a bit disconcerting, though! Flinders/Furneaux group.

 

[jb747]

Good. I'm actually planning to use the Spirit next year, and Geelong is way more convenient.

 

[docjames]

This has been in the works for a while - remembering the (truck carried) freight is a huge part of the business, and this will be easier than it currently is getting trucks into and out of what is now a mostly residential part of Port Melbourne.

Overall a positive move. Wont suit all and they will need some sort of connection between Geelong CBD (train station) and the Quay for non-car non-truck SLF.

 

[TomVexille]

Adds at least 40 minutes each way for us, but agree that it's probably beneficial for the trucks.

 

[Hvr]

I wonder if an airline will join with the ferry company to offer a fly/float fare?
Maybe an anchor airline that currently flies into AVV?

 

[Melburnian1]

This has been in the works for a while - remembering the (truck carried) freight is a huge part of the business, and this will be easier than it currently is getting trucks into and out of what is now a mostly residential part of Port Melbourne.

Overall a positive move. Wont suit all and they will need some sort of connection between Geelong CBD (train station) and the Quay for non-car non-truck SLF.

Not all Geelong/South Geelong/Waurn Ponds V/Line trains stop at it, but North Shore station should be a relatively short walk of a few hundred metres. It has minimal facilities and is in a most unattractive part of Geelong (that said, the whole of Geelong is far from Oz's most attractive city, and having lived there for a short while, I have no desire to repeat) but IIRC may be receiving a minor upgrade. It's unstaffed (not a problem for me) but lacks a properly shaltered waiting room. myki is of course available to or from it.

It's easier to reach Port Melbourne on the 109 tram from the CBD (which until 1987 was Australia's first railway opened in 1854) so I'd prefer TT Line stayed in Port Melbourne. However the decision's been made. I suspect patronage will decline.

I don't agree it's necessarily better for trucking companies as some will have to travel from say Dandenong via the West Gate Bridge to Corio. The bridge can have traffic snarls equivalent to the worst in Australia.

 

[drron]

Yes but I imagine Dandenong truck numbers are dwarfed by those heading to NSW,SA,QLD, northern and western Victoria and even WA which will find Gee;long much easier.

 

[Forg]

Bring back Sydney-Devonport!

RooFlyer for King!

Never took advantage of that, and I frankly couldn’t be bothered with driving all the way to Melbourne to put my car on a boat - will just fly and then rent whatever POS geryltruk Hertz-or-whoever “upgrades” us to when I actually requested & paid for a proper car. But from Sydney, we’d take our car!

 

[docjames]

Not all Geelong/South Geelong/Waurn Ponds V/Line trains stop at it, but North Shore station should be a relatively short walk of a few hundred metres. It has minimal facilities and is in a most unattractive part of Geelong (that said, the whole of Geelong is far from Oz's most attractive city, and having lived there for a short while, I have no desire to repeat) but IIRC may be receiving a minor upgrade. It's unstaffed (not a problem for me) but lacks a properly shaltered waiting room. myki is of course available to or from it.

It's easier to reach Port Melbourne on the 109 tram from the CBD (which until 1987 was Australia's first railway opened in 1854) so I'd prefer TT Line stayed in Port Melbourne. However the decision's been made. I suspect patronage will decline.

I don't agree it's necessarily better for trucking companies as some will have to travel from say Dandenong via the West Gate Bridge to Corio. The bridge can have traffic snarls equivalent to the worst in Australia.

Not sure how long since you’ve been to Geelong, and whilst I agree North Shore isn’t the most attractive part of the Geelong, the rest of the city not on the North side has massively lifted in the last decade and especially the last 5 years, so connection to centre of town important.

Yes but I imagine Dandenong truck numbers are dwarfed by those heading to NSW,SA,QLD, northern and western Victoria and even WA which will find Gee;long much easier.

Agree - not to mention Tassie products heading to wholesale markets in the west of Melbourne, in addition to those coming from North and West.