Tasmanian Travel Jumps Overboard

IT DOESN'T directly affect Victorians, but the collapse of the Sydney to Devonport ferry service on Monday has huge ramifications for domestic tourism in Australia. It's a headline-grabbing event that exposes the troubles facing the holiday business that have scarcely been reported.

Deals

- Cruise from Melbourne to Devonport on the Spirit of Tasmania from $74 a person, one-way. Book online and save a further $5 a person, one way. Available for passenger fares on day sailing and cruise seats on night sailing until August 31. Phone 132 010 or go to spiritoftasmania.com.au.

Dreaming On

Place: Mizu Spa, 175 Devonport Drive, Fingal (Rye), Mornington Peninsula. Tel: (03) 5988 6088; e-mail: mizu@bathe.com.au; online: www.bathe.com.au

Country Retreats Take Many Forms

ONE of the attractions of a Tasmanian touring holiday is the chance to stay in many different types of accommodation including historic mansions and more modest weatherboard colonial cottages and farmhouses. Many of the owners of these grand homes, cottages and farmhouses have banded together to

Past Perfect In Tassie

ONE of Tasmania's unique features is the vast number of heritage accommodation houses dotted across the Apple Isle. These range from cottages built and lived in by the colonial working classes, to grand Georgian and Victorian mansions. Many are decorated in keeping with the era in which they wer

Cross Bas Strait For A Gourmet Holiday

Tasmania's charms are manifold. As CLAUDE FORELL discovered, it is blessed with many heritage bed-and-breakfast retreats that take a pride in serving good food. GETTING THERE. Franklin Manor, The Esplanade, Strahan. Telephone (004)717311. Licensed. Accommodation: open daily; 14 double roo

Chance To Sail The Strait

THE new Spirit of Tasmania, TT-Line's $155 million passenger ship, sailed on her maiden voyage between Melbourne and Devonport this week - and the company is celebrating with a great holiday giveaway. Simply fill in the coupon below and you and your family could be off on a self-drive holi

Nothing But Royal Treatment For The Slick Kings

Mark Dalton recalls with a smile the time his team arrived in Devonport to find the stadium in which they were due to play had been double-booked and they had been shunted to a ramshackle gym down the road. It may not have amused the Canberra Cannons five years ago, but the 24-year-old for

Getting In Touch With The Wildlife

IT IS rare to find a place where it is possible to watch nocturnal animals in the wild without much patience and discomfort. Yet at Cradle Mountain Lodge, an 80-minute drive south of Devonport, Tasmania, the wait for darkness has been transformed into a pleasure. Warm, friendly surro