We are grandparents living in Tasmania with children and grandchildren living on mainland Australia.
We have both spent innumerable hours travelling by plane over our vast continent primarily for work but also for pleasure.
In recent year we have come to recognise that while flying is promoted as an extremely convenient way for a quick trip off our beautiful island home to visit the rest of Australia, flying is the most environmental damaging transport option to our planet.
As we are retired and like to visit new places our favourite mode of transport is via the Bass Strait Ferry service “Spirit of Tasmania”.
We find that the time it takes to drive from the south to Devonport arriving in time to drive on the ship and install yourself in the allotted accommodation is completely devoid of the stresses associated with getting to the airport and going through its processes to the gates to catch the plane.
We have used the ferry service across Bass Strait about 25 times in the last 10 years and we have yet to experience really bad weather, late departure or arrival and with comfortable trips each voyage.
We travel on the ferry so we can take our own car. Again there is less stress because there are no worries about the expensive car hire fees and insurance excesses that are part and parcel of the hire car industry.
Being aware of environmental issues that are making our planet more and more subject to the effects of climate change we are always looking for ways to alleviate our own impacts.
We could stop travelling altogether but we believe that by travelling on the Spirit of Tasmania with our own car, while it takes a bit longer and potentially could be more expensive, we are doing our bit towards Climate Change.
And we all know that the cheapest and fastest is not always the best.
Travel is about broadening the mind with the experience rather than ticking off the destinations.
Maybe experiencing the ramifications of Covid 19 will enlighten more of us to the opportunity that is now us all before to reduce flying and allow our skies to be cleaner.
— Peter and Pam Rowell
(Photo: Spirit of Tasmania III entering the Mersey River, Devonport. © Mitchell Bruce)