The first city on the Australia portion of our trip was Hobart, the capital of Tasmania (“Tassie,” as the locals call it). It’s a smaller city, relative to Australia’s other state capitals, but it was beautiful, modern, and had a fun, comfortable vibe.
Our main activities in Tasmania were a Bruny Island tour and a visit to the Museum of Old and New Art (MONA).
The bus from the airport dropped us off at the harbor.
We took a full-day tour to Bruny Island, about 30 km south of Hobart. A ferry transported our van across the strait to the island.
(Sound is not needed for any of the video clips in this post.)
Bruny Island is home to numerous “cottage industry” businesses. During our tour, we visited several of these businesses to taste the local beer, cheese, bread, wine, oysters, fish, chocolate, and honey.
Our first stop was the Bruny Island Cheese Company and Bruny Island Beer Company (same place). The cheese was made with unpasteurized milk. The cheese, beer, and bread were all made onsite.
While we were enjoying their products, our tour guide drove to a nearby business called “Get Shucked” to pick up fresh oysters for our lunch.
Bruny Island is almost two islands, but for a narrow strip of land connecting the two halves. We stopped along the strip and climbed up to an observation deck for an excellent view. In this photo, we’re looking south.
It was windy!
Our first course at lunch was the fresh oysters our guide had procured earlier. It doesn’t get any fresher than that!
For Jeff, eating raw oysters was a step outside of his comfort zone. But he was a trooper and tried them! He didn’t mind the taste, but sadly, they didn’t agree with him.
We were given a menu of options for the main course, but our guide recommended the fish and chips. The fish was also recently caught locally. It was delicious!
We stopped for a brief walk in a rainforest.
Next, it was time for chocolate! We were each given a small fudge bar. We each purchased another one to take with us and eat later.
This company, and a whiskey distillery on the same site, are owned by a gay couple who also live on the property. The extensive land on which their home sits is usually off-limits to visitors, but this tour company was allowed to take guests for a walk around the beautiful grounds.
At our last stop, we tasted the local honey. We sampled a dozen varieties. They were all delicious, but we settled on two to take home.
On another day, we visited the Museum of Old and New Art (MONA). It was located in a suburb of Hobart called Berriedale, 12 km north. While it’s possible to get there by bus, it’s quicker (and more fun) to take a ferry that travels up the River Derwent between the wharf in downtown Hobart and MONA throughout the day.
The ferry offered an upgrade called the Posh Pit. We decided to spluge on it. We were given drinks and hors d’oeuvres to enjoy during the ride. The journey only took 20 minutes, so there wasn’t time for much.
We tried guava mimosas. They were quite tasty! We plan to add guava juice to our home inventory.
To say that MONA was unique would be an understatement. It is the largest privately funded museum in the Southern Hemisphere, housing ancient, modern, and contemporary art from the collection of billionaire David Walsh. The museum has been described by Walsh as a “subversive adult Disneyland.”
There are no windows and the atmosphere is intentionally ominous. Rooms in the museum are connected by a confusing labyrinth of tunnels, which often look like they are cut through rocks. There are no information placards next to the works; visitors must use an app to learn about the works they are viewing. The information in the app wasn’t particularly informative.
Overall, we didn’t like it. There were some interesting exhibits, but the frustration we experienced trying to navigate the museum and the overall “WTF” nature of many of the pieces on display were just too “out there” for our tastes.
One immersive experience we paid extra for was called “Event Horizon,” by James Turrell. We stood inside a chamber painted entirely white, with rounded edges that obscured the boundaries between the floor, walls, and ceiling. For 15 minutes, gradually changing colors were projected into the chamber, which reflected across all the surfaces while ambient sounds played. It was as if we were suspended in nothingness, with no points of reference or stimulation other than the color. We were the only two participants, other than the museum staff member who stood in a corner. Dave snapped this picture of Jeff while the room was orange. When he attempted to take another picture while the room was white, the staff member said no photography was allowed. (Why not?)
We participated in another “experience” by James Turrell called “Unseen Seen + Weight of Darkness.” In that one, we reclined on a gently tilted padded platform inside a dome. We were subjected to a similar 15-minute program in which we were surrounded by color, but this time it flickered rapidly with a strobe-like effect. It was another exercise in sensory deprivation/disorientation with a helping of neural battering.
One work we enjoyed was this one, where water was released from nozzles in the overhead bar to form letters, which would be illuminated by the lights. The words were random; they weren’t intended to form sentences.
This installation was created using stacked shipping containers. There were more random objects inside the containers. This should give you an idea of how bizarre many of the exhibits were.
One of the more approachable works: The fat car.
Outside, there was a mirror maze we tried our luck with. It took about ten minutes to find our way out.
The courtyard outside the museum was perhaps the most enjoyable part.
Here are two views of the River Derwent and the area surrounding the museum.
Our apartment in Hobart was the nicest place we stayed during our entire trip. That’s saying something, because many of the places we’ve stayed have been nice. This was privately owned, rather than a unit in an apartment hotel. The building was round; this apartment occupied a 1/8 pie slice. The side walls were not parallel, but it didn’t feel awkward. While it looks like there are no curtains at the window, in fact, there are two rolled blinds that descend; dark but sheer blinds that afford privacy but let some light in, and solid black blinds that block all the light. They are raised and lowered by a motor that is controlled by a remote. Fancy!
The view from our window. Some of the buildings on the left are part of the University of Tasmania.
Hobart, like many of the other cities we visited in Australia and New Zealand, had plenty of visually creative, interesting buildings.
We were amused by this clever animation in a restaurant window.
The decor at a Thai restaurant where we ate one evening. (It was more photogenic than the food.)
We weren’t entirely sure what to expect from Hobart, since it doesn’t get nearly the attention that Sydney and Melbourne get, but we were pleasantly surprised. The people were nice and the surroundings were beautiful. We enjoyed our stay.