Hobart Big City Tour

Like I said in an earlier post I booked a tour for yesterday. I booked the Hobart Big Ticket Tour through a company called Adventure Island Tours. They only do small groups, with a maximum of 13 people, but yesterday we were only 7, which was nice as well all got to know each other a little bit. The driver was really nice. He remembered everybody’s names and he knew a lot about what he was showing us and he was always talking, but not in a way so that it became boring.

The tour took us to 3 of Hobart’s biggest attractions: Mt. Wellington, Cadbury Chocolate Factory and Bonorong Wildlife Park. My main reason for booking the tour was because of Mt. Wellington and seeing the Tasmanian devils at Bonorong.

We started out with Mt. Wellington. On the way there we passed the Cascade Brewery, the oldest brewery in Australia.

There has actually been snow up on Mt. Wellington earlier this week, but it was all gone yesterday, and luckily there weren't any clouds around the mountain top so we had a clear view. It was beautiful and it reminded me a little bit of Norway actually. The sea and hills reminded me of the fjords and mountains where I'm from. It was quite cold at the top even though it’s gotten warmer in Hobart the last few days, but that’s usually the way it is on mountains.

The next stop was Cadbury Chocolate Factory. I have to admit I was slightly disappointed. On the leaflet about the tour it says “Cadbury Chocolate Factory Tour”, but all we did was have a look at the souvenir shop, then we were led into a room where we watched a movie about how Cadbury makes their chocolate while a lady told us about it and then we were led to the chocolate and sweets shop! That was it! I thought we would be shown around the factory and stuff (Willy Wonka-style! Haha!), but I guess they can’t do that because of health and safety or something. The chocolate at the factory was cheaper than what you can get in the shops, but I don’t think they should advertise it as a tour when it’s just a video presentation.

 The last stop was Bonorong Wildlife Park. We got there early so we could go and feed the kangaroos before the tour started. Although I’ve seen plenty of kangaroos by now and fed a few before, I still love seeing them. They also had some birds and small animals that we could look at before the tour. I felt sorry for the birds though because the cages they were in were so small they couldn’t fly or anything.

Sugar gliders

 When the tour started we got to see a baby wombat that was really funny and full of energy, she kept running around and digging and when the guide went into the enclosure she head-butted her. She was 8 months old, and when she’s 2 they are going to release her back into the wild. She’s at the wildlife park because her mother got run-over by a car, but luckily someone checked her pouch and found Xena (or maybe it was Zena).

 We then got to see the Tasmanian Devils. I thought they were really cute, although I can understand why someone might get frightened of them if they meet them at night. There were three in the enclosure and the wildlife park is going to keep them until it’s safe for them to be released, which might not be in their lifetime because of a cancerous disease (facial tumour) that’s killing off the Devils in the wild.

 The last animal on the tour (it was a very small wildlife park) was a koala. I’ve seen quite a few of those as well now, but I absolutely love them. They are so cute! I wish I could take one home with me. It wouldn’t have anything to eat though, no eucalyptus trees in Norway!

 At the wildlife park they also had an albino Common Brushtail Possum, which was very cute!

 Except for Cadbury (who would think I would say that!) I really enjoyed this tour. I wish I could go on many more because I already love Hobart and would love to explore Tasmania a little bit more. Who knows? Maybe I’ll come back to Australia at some point after all!