We headed back towards the Brooke Street ferry terminal to catch the MONA Roma, descending the slope via Kelly Steps, which is where I noticed there was a cruise ship in town. This was hardly news as far as Madam was concerned since she’d taken a morning walk with the camera around the neck while I kept tapping away at the Travelogue.
It did, however, point out the advantages of pre-booking since there was a queue that may or may not have been cruise ship related when we arrived at the desired destination. On the way, we passed the Peppermint Bay Cruise terminal, which reminded me there’d be no need to hire a car if we were down in Hobart for a week or so next time around. Cruise down to Peppermint Bay through the D’Entrecasteaux, bus or cruise over to Port Arthur and hit the Tasman Peninsula Eco Cruise (operated by the same people who run the Bruny Island operation) and there’s the sightseeing side of things seen to.
Having pre-booked, we sailed right through the boarding formalities and grabbed a couple of window seats on the port side. That gave us a view across to the Henry Jones Art Hotel and the cruise liner. It was comfortably before departure time when we boarded, so we had time to take in the surroundings in an environment that was substantially more upmarket than the Hammo or Magnetic Island ferry service.
Quirkier, too. We’d paid $20 for the return trip, but if we’d shelled out a fifty each we could have gained admission to The Posh Pit, down the front roughly equivalent to where you’ll find the old mosh pit at a rock concert.