Day 15 - To Brissy in a Tissy

Location: Hobart --> Brisbane
Weather: 28 degrees C / 83 degrees F (and sunny)
Subtitle: Jason & Hilary and the chocolate factory


We checked out of our hotel and ate breakfast outside at the Elizabeth street pier at T/42 ° , then went back to the hotel to wait for our shuttle to the ferry. We waited and waited, but it never came, so we called, and they said that they would be right there. I think they forgot to pick us up!
They drove us to just behind where we ate breakfast! We could have easily walked there if we knew where it was. They were just about to pull out of the dock when we got there, but we made it. We got on our ferry cruise to the Cadbury Chocolate Factory.
The ride was an hour and a half and very nice. The guide was frustrated that no one was listening to his commentary, but what did he expect? There’s a boatload of kids on their way to a chocolate factory aboard. Good luck getting them to sit in one spot and listen to your commentary on the history of Aboriginal relations. He did say one interesting story, though. There was a horrible bridge accident where the captain of this huge barge refused a tug guide through the water. He missed his target and hit two bridge supports, taking out a whole section of the bridge.
At the end of our ferry ride, they kept trying to lasso the dock from the boat. They must have missed five times! It was pretty humorous. Then, we got off the ferry and took a short walk to the Cadbury Chocolate Factory, where we took our tour. They gave us SO MUCH CHOCOLATE that I thought I was going to be sick. We saw them making “Turkish Delights” and saw the rooms where they pounded, mixed, and stored all the chocolate. Unfortunately, we weren’t allowed to have cameras on the tour, so today’s entry has no pictures.
By the time we got back to the ferry, the heat of the sun and the sheer amounts of chocolate I ate contributed to my nauseous feeling, so we did what anyone would do in that situation … we got on a rocking ferry boat and ate lunch! We were both fine, though.
After getting back to Hobart, we were on a mission to get our money back for our (shudder) bus tour yesterday. We called their headquarters with our calling card and kept getting tossed back and forth until our minutes ran out, so rather than wasting more money, we decided to waste time instead. We walked all the way to the bus terminal and demanded our money back, and after playing phone tag and standing at the counter for a half-hour, we finally got a refund.
It was worth it. :)
After that episode, we ate dinner at Mures (lower deck) one more time. We both had oysters. Hilary had them raw, and I had them Kilpatrick style (bacon and teriyaki sauce on top). We also had some blue-eyed travalla and were on our way. We waited by the Airporter (owned by Redline Coaches) because we had prepaid for the return trip to the airport. We waited … and waited … until it was fifteen minutes late and we were going to miss our flight, so we said, “screw it. We’ll get a cab.”
So $36 later, we were at the airport with three minutes to spare. We must have looked frantic, because security searched my bags manually and swabbed me down to check for explosive residue.
We caught up with the driver of their Airporter shuttle and asked for our money back, but he said that he was there, but no one else was. So, he lied because we were there early and there were others waiting after we left! So the moral of this travel tale is never pay for a round trip shuttle, because they already have your money, so they don’t need to worry about picking you up. Airporter = bad!
Luckily, we made it to our next hotel without a problem. In fact, when we got to our room at the Stamford Plaza, we could hardly believe our eyes! It was BETTER than our last room and CHEAPER than the room with bunk beds! It was even cheaper than our room in Tasmania!
Our room was on the corner and had a view of the Story Bridge and the river below!
So, overall, Tasmania was beautiful, but their public transport system sucks. If I had to do it again, I would have rented a car and learned to drive on the left side of the road.