MOT Tour Day 53 - The Big Red Bus

On the Big Red Bus

After three tries, we finally secured our Big Red Bus tickets (The Red Decker) this morning. We would have had it on the second attempt, this morning but some bozzo left his wallet in the van, requiring a return trip to the caravan park and although we got back to the pick up with two minutes to spare, a toilet call ruined all the good make up work.

Oh well. We had an extra hour at the Botanical Gardens. Sue communed with plants. I communed with the cafe, sitting high above the gardens on a sunny balcony, drinking French Earl Grey, writing and chatting with my brother, Art. How I value his counsel.

Once on the bus, a routine familiar from every major city we have visited, clicked into play. The red bus phenomenon, modelled on the London bus, is always a way of gaining an overview of a city and helping in the process of planning what to see. As always, the drivers were really helpful, including this afternoon, when we were standing on the designated stop in the city and only found out it was a drop off only stop. The driver stopped anyway, because it was the last run of the day. Had he not, we would have been stranded, as we had free-parked at the Gardens all day.

After we gave the city the once over, we went down to Constitution Dock and had our sandwiches. We are such provincials!

The afternoon was mostly a visit to the Maritime Museum and a shorter visit to the Art Gallery and Museum.

The Maritime Museum

The Maritime Museum was a cracker. It’s run by volunteers with a great sense of humour and a deep knowledge of their subject. With a very moderate entry fee, the value is outstanding. There are two floors of exhibits. The second floor included part of the stern and keel of the Petrel, a schooner under the command of George Harrison, which sank in 1886 and whose remains were found on Hope Beach on Bruny Island, after a storm. It sparked excitement as it was first thought this was the Hope, which gave the beach its nomenclature. The Hope was shipwrecked sixty years early, supposedly with government wages on board.

It was not to be. I guess all things must pass.

There was also a recreated ward room of a skipper in the Australian Navy - very detailed and a clever use of video footage projected in portholes as though you were looking out on the scene at sea.

Back down on the first floor, an exhibition of writing about the sea included letters from captains and passengers involved in notable events at sea. This was engaging but needed transcripts typed beside originals to make reading easier.

There was a wheelhouse from a vessel and a working light from a lighthouse. In an adjoining room, a display of photos about pets at sea was excellent. One particular photo, of an infant sitting beside a dog on a companionway hat was very cute.

We may not be able to spend our entrance dollars to any greater value than this tour.

We walked a block to the Art Gallery and Museum, which has an excellent reputation. I have mixed feelings about the establishment. Those who read yesterday’s post which featured part of the story of Truganini will know that this is the establishment which exhumed her body and gave her body parts away to the Royal College of Surgeons in London. Long time ago and these days, the museum is a very active player in the moves to repatriate aboriginal remains.

Click here for today's photos

We had only an hour, so Sue entered and planned a longer stay tomorrow. Meanwhile, I ended the day the way I started it - in a cafe.

Leopards and spots and all that.