Pennicott Wilderness Journeys — Attraction in Hobart

Our full day tour was lovely. The boat experience was thrilling and the tour guides on the boat were fantastic. There are some areas for improvement however.

As we sat near the front of the boat we could not hear about 70% of the commentary as there is no PA speaker system on the boats. The guide was speaking from the back, so we missed most of what was being said at the front.

Although our bus driver Geordie was nice enough, there were many elements of unprofessionalism. His commentary was often filled with “so yeah, ummm, uhhh, yeah…” as he tried to connect his dialogue together. The focus of the bus commentary also leaned heavily on negative aspects — past fires, how things have changed since the good old days, and attractions that we couldn’t stop at because they are closed. While some of this is interesting history, it needs to be balanced with more positive insights about this beautiful state.

The most concerning part was on the return journey when Geordie seemed tired and distracted. While it’s great to talk to customers, much of his attention was taken up by two women in the front row. The conversations became questionable and uncomfortably unprofessional at times, with sexual content and banter better suited to the pub after work. Personally, I don’t mind this kind of conversation in the right setting, but as a tourism operator myself, it felt off-point for a tour. Many of the elderly guests looked uncomfortable.

Geordie also mentioned that he was only 22, and this unfortunately showed in his driving. While talking to the passengers up front, he turned around too often instead of concentrating on the road, which made the bus swerve side to side. We almost felt the need to call out “keep your eyes on the road.” This is not intended as an attack on him but as feedback before something serious happens. When you are responsible for 40 passengers and other road users, safe and professional driving must come first. The trainee staff member sitting behind him, on the other hand, was lovely and professional — hopefully he doesn’t pick up these bad habits.

Geordie spoke about wanting to receive 5-star Google reviews, but given the safety concerns and the inappropriate conversations, it didn’t feel deserved on this occasion.

Having said all this, I would still recommend the company, as the majority of the staff were fantastic. Well done to them...

I had been told this tour company was excellent & given the $$$ was looking forward to my first visit to Bruny Island and a foodie experience.

I had separately booked another Bruny Island tour which was focussed on the landscape - which is similar to the Otways o Phillip Island in Victoria.

I am a very experienced traveller - well over 30 years of international and local travel. Unfortunately, the "gourmet" tour was underwhelming and very expensive for what we received & in comparison to experiences I have had in Australia and abroad.

(In contrast, the Mt Wellington shuttle was $45 and the driver was great. I van recommend this.)

Our driver on the traveller tour, Alan was a genuine, lovely man originally from Queensland. He is an experienced bus driver and has not - it seems - been trained on history, culture or place. On other tours I have been on drivers will hand around further info for those that want more background.

The "restaurant" was in a pleasant setting, however it felt very cafe or canteen in style, not intimate more like a generic pub.

The view was nice; but the food was not unique - ordinary fish & chips & fish burgers. The food was dry, salad had no dressing. There was very limited selection of drinks, one sparkling, for example and only 3 oysters. For a tour costing over $260 I was expecting more than 3 plain oysters - no interesting dressings etc.

For those in Hobart, note that in contrast thr fish & chips at Mure & Co are good quality.

EDIT - post response: there was no tartare sauce or dressing with the meal. I was not told we could have two drinks of alcohol with lunch. I had one glass of okay sparkling. It was not special.

At the cheese stop - we shared a cheese board and were given one small beer (a pot). The cheese was fine but not memorable.

At the honey stop we were given a small honey ice cream, it was good.

Some people in our group did honey tasting, I did not as the stop was very crowded and it was a hot day (27 degrees). We were not given a small pot of honey to take away.

(For those in Hobart- the happy hour at Bar Wa or $49 seafood platter at Pearl & Co are very good value & quality.)

The staff were friendly but did not seem trained to answer questions...

This was the rendez-vous point for my trip. It was easy to find. The staff are very helpful for check-in. There is a small gift shop. There are no bathroom facilities here.

I had a really lovely day-trip to Bruny Island. It was called "Hobart: Bruny Island Gourmet Sightseeing Day Tour" - This was early April 2024.

I highly recommended it if you're only in Hobart for a short time, looking to fill a day to see a little more outside of town.

Incredible value for the money. Included the bus trip, guide/driver, so many tastings and activities, lunch with starter oysters and two alcoholic drinks (non-alcoholic available). The fish and chips were fantastic and very fresh!! The oysters were the plumpest and freshest I've ever had! The private garden tour at the chocolate stop was also a real treat - it's only open to these tours and not to the public.

While not guaranteed, we saw several white wallabies too! Maybe 7? Alan, our guide, said it was the most he had ever seen in one day since working there! Speaking of Alan, he was fantastic and knew so much about the island. He was open to questions and answered them very thoroughly and thoughtfully.

Like many of these day-trips, it's very touch-and-go but you get to fit a lot more in your day. It's what I expected but for those of you who like a little more time at one place, maybe this isn't for you.

I realized later that I was supposed to call to confirm my booking 24h in advance (which I completely forgot), but thankfully someone from the company called me instead the day before! I really appreciated...