As you approach the end of a stay anywhere there is always some time you have never adequately planned for. In my case I am ever too concerned about this as the tour director normally has things fully under her very capable control. And so today we headed off to Mona the Museum of New Arts in Hobart which is a major tourist attraction sitting up on the river bank at Glenorchy, built by a world gambler who used his winnings to finance it. Pam drove us out to the museum and and as she had to be at work in the afternoon we went straight to lunch, sitting outside overlooking the River Derwent in bright sunshine. My stomach complaint having somewhat abated I enjoyed a cheese and bacon sandwich. The tour director was full of praise for her salmon salad which I have to say did look very nice.
The museum is dug into a quarry so that very little of it shows above ground, therefore, once you are in you drop three floors to start the tour. The emphasis is on twentieth century art or even twenty first century art and there are no signs of respect for any of the old traditions. It is a strange place, there is much that is fascinating and macabre, much relating to death and more than a few pieces relating to sex. We came out three hours later not quite sure if we had enjoyed the experience or not but at least it made us talk about what we had seen. The owner has just sold a Damien Hirst piece to finance building a new wing so there will be changes in the future. The audience was large and varied and consisted of all ages and now comes from all over the world.
As we were leaving the heavens opened and we ended up queuing for the ferry back to Hobart in pouring rain. The tour director was not amused but has a strange idea about staying dry in such circumstances, instead of staying to the leeward of a portacabin which offered some protection she insisted on straying out into the open on the pier. I was brave enough to point out the folly of this action and she did come back to the edge of the cabin and thus we were not as wet as we might have been.
The ferry back along the Derwent is a memorable ride as mountains are glimpsed along the river side and fade as bends are taken on the way downstream. In Hobart the sun was shining and we caught the bus home enjoying the ride in the sunshine back across the river.
We stopped off at Woolworth's to buy some food came home cooked our tea and watched DCI Banks for a couple of hours, good old British television.