Published on Nov, 2024
My wife and I booked two tours with Ross at Bespoketourshobart. We did the Signature whisky tour one day and the tour to Port Arthur the next. Ross specialises in very small groups, no more than six people but we lucked out and were the only two on both tours. We had a personal guide to this wonderful region of Australia.
Ross picked us up at our hotel and was very punctual. During both tours he kept to schedule without us feeling hurried. He was very sociable and during the drives from point to point, while be a very safe driver, described the history and geography of the areas we passed through. During the Whisky tour, he had pre arranged our tastings and was very well acquainted with the people at the distilleries. Our tastings were in private areas and we had fabulous tours of each place. It helps that he is also a whisky collector. We also stopped at a Cheese factory where we had a tasting.
The Port Arthur tour was longer, about 8 hours as it is quite a distance from Hobart. Ross is very knowledgeable about the history and the layout of Port Arthur.We initially spent time at a model of the colony during its heyday and he pointed out where we would be going and what we would be seeing and what was no longer there. He walked us through the whole facility showing us and describing life in the very tough penal colony. The whole area is about 100 acres and only about 30% of the buildings remain. However, Ross pointed out where different activities were carried out. Again, he was extremely knowledgeable, pleasant and flexible in responding to our requests. On the return journey we visited a Gin distillery for a tasting and made brief stops at a Chocloate foundry and a lavendar farm.
Overall, we had two outstanding tours with Ross. We have no hesitation in highly recomending Ross and Bespoketourshobart if you want to see the highlights of this beautiful region. We will be doing more trips with him on future visits to Hobart.