Ramble
Quest - Davenport.
I booked the Spirit of Tasmania ferry. I should note that this is something of an odd choice for someone without a car. Flights cost only slightly more (and sometimes not any more at all) and are much faster. However I wanted to arrive on the slow boat and had a very enjoyable time on the large boat. In retrospect, I think the best choice would be to take the ferry one way (I booked round trip) and fly the other section.
I'm coming at high season though so everything is difficult to book. Tasmania is a very popular summer destination for other Australians and they are very badly setup to handle tourists. Tasmania has everything that New Zealand has (and more!) within a comparable size, but the Kiwi's are far better at managing tourists. So, I continually experience difficulties during my month there. Fortunately, Tasmania turns out to be worth it.
The difficulties start right off the bat as I learn on exiting the ferry terminal that it is quite far from the rest of town and they have neither cabs nor buses! I follow a few other stranded backpackers in a hike towards town. Luckily, I'm able to hail a passing cab before too long and catch a lift to the YHA. The Davenport YHA is a bizarre place, far from town and full of strange rules. The dorm only has one key, so it must be shared. They expect payment for showers. The bathrooms have both toilet and shower so the door is locked when someone uses either. Fortunately, one of the guys who works there is very nice and offers a lift into town. Even better for me, he used to work as a guide on the Overland Trail, my main destination here, so I get some valuable tips from him.
Davenport town isn't all that interesting anyway, so I guess it isn't too great a loss to be far from it. On my return trip I stay at the Tasman House, which is also far from center and quite shoddy, but it is cheaper, better organized and they run a regular shuttle to the ferry.
I arrange a ride to Cradle Mountain NP with Tassielink, one of the local bus services. Typical to Tasmania, they have a bit of a scam where they don't actually take you to the start of the trail, but leave you off where another bus company can pick you up and charge an outrageous fee. I found this to be common in Tasmania. Small, local companies have a monopoly on the short, seasonally popular bus routes so you must always take one of the larger bus comany runs into an area and then transfer. The inconvenience is more of a pain in the ass than the money, but they do always rip you off a bit.
The ride out to Cradle is wonderfully scenic, passing large commercial fields of daisy and poppy, with stately Mt Roland in the distance behind them. The daisies are used to make an insecticide while the poppies go towards pharmaceutical opium, which Tasmania leads the world in production. It's great to see the colorful rolling fields of poppies, especially since this is such a rare sight in the rest of the world.