Day 320
Tuesday 14 November
Melbourne – Hobart
We were both restless during the night. I felt like a kid before Christmas eager to go to bed knowing the sooner I slept the sooner the morning would arrive. It did arrive early with Paul misreading the time for 645am when it was only 545am. I rolled over and tried for some more shut eye.
As usual, Paul was up and out, once we received our wake up call. I laid about for a further 15min, getting out after Paul had showered and organised breakfast.
We both ate and then set about packing up all of our things, ensuring we had everything we brought in. Paul began taking bags to the car, while I finished getting ready and as planned we were ready to head at 730am.
The drive to the parking was quick and easy, we followed the instructions I’d been emailed and entered the secure facility. It was then time to find a Bay. I was surprised when we got one near by. From there it was onto a jam packed shuttle bus and being dropped off 10min after at T4, the Jetstar domestic terminal.
We were too early to do our bag drop, but we were able to print boarding cards, we then had to wait until 805am when we could send Paul’s bag into the hold. After completing that job, we made our way through the security screening, Paul getting the full search again and once he had repacked all of his pockets we wandered into the food hall and shopping space, taking a seat at a table and chilling out.
Paul read, while I used the free internet to load up his beer review. Time disappeared quite quickly and at 940am we received our gate call. We picked up all of our bags and made our way across the terminal to gate 49. We had a short wait here, as the plane coming from Hobart was delayed 15min. Despite this, we were ushered on as soon as the last passengers were off.
The seats I had booked in row 12 turned out to be a winner. One row behind the emergency seats and as there are only 2 in that row, it meant Paul, who was at the window, had a complete bay free to stretch out his legs, happy days
All of the passengers were seated quickly and the plane was locked and moving into a cue of 11 on the runway. We were initially scheduled to leave at 1005, this was pushed back to 1020, but we didn’t take off until 1045. Much of the delay was caused by swirling wind and only being able to use one runway because of it.
Once in the air, we sat back and watched the world slide away below us. Melbourne was covered in a dirty brown smog haze. I looked forward to the clear, fresh air that waited on the other side of the flight.
1115am and we had our first glimpses of Tasmania as we finished our journey over Bass Strait. In the distance we could see snow capped mountains and a river winding its way through the valleys. Shortly after the pilot was calling for the cabin crew to prepare the plane for landing. I continued to marvel at the lumpy, green landscape below, eager to get out and explore once again.
1130am I could feel the planes flaps begin to slow the metal tube and my ears began to tell me that we were making our decent. It looked like we were landing into a beautiful day. By 1145 the wheels touched down with a thud and the cabin shook and vibrated, making a racquet, but we were there.
After disembarking and walking across the tarmac we entered the terminal and then had to wait for our bag. It took a while, with staff swapping baggage Belt a few times.
I rang our hire car company to let them know we had arrived and we were told to wait outside for the free shuttle, it turned up about 5min later and we were ferried to the car yard. After signing our life away and checking the car over, we were on our way, following the GPS instructions to Mantra One Sandy Bay.
At 1pm, we checked in, found a space to park the car and made our way to room 402. We opened the door to a fabulous space with everything we could need; king size bed, bathroom, laundry, kitchen, dining and lounge with a day bed under the window, luxury. We even had a lovely welcome pack of champagne, chocolate and caramel popcorn.
We set about unpacking, but it wasn’t long before we were needing to head into town for lunch. Paul dropped his glasses in for repair and then we wandered through the Cat and Fiddle mall, finding a sushi shop for lunch. After eating, we continued to wander, finding a woollies to pick up breakfast foods.
We continued to walk the streets admiring the architecture and the number of odd looking people. Damon rang to organise our surprise rendezvous for tomorrow. We can’t wait to see Chell’s face. We then returned to collect Paul’s glasses, with me modelling all sorts of frames, as we waited. We then began our walk back to the hotel. It was a hot one today at 31 and we were certainly feeling it.
We were glad to finally set foot back in the van and enjoy a rest. I took up a position on the day bed, enjoying the sun beaming in and the view. I worked on the photos and the blog as we sat back watching the tv.
At 5pm it was time to get back out for a walk and more of an exploration. We made our way through the streets in search of our friends holiday accommodation, so we had an idea of where we would be meeting them. Once it was located, we returned back towards the city centre and the. On to Salamanca.
Salamanca is close to the wharf area and is steeped in early convict history. We passed through a park first where headstones from the 1800s had been inlaid with a limestone wall. It was fascinating reading the stories and also quite sad.
The area of Salamanca is very vibrant and full of eateries and a mix of old and funky bars. We stopped at one spot when Paul spied a local beers on tap. We enjoyed a drink while sitting in the back Lawn Bar,
When done, we continued our walk around the old limestone buildings admiring the art installations that added a further dimension to the area. We eventually opted to stop in at The Whaler where Paul could try some more local brews and we could enjoy an easy burger dinner.it was a lovely way to spend our first night in the last state and capital to be visited during this trip.
We returned home just after 730pm collapsing on the couch in front of the TV, staying there until 10pm, when we finally decided it was time for bed.
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