Ok, so technically it’s day 2, but day 1 doesn’t count when you arrive at 6pm, pick up your hire car and head straight to your hotel, does it?
It felt weird flying out of Brisbane, like I was abandoning it in its time of need, but I’ve had this booked for 6 months, and there’s a triathlon in the middle of it, so unless our house had sustained damage from the wind, I was going to keep my plans as is, unless the airlines said otherwise.
I spent most of Thursday and Friday urging Alfred to cross onto land in the hopes that he would be all blown out by Sunday. While he didn’t cooperate, and only made landfall in the early hours of Saturday, he was still nicely accommodating to drop to a tropical low, with most of the wind dropping off, making flights possible - as long as I could get to the airport with the flood waters rising. Big thanks to Brendon for braving the airport trip to drop me off.
Surprisingly not much in the way of bumps on the way out of Brisbane and it was a pretty uneventful flight. I did treat myself to a hot snack and a drink, something I never usually do, but I hadn’t spent any money for a week, so felt justified. Traveller’s tip, the ham and cheese toastie available on Virgin Australia flights over 55 minutes, the cookie and the alcoholic ginger beer was worth every cent of the $24 I spent!
Landing in Launceston felt a little strange, as it was hot and dry without a breath of wind. I made my way to the baggage claim and to my surprise my bag was about the fifth off the plane, so I was out the door and on my way to the car hire place within 5 minutes of getting into the terminal. A nice 20 minute walk to get the blood pumping after a 3 hour flight and I was picking up the keys from the lockbox for my ride for the next 11 days. A cute little MG hatchback, which I spent about 10 minutes working out where all the bells and whistles were to ensure I could indicate, turn on lights, wipers and music without taking my attention off the road.
I stayed the first night in a cute little heritage home - The Mews - in Launceston. The owner kept apologising that there was no air con (it was 34 in Launnie that day), but that there was a portable air conditioner in the room. He made sure I knew about the uneven stairs (the house is heritage listed), the unusual room layouts (the house is heritage listed) - you can imagine. But it was the perfect place to stay with a comfy bed on a quiet street with little street noise.
Got up early and checked out, with the intent to head straight to Hobart via Richmond, but a sign for Cataract Gorge caught my eye and I thought I’d drive out and have a quick peek before my return next week. Quick peek translated to an hour and a half exploring the trails in the park, discovering a beautiful giant Sequoia in the gardens (which I picked from about 100m away) and revelling in the absolute silence of the park at daybreak. I stayed long enough to watch the sun come up over the mountain, spotted a fire and wondered if it was a controlled burn, only to be answered as I was leaving the park when the firies came hooking round a corner under lights - not a controlled burn and they were off to put it out before it spread. Tassie is very brown at the moment, so fires are only allowed under permit in a lot of areas.
Now for those who know me, and have travelled with me, you’ll know that I usually have everything planned to within an inch of its life when I holiday. But today, I just knew I had to be in Hobart by dinner, so I just followed my instincts as I drove down, taking a side road to Evandale, exploring the Red Bridge at Campbell Town, taking the gravel road out of Nile (where I saw wild deer in the bush) and taking a sneaky left to head to the East Coast where I stopped in Swansea (must go back there and spend longer next time), Spiky Beach and Bridge (convict built bridge) and lunching in Richmond, which has some of the oldest buildings in Australia. The Richmond Gaol tour was well worth the $12 admission fee, the curried scallop pie at Richmond Bakery was well worth the hype and the old Bridge is so picturesque and stately.
Headed to Hobart after that little foray - dropped in at Supercheap to buy shades for my car, as I’m sleeping in it for the next two nights at Discovery Parks Hobart - the only campsite I could get was an ensuite site for cars and motorhomes. It won’t be the most comfortable, but I’ll certainly welcome the tent camping at Mersey Bluff in Devonport after this two night stay.
Explored parts of Hobart by car (mostly Bellerive Oval and the shoreline around, although the weather is blustery winds, so didn’t get very close to the water) before returning to my campsite.
The ensuite is very cute, and if push comes to shove, I could sleep in there if it gets too cramped in the car. I slept in the back of my Suzuki Swift on the street when Brendon was in Emergency a couple of weeks back, so figure I can tough it out for a couple of nights. I’ve set it up so the front seats are right forward and I’ve packed inflatables to fill the feet areas of the back seat. I’m huddled up now ready to finish this blog, watch a couple of episodes of a new show I downloaded to watch while away, and then try to get some shut eye.
Tomorrow I have a cycling adventure planned, and can’t wait to share it with you all.
For my friends in Brisbane, I hope things are on the turnaround, the waters are receding and life is getting back to a little more normal.
