Back on the Left

I’ve safely arrived in Launceston, Tasmania. My flight into Melbourne was a relatively easy one, and I enjoyed a documentary on living in Antarctica (my next big trip?).  There was a horrible line to clear border control, but with the epassport system now in place for Americans, I breezed through a kiosk, had my picture taken by a computer at the gate, and was on my way.  I quickly was able to clear customs, and after a bit of a snafu with my bags, was reunited with them, checked in with Virgin Australia, and cleared security to head to my gate.

The airport (well, at least the domestic terminal that I was in) was pretty terrible, with no food or anything. It seemed like it was in a temporary building. I waited for about 45 minutes before we boarded the Embraer (I think it might be a step up from a regional jet, but it wasn’t a big plane) with surprisingly comfortable seats.  We boarded quickly and pushed back early and were off on the short (less than 45 minute flight) across the Bass Strait.  I had a white tea, chatted a bit with the woman next to me, and before we knew it we had arrived.

LST is a tiny airport (4 ‘gates’), and we were the last arrival of the night.  We deplaned onto the tarmac via stairs (it was cold and drizzly) and passed into quarantine (yes, the state has its own quarantine – these people are super serious about bio-security) before heading up to baggage claim.

 

Well ahead of schedule, I got my keys to my rental from the desk and then my bag popped out and I was out of the airport just after 9:00. I headed out to the carpark to find my car, supposedly a Nissan (pronounced by the Aussies as Nih-sun) Dualis (akin to a Rogue in the states) or similar.  Not seeing anything quite that small, I hit the lock button and the lights of a fairly good sized red Hyundai SUV flashed.  This would be an interesting experience compared to my little Prius back home.  The car seems very new, probably a 2013, with lots of features including Bluetooth, USB, etc.  It should be a nice car for road-tripping (though a bit heavy on the petrol consumption, I would imagine).

After sorting out the lights and the windshield wipers (you may recall from my experience two years ago – the levers are switched and I tend to hit the wrong ones for the first day or so) I was off for the 15km drive to the city.  It wasn’t bad, I stayed on the left just fine, and navigated to my friend’s house, high on a hill, in about 20 minutes.

As I pulled up, a pizza delivery was being made – just in time for take-away dinner!  I climbed the steps to the pretty historic home (Hildaville – like a lot of older homes in Australia, it is named with an ornate plaque next to the door) and came in out of the cold drizzle.  Also like many Australian homes, there is no central heat or air. We settled in in front of a heater, enjoyed dinner, and catching up.

Early sleep tonight as we are both pretty tired from travelling across time zones. Stuart had spent the day in Hobart after arriving from London via Dubai where he had been on a bit of a holiday during winter recess. Tomorrow we will start exploring Tasmania!