Planes, boats, oh no, the thread name has been stolen!! Instead I’ll call it ‘The trip that nearly wasn’t.’

[bPeteb]

a couple more from Mona

me contemplating the universe by counting grains of rice and quinoa









The sparkling didn’t flow quite like it did on the way out but we still got a couple of glasses and more tiny food, this time some petit fours.

 

[bPeteb]

Got the bags out of the car (the stacker hadn’t moved)



and checked in. I had a bad feeling the moment I opened the door to the room. All I could see through the curtains was a wall.



The apartment itself was super nice





but this was our ‘view’. It might be a close to 200 yo wall but it's still a bloody wall





I went straight down to reception and said that I couldn’t stay in the room. I was told they don’t advertise views and I said I did know that when I booked but looking into a solid concrete wall was nothing. The receptionist was super nice and said we could be moved tomorrow, just check at 10. Happy camper, although you should always be careful what you wish for.

 

[bPeteb]

I’d planned to book dinner for us at Malik Malik | 'The opulence of meditearranean cooking is flavoursome, exciting and full of sweet and sensual aromas. Elegant textures and smooth beats set the tone for an experience to indulge in. Our aim is to showcase the fusion of Mediterranean flavours within a contemporary setting' but admit I baulked at the prices. So we just wandered and ended up at In The Hanging Garden In The Hanging Garden – In The Hanging Garden where we had a great evening.



fish and pulled lamb tacos


corn



vege rolls, radish pancakes and karage chicken





ship sculpture on the way back to the cave room

 

[bPeteb]

Day 14 Hobart

We hung around the room until 10 and then went down to reception to see how they wanted us to manage the move. Very easily as it turned out - the room is ready, you can move now. Sometimes things do turn out. Two floors up with sky, trees and fresh air, even if a bit of a goldfish bowl. That’s what sheer curtains are for.



Mawson’s Hut intrigues us both and after visiting the recreation before we sailed to Antarctica we wanted to go again. By happy coincidence Rod Ledingham, who had sailed on The World with us as a guest speaker, was our guide at the hut. Lovely guy.






wandered around the dock


Decided we wanted to go out on the harbour and bought tickets on the Windward Bound Windeward Bound for a three hour sail in the afternoon. The cruise included a light lunch of Tasmanian cheeses but it was actually more - a box of warm chicken with bread roll and salad followed by a cheese box each. The galley was open with ‘help yourself’ warm drinks. It was a really great, and very interesting afternoon. Running a small charity must be the most thankless task.

 

[bPeteb]

Afterwork drinks with a friend who I’d gone to uni with in Brisbane. He moved to Hobart with his Tassie partner and set up shop nearly 10 years ago. He’d been going to surprise us with In The Hanging Garden but we returned nevertheless.

Three bottles of Josef Chromy sparkling later (one each!) and after a wander down Hobart’s graffiti lane








we adjourned to their lovely old home where we drank way, way, way too much wine.

A couple of blurry pics of two of the wines consumed




At somewhere around midnight we left with three jars of pickled veg, a jar of home made curry powder and a bottle of Craigie Knowe rose!

 

[bPeteb]

Day 15 Hobart

Those many bottles of wine saw the day start with a couple of very cloudy heads. We wandered down to the markets and had some greasy food then after a walk around Battery Point











we returned to the hotel and veged on the couch for the rest of the day.

 

[bPeteb]

The world is literally going to cough around us. Ukraine news just made us sad, and angry. How can we claim to be a civilised world when we are allowing innocent people to be slaughtered at the hands of a tyrant with a mental age of about 10 yo.

Our neighbourhood is a tad wet at home. This is the street two doors down the hill from us. This will only get worse



and the view from our house down into the neighbours’ yards. That road is at the top of this photo



Hopefully we find our place dry when we get home Sunday afternoon.

Dinner with our friends was at Dana Eating House Menu | DĀNA EATING HOUSE. One glass of sparkling, then it was beer for us with dinner. Very fancy beer I might add at $32 per bottle! Amber




Thank goodness they only had two bottles.

We had the chef’s feed me at $80pp and it was very, very good. Service was exceptional, casual but seamless. It was the perfect restaurant to finish our trip at.

oysters


ocean trout


I missed a pick of a flatbread with a crazy good butter and pickled veg

lamb ribs


smoked duck


octopus


the main was brisket in an amazing master stock with rice


chocolate chilli mousse with raspberry. We all laughed at how this looked

 

[Nukie]

Fabulous trip report and great photos, thank you so much.
I hope everything was OK at your house when you got home and no damage

 

[ellen10]

Loved your trip report, fabulous photos, great descriptions and delicious food!!

 

[RooFlyer]

Sensational TR. you showed me places in ) my state I ddn't know about. Friends and I are off to Thousand Islands lodge as soon as we can arrange it (but not winter

 

[NoName]

Great report. The NoNames visited Tasmania in January as well. Enjoyed seeing many of the places we went to. Glad you also enjoyed the trip!

 

[OZDUCK]

Thanks for another interesting, and well photographed, TR.

 

[mrs.dr.ron]

Great trip report boys ! Shame I missed you in Launceston, but we will catch up in sunny QLD !

 

[bPeteb]

Day 16 Hobart - Brisbane

What we left our friend's house with a couple of nights before



What a strange day this turned out to be.

Qantas contacted us both via SMS at 8:30 to let us know that our departure had been delayed by 30 mins.

We checked out and drove to the domain and had a bit if a sit in front of the Cenotaph. It seemed appropriate with what was going on in Ukraine. We then walked across the beautiful bridge up the path towards Government House pausing to read the plaques at each pine. It was pretty sobering.





Dropped the car off. The MG was ok but would we buy one? No.

The micro lounge was busy but after the Sydney and Adelaide planes left we had some space.

Is athletic gear ok in a lounge? I go with no, even if it is a good looking fit young man that looked like he had just casually run a race. At least his lycra gear was black. Bizarre.

Lunch



While we were waiting I received an SMS asking if we were home as the water was starting to rise in the neighbourhood. Included a couple of pictures of their backyard and said I hope it doesn’t get much higher. I told them at the airport waiting to fly home. I’ve marked the photo with how high it eventually got.



A light shower came across the tarmac just before we boarded. A sign of things to come.

Seven Mile Beach looks so beautiful from the air



Saw some rocky outcrops out in Bass Strait that had nothing around them. Think this was Deal Island?



Snack, always better with beer



The further north we got the thicker the cloud and it was clearly an instrument landing into Brisbane. One minute we were in cloud and rain, the next we landed hard onto a very, very wet runway.

Brisbane airport was literally like a sea.



The bags took nearly 30 minutes to come out and then we joined the very long taxi queue. It was chaos. Taxis were only going into the city and inner suburbs. Luckily that meant us.

 

[bPeteb]

On the way in my phone rang. It was our other neighbour. Could they go in and start moving stuff as the water was now one step away from coming into our lower living room. I said we were hopefully 15 minutes away and would be there to open up. She warned us we would have to wade through the flood at the other end of our street.

I haven’t ever experienced a flood. It was a shock to come over the hill and see water right across the intersection. I thought maybe thigh deep but with bags hiked up onto shoulders it was up over my waist and further up bAl’s chest. We got to the top of the hill above the house and there was water just stretching out below us. I wish I’d got some photos but they were the last thing on either of our minds.

We got into the house, the neighbours followed us in, and the move upstairs started.

The water at the back doors



Luckily we have just a single room downstairs, with the rest of the house upstairs, inlcuding more living. Big fridge, big tv, big sofa and a whole lot of wine are all that's down there.

The power went off about 30 minutes in and we finished the move under torchlight.



At 8:30pm the water came in and we both expected it to get maybe half a metre up the walls but the tide topped out and it reached just the top of the skirting.



We watched it slowly drop on the side of the house two down and went to bed.

Monday morning

I got up at some point in the early morning and the water was gone from our backyard. What a mess. We are so very lucky. Just one room with a little bit of water in it. Not even any mud inside as we laid towels along the only two entry points.



Outside was a slightly different story but nothing a hose wasn’t/won’t be able to clean off. A water blaster would have been better, but we don’t expect power back before the end of the week at the earliest.








a boat on a trailer! It was gone later in the morning



Bunking down at a friend’s at the moment but going to contact Suncorp today, Tuesday, and ask them to find somewhere for us to stay so we aren’t imposing on anyone.

To anyone else affected by the floods our hearts go out to you. For anyone in northern NSW that is looking down the flood barrel we say the same.

Until next time.

 

[VPS]

Great TR as usual and a sad ending. Stay safe and hope you can get somewhere nice to stay for a while

 

[drron]

A truly lovely TR. Was great to catch up in Lonnie.
But what is it with trips back from Tasmania.That State is jinxed.

My trip home from Lonnie took over 48 hours.I arrived into BNE on Saturday.Left the HIE exactly 48 hours after the planned pick up time at BNE.

At least my problem was only time. I hope all goes well in the clean up and both of you can get back to some thought of normality soon.

 

[bPeteb]

A truly lovely TR. Was great to catch up in Lonnie.
But what is it with trips back from Tasmania.That State is jinxed.

My trip home from Lonnie took over 48 hours.I arrived into BNE on Saturday.Left the HIE exactly 48 hours after the planned pick up time at BNE.

At least my problem was only time. I hope all goes well in the clean up and both of you can get back to some thought of normality soon.

Thanks drron. Had such a great time and so happy to finally meet you. Looking forward to catching up with you and the lovely mrs.drron when things settle

 

[Gladstone Tim]

Have so enjoyed your descriptive writing and photos. Sad you were impacted by the floods but glad it was relatively minor. Take care and stay safe. Hopefully Suncorp don’t quibble over your claim and process things quickly and smoothly.

 

[RooFlyer]

Oh! I missed the last couple of stanzas. Wow, but glad it wasn't more serious.

Good to catch up in Launnie and you and bAl are welcome to stay anytime you are back on the sunny east coast (of Tasmania)