Day 23 NZ to Tasmania.
Yet another very early rise! Up at 2 o'clock so as to be at the van drop off for three am! Yet again John and Trev loaded up the luggage, much quicker this time, as no food etc! Then a half mile up the road to meet the driver to take us to the airport!
True to his word, Bashil arrived at the depot nice and early!
Pleasantries exchanged, off to the drop off point.
We were there so early, the place hadn't even opened for air passengers?
Having said that, the international coffee shop was available, so we all piled in to await the half three opening up time!
I've never been so early at check in before! Second!!!
Coffee was the order of the day, so up to the food hall, orders placed then a long wait for our flight to be called!
Meanwhile, over in England, Paul had made it to his mum's funeral service.
It hadn't been mentioned at all on here, or Facebook, in case he couldn't make it back in time!
What better way for the rest of us to get involved by watching an on line stream of the service.
We managed to get Lis' laptop fired up to catch Paul give a reading. Very moving!
Well done mate, very clear and well delivered!
(Special thanks go to Ranee for her contact who went the extra mile to sort a route back to Blighty and then a return to meet up with us here in Tasmania in a couple of days).
The flight to Sydney was uneventful. With the exception of a sighting way below us whilst flying over the waters, about twenty minutes out. Trev spied many porpoises or light coloured dolphins swimming near the surface. Breaking every now and then to breath! Absolutely spell binding!
We quickly disembarked and dashed off to collect our baggage before catching our connecting flight to Tasmania.
Typical, that although we'd arrived twenty five mins early at Sydney, our luggage didn't surface till last!
Now the job of getting ourselves and baggage from terminal one (international), across to number two terminal!
Coach pick up point sorted, tickets purchased and on we go?
What a backward way of getting passengers to another building. Out onto the main road and into a traffic jam?
Anyone who has travelled around Sydney will tell you, it's not a quick dash anywhere?
Certainly not in the centre of the Capitol!
Thankfully, we made it in time to witness a group of Tibetan monks, experiencing the travelator! Obviously, the older gentleman had never seen anything like it, so much so, he made them get aboard the return one with a huge grin on his face!
A spectacle of wonderment and sheer enjoyment!
It wasn't until we checked our tickets that we realised that Lis was in a different seat to those of the four others?
John, Pat, Dee and Trevor we two seats side by side either side of the aisle.
Liz was seated twenty rows in front of the rest?
We settled in quickly, snacks devoured and books and kips the order of the rest of the flight!
Not sure if we had a bit of a jockey flying us, or it was windy?
Coming in to land, it bounced as the rear wheels banged into the runway!
In the absence of our motor man, Paul, Dee and Trev were dispatched to collect the latest vehicle! Whilst the others collected the bags.
The right rental office was soon located and it soon became apparent, the young lady enjoyed her work! Paperwork all sorted with a smile, the next step was pick up the very nice MPV and to drive around the outside of the airport to get back on the right road to collect the others.
The check in time was late I the afternoon, so it was decided to do some necessary shopping, get a much needed bite to eat, then drive to Primrose Sands and to locate our bache.
We'd turned off the A9 towards Primrose Sands to find a restaurant. Easier sauce than done?
We did find a hotel, but they'd stopped cooking lunch about an hour earlier?
Driving off the now beaten track, the tarmac'd road, suddenly gave way to a wide dirt track? We followed this for about three miles, before civilisation returned.
Again we found another 'cafe' but he too said he'd stopped cooking and had lots of cakes etc. Our obvious disappointment must have shown, because he said that he could rustle up some steak n chips!
What a top man! Transpired he was from Chester in the Uk and that he'd worked for Marco Pierre White in Manchester, before setting up in Tasmania a few years ago.
Have to say, his impromptu menu hit the spot!
He'd also just made a batch of apple and cinnamon scones.
Having just devoured two, with lashings of butter and fresh jam that Ben had included, we can certainly endorse Ben and his Dunalley Waterfront Cafe!
Tired from our early start, showers taken to freshen up, as we're all off on a day trip tomorrow with another fairly early start again...........
Forgot to mention, Trev n Dee celebrated their 48th wedding anniversary today! Even on holiday, cards and kisses shared with each other!