DAY 4 - December 13, 2022 - From Melbourne to Hobart

Day 4 - December 13, 2022 - From Melbourne to Hobart

We landed in Melbourne at 8:00am, under cloudy skies. Walking on the gangway, we could feel the chilly air coming through… summer time, right? Um… Thanks to my Australian passport we were able to get through customs rather quickly. However, we had to wait for my big suitcase to be delivered and then it became a mess to try and get out of the Baggage Claims area due to two other international flights arriving at the same time from India and China. What a pain going through the final customs checkpoint. However, we did bypass the agricultural checks thanks again to my Australian passport.

My cell phone was working as I had bought the one-month international pass with my mobile carrier, Verizon. I texted Jessica to let her know that we had landed and were now waiting for our flight from Melbourne to Hobart at 10:50am. Almost there!

Flying off to Hobart, Tasmania!

Waiting to take off from Melbourne… yes, we’re flying coach now! 😊

Flying over Tasmania

Here we are, at last! Hobart. We landed on time just after noon. The Hobart airport is relatively smaller and our luggage delivery was pretty fast.

Bronze Sculptures of the Tasmanian Devil at the Hobart Airport…

Jess and Alex were circling around the airport and we managed to find each other at the drop-off/pick-up area a few hundred meters from the terminal. In Hobart, they no longer allow passengers to be picked up or dropped off right in front of the terminal. Not a bad idea, but a bit of a pain with luggage.

So nice to see Jess and Alex!!

After dropping off our luggage and taking a quick shower, we headed downtown to do some shopping for basic items that we didn’t bring with us. The weather was not very “summery,” but more like fall and it started to rain as we were walking through an outdoor mall.

We grabbed lunch at the Whaler, a pub-restaurant, and ate outside under umbrellas. The rain did stop somewhat, but it kept drizzling every so often.

We were able to find the additional items needed for our vacation in Tasmania. Because of the holiday season and the heavy rain, it took us one hour and a half to get out of the parking lot!!! Luckily, we were in good company and spent the time talking about all kinds of things… and the time passed by fast.

Once we were out of the parking lot (an adventure in itself), we went to the grocery store and the wine store to stock up for a few days.

Jess and Alex’s house is quite spacious. They just moved a few months ago and are still getting settled in. The inside has been renovated, and the kitchen and bathroom are quite nice.

We had dinner and talked for a while until we were ready to go to sleep. We were quite surprised not to have any jet lag – at least, not yet.