3/4-3/13 – Back in the Outback
3/4 – Today, we were back in the high life again! First class, lie flat seats and premium lounge access! Since we got upgraded on the Auckland to Melbourne flight, we had access to the Air New Zealand lounge and it was an amazing experience! In addition to typical cold and hot food options, they offered fresh grilled to order rack of lamb! Markus was in Heaven! And the beverage bar was self-serve so you could pour a generous glass of wine. We landed in Melbourne about 20 minutes late but sped through customs and immigration (our visas are good for multiple entries until the end of November). We didn’t realize it, but our hotel was literally right across the street from the terminal building, via a sky walk. That is going to be so nice in the morning with an 8:15 departure to Tasmania! We went to the hotel restaurant for dinner and shared a burger and fries. It was a long day and we had an early night.
3/5 – We were at the Melbourne airport by 6:45 this morning, and got our bags checked and were through security in no time at all! We shared a breakfast sandwich and a coffee and then sat down to wait for our flight. We boarded on time and were off to Tasmania! We landed just before 9:30 but had to wait for our rental vehicle to be cleaned. Finally, just before 11:00, we were on the road to Freycinet National Park in our Mazda CX-8. We stopped off at Triabunna to get a holiday park pass for the national parks. The holiday pass costs AUD 89.50 (~ USD 58) and is good for 2 months. This is a much better deal than buying a 24-hour pass for AUD 44.75 for each park. Since we are planning to visit more than two parks, the holiday pass makes sense for us. In Triabunna, we also grabbed a few groceries at the IGA, a sandwich for lunch from a local cafe, and wine for dinner tonight from the bottle shop.
We rolled into the park around 2:30 and went for a short walk to the Hazards Lookout. The Hazards are a mountain range in Freycinet and are made up of five mountains – Mayson (415 m), Amos (454 m), Dove (485 m), Baudin (413 m) and Parson (331 m). They are quite beautiful. We also drove out to Cape Tourville and walked the loop around the lighthouse. It was a little overcast, so not the greatest weather for pictures, but we did our best.
We got to our studio apartment at 4:15 and settled in for the rest of the day. With the early wake-up time for this morning’s flight, it had been a really long day. However, the highlight of the day was yet to come. Throughout the evening, we had a kookaburra visit us (supposed to be a good omen), three rabbits in the garden, and finally, three wallabies!! Wildlife… We were so excited!
3/6 – Checkout was 11:00 this morning, but we wanted to go back into the park, so we were out by 10:00. We made our way to the car park at Wineglass Bay Lookout and were very disappointed to learn that the hike to the lookout was 1 ½ hours return. Unfortunately, we hadn’t planned for that, and weren’t prepared for hiking (tramping as they call it in New Zealand and Australia). We had to give that a miss and head south to Port Arthur. We made several stops along the way at overlooks, bridges, etc. to take pictures (see Spiky Bridge below); I also had to take a picture of the rental car because I love the Tasmanian license plate! Our GPS took us on a route that included a gravel forest road. We were about 10 km into the 35 km that we had to traverse when we saw a sigh warning that parts of the road ahead were suitable for 4-wheel drive only (which our Mazda is not). We decided to take a chance and continue because if we had to return, the route along A3 was 100 km longer and would have added about an hour to our travel time. Luckily, the forest road was dry, and although it was quite bumpy and rutted, and was slow going, we eventually got through and hit pavement once again.
We stopped for a bathroom break at Dunalley and were excited to see a café and bakery across the street. It was well past lunch time, so we crossed over to the Lanterns for an incredibly tasty toastie with egg, tomato, kale and local cheddar cheese. We have to say that we have been so fortunate with the food that we have eaten because we have had some really amazing meals – from the simplest cheese toastie to incredible gourmet pizza. After our late lunch, we stopped at Pirates Bay Lookout and the Tessellated Pavement (look that word up on your smartphone – we had to!). Both were interesting and great photo opportunities. We made a quick stop in Nubeena for chicken to cook for dinner.
It was almost 5:00 when we got to the oceanfront cottage. The panoramic views are amazing, and we enjoyed them throughout the entire evening. Sunset was also very pretty.
3/7 – After a nice breakfast (leftovers from the breakfast that was provided at Eagle Peaks), we got to the Port Arthur Historical Site by 10:00. We didn’t really know what to expect, but our first impression was that the site was huge – much larger than we originally thought. We walked through all of the buildings and ruins and went on the 20-minute harbor cruise. For a little background, the Port Arthur Historic Site tells the story of the forced migration of convicts by the British Empire. During the convict period, Port Arthur was home to not only convicts, but military and civilian officers and their families. The convicts worked in many industries including stone and bricks; furniture; clothing and shoes; boats and ships. The military and civilian officers were tasked with security and administration of the settlement. We have highlighted a few of the features of the site; for more information visit https://portarthur.org.au/history/.
Isle of the Dead (1833) – Between 1833 and 1877 around 1,100 people were buried at the settlement’s cemetery. The Isle of the Dead is the final resting place not only for convicts, but also civilian and military officers, their wives and children.
Point Puer Boys’ Prison (1834) – Point Puer operated from 1834 to 1849 and was the first purpose built juvenile reformatory in the British Empire. Young offenders were separated from the older convicts to protect them from criminal influence. Most of the boys were aged between 14 and 17 with the youngest just 9 years old. Point Puer was renowned for its regime of stern discipline and harsh punishment; many of the boys received an education and some were given the opportunity to learn a trade.
The Separate Prison (1849) – The Separate Prison was designed to deliver a new method of punishment and reform through isolation and contemplation. Convicts were locked in a single cell for 23 hours each day. Here they ate, slept and worked, with just one hour a day allowed for exercise, alone in a high-walled yard.
We spent 3 ½ hours at Port Arthur and it was 1:30 by the time we got on the road for Hobart. We hit some traffic about 10 km from Hobart, so it was after 3:00 by the time we arrived at the cottage. We got settled in pretty quickly and enjoyed the forest setting. Even though we are less than 1 km from the “city,” it feels like we are in the country – really peaceful.
3/8 – We got a late start today because we had a few personal matters to attend to, but we finally got out of the house a few minutes before noon. We stopped to fill up with gas and then headed to Mount Field National Park. We arrived just after 1:30 and after a quick orientation, we got on the trail to Russell Falls and Horseshoe Falls. The walk to Russell Falls was easy and took less than 15 minutes; the walk to Horseshoe Falls was a little more difficult, with 240 stair steps. Both falls were lovely, although, in our opinion, Russell Falls was more spectacular. On the way back to Hobart, we stopped by the Salmon Ponds, but unfortunately, they closed early today for maintenance, so we just continued back to Hobart. We stopped to top up the gas in advance of turning in the car tomorrow morning. It was close to 5:00 by the time we got back to the cottage – a pretty long day, even with the late start!
As I was putting together a snack of cheese and crackers, I was looking out the kitchen window and two yellow-tailed black cockatoos perched right outside where there was a rock water feature. I was so surprised to see birds like that in the wild, but apparently, they are common around Mount Wellington. Really beautiful!
3/9 – We have come full circle! We landed back in Sydney just after 2:00 and got an Uber to the W Hotel at Darling Harbour. The line to check in was incredibly long, but welcome drinks were on offer, so that helped! In the end, the wait was only about ten minutes, and we were in our room by 3:15. First order of business was to figure out where to eat. We decided on Fratelli – same place where we had pizza seven weeks ago. And being the creatures of habit that we are, we had the same food – arancini and a pizza. After we finished, we sought out the nearest grocery store to buy fruit and yogurt for breakfast. Then, we stopped at the Liquor Land (bottle shop) for wine. We returned to our room for the night and at 9:00, we were treated to an amazing fireworks display over Darling Harbour. Our apartment overlooks the harbour, so we definitely had one of the best seats in the house. It was truly spectacular!
3/10 – We had a lazy morning enjoying our Nespresso coffee and the harbour views before finally venturing out for lunch around 12:30. We opted for The Meat District Co., which had great selection of burgers and ribs. It was so hard to decide but we chose to share a trio of sliders – one burger, one chicken, and one lamb, and added an order of fries; we both ordered a beer (unusual for Bonnie, I know – but it was a hot day with temperatures in the mid-80’s). We were stuffed when we waddled away! Fortunately, we didn’t have too far to get back to the hotel; just over a half mile.
In keeping with our intent to eat our way through Sydney, we had Thai takeaway for dinner. Thai is one of our favorite cuisines and it is so readily available here – unlike Ponce Inlet!
3/11 – Today we got out to explore the less visited areas of Sydney. We started at the Anzac Memorial honoring the service and sacrifice of Australians in the armed forces. It was a beautiful memorial, and the exhibits were well presented (https://www.anzacmemorial.nsw.gov.au/). We walked through Hyde Park and then made our way back to the hotel to cool off – it was in the mid-80’s today – before heading out for Happy Hour at Fratelli (our favorite!) where we had our traditional arancini and pizza! After eating, we walked across Tumbalong Park to the Chinese Garden of Friendship.
The only other “excitement” of the day was that in the morning, we had an email notification from Delta that our flight from Sydney to Los Angeles was delayed by one hour and fifteen minutes on Wednesday. We were still more than 24 hours away from check-in, and the flight was delayed?! Mark thought that it might have something to do with the time change in the US, since the Aussies don’t spring forward until the first Sunday in April. Whatever the reason, we were starting to stress a bit because we knew that there was no way we could clear customs and change terminals in LA in 35 minutes; we were hoping that we could make up some time in the air, and we would be okay. We are still not sure what happened, but we had a follow up email from Delta that the flight is now departing at the original time – so we were stressing for nothing! Of course, we still have to get to Los Angeles on Wednesday, so we will see how it all goes.
3/12 – We lazed around the apartment this morning and repacked all of our stuff. We had arranged for a late checkout at 1:00, so we dropped our bags at the front desk and walked down to the Meat District Co. for our last lunch in Australia. Today, we opted for the swordfish sandwich and a grilled beef salad. The swordfish was good, but the salad was incredible! It was very hot today, and the sun was blazing, so we made our way back to the hotel very slowly. We retrieved our bags from the bell stand and got an Uber to the airport hotel. Our driver, Rosel, was so talkative and we enjoyed the conversation, which was mostly focused on the beginning of Uber service in Australia in 2014. Rosel was one of the first drivers to sign up with Uber, and as a result, he pays a smaller commission to Uber based on his original agreement with the ride share service (15% versus 27%). We checked in at the Adina Apartment Hotel and walked down to the nearby shopping center to buy dinner – rotisserie chicken and a salad – and a bottle of wine. Then, we settled in for the night. At this point, we are worn out – despite doing nothing in Sydney for the last three days. Two months of non-stop activity has definitely caught up with us!
3/13 – We were up at 6:15 this morning and were downstairs waiting for Uber by 6:45. It was only about 10 minutes to the international terminal, and we got checked in, through security and were sitting in the Centurion Lounge in about 30 minutes – super efficient!
Our flight boarded and departed on time. Estimated flying time was just over 13 hours. We landed at LAX at 5:30 am local time and were at the gate 10 minutes later. Unfortunately, U.S. Customs doesn’t open until 6:00 am, so we had to sit on the plane until the cabin door was opened at 6:10. With our Global Entry, we breezed through immigration and customs, and it took only a total of 30 minutes before we were rechecking our bags for the onward domestic travel portion of our trip. After clearing security once again, we briefly stopped in the Centurion Lounge, got to our gate, and were pushing back and on our way to Atlanta right on time at 8:00 am. Fortunately, our onward connection to Daytona Beach was also on time (actually, 6 minutes early!) and we touched down on our home turf 27 hours after our departure from Sydney. It was an exhausting journey, but we did manage to stay awake until 11:00 at which point we crashed for 13 hours!
Postscript: In the days that followed, we suffered terribly from jet lag, which took us 4-5 days to recover from. I have previously read that it takes 1 day per 1 hour of time change to recover. Considering that the time difference was 16 hours / 18 hours between the U.S. and Australia / New Zealand, respectively, I think we did pretty well in recovering in less than a week!!