October 9, 2024

Today we flew to Hobart, Tasmania! It was actually a really stressful day… lol. Luckily we arrived at the airport two hours before our flight, even though we were told it was not necessary by a couple locals. I have no idea why, but the airport was utter chaos for a Wednesday. We had checked in the night before and just had to drop off our bags, but it still took us an hour to get through the lineup. Mom did not realize that power banks could not be in checked baggage, so we had to retrieve her bag and recheck it. We made the flight with minutes to spare thanks to some great Jetstar employees helping us.

As you would expect, moms bag did not arrive in Hobart. There wasn’t anyone at the airport to talk to so we had to put in a claim online. The email I received said someone would be in contact with us right away, but after three hours of nothing I decided to call. After trying to get through a couple times, I finally talked to someone. They told me they couldn’t tell me where the bag was and to quit calling and wait for someone to call us… haha!

We did our best to enjoy Hobart even though mom was worried about her bag not arriving before we head out to drive the East Coast of Tasmania tomorrow. We went for lunch on a rooftop bar that overlooked the harbor, and then walked around the area. Hobart is such a cute little city and the slower pace was a nice change from Sydney!

October 10, 2024

We awoke with no word about moms bag. We went for breakfast at our hotel, and then headed to the airport to see if we could talk to someone. Mom’s bag was there! What a relief. Once we grabbed her bag, we headed over to Mighty Camper Van rentals and picked up our ride. They upgraded us, which would be cool, but we were already worried about driving the smaller unit. Luckily my mom is a great driver and I am a great navigator 😉

We were warned not to go on any gravel roads, and we didn’t think that would be a problem. Apparently there are a lot of gravel roads in Tasmania… lol. We ended up going to Tasman National Park to stay the night. It had a beautiful beach and a good hiking trail. Mom was a trooper and kept up with me even though it was uphill… both ways… you know how the old saying goes.

We watched some people catch a lot of fish before hitting the hay. I was a little sad that I didn’t have my fishing rod, but watching them catch fish was cool enough.

October 11, 2024

Today we got up early to hit the road and head to Freycinet National Park. Google maps decided to take us on more of those gravel roads… so tomorrow I will be double checking the route before we head out. We went for a walk on the beach and around the little town of Coles Bay. It was beautiful. We ended the day with dinner at a local restaurant and will be getting up early tomorrow for some hiking!

October 12, 2024

Today we went for a hike to the Winglass Bay lookout in Freycinet National Park. It was a pretty challenging hike and took us about an hour, but the views were worth it! After the hike, we headed off to St. Helens to check out the Bay of Fires. We went for a nice walk around the harbor and had dinner at a nice little seafood restaurant on the water. We had Pink Ling, and it was really good. It’s a white fish that they catch locally and serve it fresh each day!

October 13, 2024

Today we went for another walk around the Bay of Fires. This area is so beautiful; I don’t think I could ever get tired of the scenery. After our hike, we started our way back to Hobart. We stopped off in Bicheno and went to the Lobster Shack. We had been looking for lobster at every restaurant we went to, but apparently it isn’t a regular menu item! We found that surprising since this is where they fish for them. Our meal was everything we were hoping for. We treated this as our Thanksgiving dinner. I hope everyone back home had a great Thanksgiving with their loved ones! I was missing my family and friends this weekend.

After lunch, we hit the road and ended up staying in a holiday park near Hobart. We want to explore the city a little more tomorrow before we fly out to Melbourne.