"We'll surely have to fly to Australia anyway to get a flight to Argentina" I put forth, "so, we're practically there and we both are curious about it and they have great hiking and not a lot of people and interesting wildlife and.."
"O.K., O.K." says Keir "I get the picture. Tasmania sounds really good- IF it's affordable".
Thankfully, we found a flight that, when we added in a few weeks in Tasmania, barely affected the price. Although we were certain that we could spend MORE than just a few weeks in Tassie, we both agreed that we couldn't spend too long there if we want our travel budget to last. We need to get ourselves to a place that cost less to travel around - and Australia sure ain't that place!
I've been pulled here. Not sure why - yet. Just a real sense of "GO THERE" whenever Tasmania entered into my mind.
Funny thing though - there was a moment when, even after purchasing the tickets, I thought we weren't going to make it here:
After leaving Akaroa and an early morning sunrise, we said goodbye to the Scubby (and Andrew and Jenny - the two responsible for Cruzy Campers) in Christchurch.
We arrived at the Quantas check-in counter in front of Eddie. "You have visas for Australia right?" he asked us.
Ummmm what?!?!? We'd checked the New Zealand requirements before we'd left Canada, we'd just spend days checking our options in South America, but never once did we think to check about Australia's requirements.
"Ha ha" said Keir, thinking this was yet another example of the Kiwi sense of humor. "We're Canadians...doesn't everyone want us?!?!"
"Not Australia" said Eddie "You really DO need a visa".
Both of our faces fell at the realization that there was no kidding around happening here.
"It'll take about a week and you'll have to do it all in Wellington" continued Eddie.
My heart is now on the floor and I am barely breathing. "Oh no, oh crap, oh no....." I manage to get out.
"Naw" he says, "Just go down and see Margaret at the service counter there and she'll get you all set up. It'll only take a moment. Thirty bucks each"
I'm still not breathing but somehow find myself down at the service counter in front of Margaret praying that we can indeed get a visa on such short notice.
Gotta love those Quantas folks. Not only do they have a sense of humor but they are efficient and utterly helpful. Margaret has us sorted out in under 10 minutes, so that, when we enter Australia and our passports are scanned our "e-visa" will show. Brilliant (although I'm still barely breathing!)
Back we schlep to Eddie who finds us the last two seats beside each other on the plane.
The flight is extremely enjoyable. All the Quantas folks are utterly terrific and we laugh out loud when the safety video starts and it's John Travolta (in his full captains outfit) who is smiling at us. He is, apparently, the spokesperson for Quantas and oddly, we DO agree that we feel safer after hearing the speel. Hey, if Quantas has John Travolta's seal of approval we MUST be in good hands!
We enjoy all the perks of a good airline: movies on the back of the seats with bundles of choices, a fairly decent gluten free and vegetarian meal (truly!), surprisingly comfortable seats. Thumbs up! We love that Expedia has set us up to fly Quantas all the way to Argentina!
We have a brief layover in Sydney that allows us enough time to get to another terminal, check in all over again and grab a little snack before boarding a Jet Star (owned by Quantas) flight to Hobart.
We land in the dark at 7pm, adjust our watches back 2 hours and, after a shuttle to the city, find our hotel and dump our bags. We hit Salamanca Street for a tasty wood fired pumpkin/rosemary/goats cheese/onion jam pizza (mouthwateringly good) and a pint of Fat Yak.
Tassie, here we are!
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