Wednesday: Melbourne - Burnie
Thursday: Burnie - Melbourne
Friday: Melbourne - Perth
My schedule was pretty hectic, but I had an enjoyable yet tiring week traveling to Victoria and Tasmania.
I flew out of Perth at about noon on Tuesday, having a great lunch with mates then jumping on the plane. I had quite a large lady sitting next to me with tuck-shop-lady-arms that were spilling well over the armrest between us and into my personal space. Luckily, I was two rows from Business class so it was quieter, there were no kids and the drinks came out quickly. All I can say is that every time I use my noise-canceling headphones, I wonder why it took me so long to actually go and buy them. They've paid for themselves many times over now. The peace and quiet was priceless.
I didn't eat on the plane as I was still full from lunch, and I was expected over at my Aunty's house. Like all Polish mums, she had also been cooking for the last few days just for my arrival.
I'd barely landed and checked in when I phoned them and my cousin was already on the way to pick me up. I set a world record time for quickest shower and was ready in a measley 15 minutes.
I spent the evening with them, then got dropped back off to the hotel. Midnight. Need to be up at 5am for the flight to Burnie. Fuck.
I had a can of Red Bull for breakfast, I knew I was going to be fucked. The vending machine at Melbourne airport provided some awesome entertainment as it took about 6 minutes to spit out my can, and then a further 6 minutes for my workmate Brad to get his chocolate milk. The machine was one of those with a little conveyor, and the bloody thing kept resetting and thinking about it... Took forever.
Onto the plane to Burnie which was only an hour away but we must have landed in 1975. I wasn't born for another 7 years, but if someone else tells you that, they're probably right. It was very chilly and windy, but the sun was warm and it was a perfectly clear day. A toasted sandwich for breakfast then it was off to the office.
I spent most of Wednesday in the Burnie office and the workshop (doing work things), but due to daylight saving, when we knocked off not long after 4pm, my workmates (Brad and Ian) and I checked in, jumped in the hire car and decided to find Cradle Mountain. Never in my life have I felt car-sick, but then again, never have I been driven through such twisty, turny and undulating roads! I was feeling below average, but never sick enough to be sick. A bag of chips and a coke kept me in check, and every time I was feeling crap again, I'd burp and be apples again :D
Driving along towards the National Park, I saw some of the most awesome roads and magnificent scenery. I really don't think we could have picked a better day to head to Cradle Mountain.
Life's pretty straight without twisties
Along the way we stopped at Lake Barrington - the name looked good and there was a cafe there. Not open of course. As it was in 1975, everything closes at 4:00pm.
Yeah, it was THAT cold
Wombats. What? Yep. Brad was pointing out the window with a puzzled look on his face. A few seconds later he says "Wombat". I reply with "You're a wombat". "Nah, seriously, there was a wombat near the road". "Whatever Brad".
A few kilometres later I see a wombat. "HOMG!!!" Freaked us all out. Wombats everywhere!
Fatso the fat-arsed wombat
Sundown
Once back in the car, it was time to defrost and wonder who would still be open for dinner - it was close to 7:30pm, and we knew it was at least 90 minutes back to Burnie. I was looking forward to some more local cuisine. Luckily, we made it back to find a very nice restaurant still serving. We ordered chilli bread, periwinkles, baked oysters with Camembert and strawberry as entree, then I got wallaby salad with apple, parsnip and pepperberry sauce. Soooo tasty. We finished off with local cheeses and delicious figs. One of my favourite parts of traveling for work, is the food. It's usually hard to actually see anything good usually - especially if you're in a remote area. But there's always good food. I tried something very new in the beer stakes, when you're in Tassie, you have to drink Boags! For the first time I went out on a limb and bought an ale, Wizard Smith's Ale to be precise, and it was fantastic! Can't buy it in Perth yet :(
It was back into the office on Thursday, chatting to the technicians, and visiting our suppliers and steel fabricators. Around midday it was time for the last meal in Burnie, with fish and chips and another Wizard Smith's Ale to help push that great meal along. There was just enough time to head over to visit one of the electricians at his property in Sisters Beach. As per the rest of Tasmania, there were more brilliant roads up the coast. It was very much a splash and dash trip because we were to be on a plane later in the day.
Northern Tasmanian coast
It was back on the plane to Melbourne and the trip was quick and smooth.
Melbourne from the air
That night, as before, I'd barely checked into the hotel and I had phonecalls and messages from my Aunty and cousin inviting me over for dinner. This time they put on a BBQ which was lucky because I was starving!
Eva, me and Kasia
Self titled
After walking up the river, Kasia suggested we try see if Eureka Skydeck 88 was open. She explained that it was a viewing platform on the 88th floor - which would be a new record for me after the New Asia Bar in Singapore on the 71st floor. We got up onto the 88th floor and checked out the views. My photos weren't fantastic and they didn't do the view justice. Kasia and I also did "the Edge" which is a platform that moves out 3 metres from the side of the tower and is suspended 300 metres above ground. Truly awesome!
We then headed down to the river and towards Federation square where it was $4.80 for a glass of apple juice that was two-thirds filled with ice. Damn expensive restaurants. I knew I should have asked for no ice.
Federation Square
Another late night in Melbourne and it was starting to wear on me. Friday I spent a few hours in the branch office and then it was back onto a plane to Perth. This time I was in the front row with two blokes next to me that were either asleep or reading a book. I had all my presonal space intact during the flight. I even ate the braised lamb on the plane and it was actually good!
Unfortunately I wasn't able to conk out and get to bed early as I had an industry dinner to go to. *sigh* Lots of napping during the weekend then!
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