Tuesday, February 4, 2025

Time to say good-bye to Byron Bay. Andi had to work this morning, so I packed our bags while he did his calls on the patio. Then, we checked out of Outriggers Bay promptly at 10:00am. It seems like every one of the holiday rentals in Byron Bay has a ‘no vacancy’ sign out front which means this place, and all the others, are hustling to turn accommodations quickly.

Our next stop is the island of Tasmania, south of mainland Australia. Tasmania is Australia’s smallest and least populated state; once used as a penal colony for Britain. Today, about 40% of the island is a national park with most of its residents living in the capital city of Hobart.

We had a few hours of time between our apartment check-out time and our flight to Hobart. Andi suggested we visit a few towns along the way to the Gold Coast Airport.

The first place we stopped was a town called Brunswick Heads about 20 minutes north of Byron Bay. This small, coastal town is located on the Brunswick River and was the picture-perfect Aussie beach town. Right away, the first thing Andi and I admired was the color of the river; it was a clear turquoise-blue color. Several moms and their small kids were having a swim.

Tory said she was hungry, so we walked across the street to Bruns Bakery. The large bakery offered everything from muffins to meat pies. Andi choose one of the meat pies, and Tory and Aden shared a brownie and a blueberry bar.

Man, it was steamy outside. Most of the locals seemed like they were coming or going to the beach, so it was no bother. The open-air restaurant had a big window sill for outdoor seating and a gorgeous garden in the back.

Next stop was the town of Coolangatta about 30 minutes north of Brunswick Heads. We crossed back in the state of Queensland, I noticed, which meant that the time zone adjusted one hour. The town of Coolangatta felt much more upscale, similar to Burleigh Heads, where we stayed last week. I found it interesting how different the two states (Queensland and New South Wales) felt in terms of casualness, cleanliness, and charm.

I knew I’d receive a lot of groans for this, but I suggested we stop by the library in Coolangatta to do school work. We had two hours before our rental car was due back for return which would allow us just enough to do Math & Language Arts, and then grab something to eat for lunch.

The Coolangatta Library was the perfect spot to do our school work. Bonus that it was air-conditioned and had fast wi-fi. Near our table, Andi caught up on a little more work at his computer.

Afterwards, the four of us had lunch at a brewery located in the same retail complex as the library. Aden was so hungry he could eat his arm off, so of course it was his meal that the server forgot to bring to our table. Luckily, Andi had ordered an extra plate of french fries, so Aden ended up eating those for his meal. I had a tasty poke bowl with chicken, Andi had a burger, and Tory ordered a chicken caesar salad for her meal.

Andi wandered off while we waited for our food & returned with a new hat. “Like my new hat?” he asked, when he returned to the table. “Uh, not really,” Tory responded flatly. Gotta love a teenager’s honesty!

After lunch, the four of us drove to East Coast Car Rentals — the same shop we rented our car from several days ago. Returning the car was easy; no issues.

We did it! We successfully navigated our way around by driving on the left side of the road. Very often, it took both Andi and I’s eyes and concentration, but we did it. The hardest part might’ve been remembering to get into the correct side of the vehicle. Several times a day, Andi would attempt to get into the left side of the car (the passenger’s side here in Australia) instead of the driver’s side (on the right side of the car).

Next, we hopped into the rental car company’s transport van to take us to the airport about 10 minutes away.

We arrived to the airport around 2:30pm for our 4:00pm flight to Hobart. Gold Coast is a small airport, so the gate information isn’t released until boarding time. I got a kick out of the departures board telling passengers to “relax; boarding soon.” Just chill, the airport seemed to say, we’ll let you know when you need to know.

We flew with Jet Star, a budget Australian airline. Tickets were cheap, but it was one of those airlines where we had to pay for every single preference including carry-ons and seat assignments. Luckily, Andi chose to upgrade us to front seats on the plane, or our backpacks wouldn’t have made the flight. Flight attendants weighted each bag before boarding, and the bag limit for each passenger was 7 kg (15 lbs)/pp. She almost didn’t let us on until Andi proved we’d paid for premium seating with a weight limit upgraded to 14 kg/30lb per person.

Our flight from Australia’s Gold Coast to Hobart, Tasmania was one of the more turbulent flights I’ve been on, which was a little unnerving given the recent headlines of an American Airlines & helicopter crash near Washington, D.C. Our Jet Star airplane was not a large one, so there were a few expected bumps going through the clouds on our ascent into the sky. The landing into Hobart, though, was quite rough. I swear the plane hit the runway going sideways. It was one of those flights where the entire plane erupted into nervous chatter as soon as the plane came to a stop.

The four of us looked at one another with wide eyes. “There was a little nerve-wracking,” Tory whispered. Um, yeah, it was.

Nevertheless, we made it to Hobart safely. The local time was 7:00pm; back on the Sydney/New South Wales time zone.

Andi booked us one night’s stay at the Travelodge Hotel near the Hobart airport. Nothing fancy; but it was a clean, comfortable place to stay near the airport & car rental shops. Tomorrow, we’ll pick up a rental camper — our home for the next two weeks.

We had to get two hotel rooms for the four of us, so the kids shared one room & Andi and I stayed in the other. Dinner options were limited, so we walked across the street to Subway connected to a BP gas station (gas stations are called servos in Australia).

Andi and I were 1,500 steps shy of our 10,000 daily step goal, so we decided to walk the hallways of the hotel after dinner. It was kind of fun, actually, and I was proud of our commitment to daily movement. Aden joined us.