Day 1 – Left to Our Own Devices

Today started at 5.30am. The mad rush to leave the house before a flight for some reason always surprises me. House preparation, dog preparation, last minute packing and, for early ones at least, just attempting to wake up and human enough to function. 

Our flight was at 8.40, and Virgin Australia was right on time! We had perfect timing and were able to walk straight to our terminal and immediately line up to board. The flight to Hobart Tasmania is so strange; It felt like the seatbelt sign had only just flicked off when it was back on and we were making our descent. Landing in Hobart is also a strange one. I didn’t expect the long, long decent over the ocean, which meant that even as a fairly content flyer, my heart rate was elevated until our wheels touched down, very smoothly I might add too.

We opted to live out of carry ons for this quick trip, so we were out of the airport and in a cab before 10.30. Destination: Circle of Life Doughnut shop. This place is the most adorable little bakery, with bright pink clouds painted all over, with the smell of sweets and coffee drawing you in. 

We were meeting the rest of the crew at about 1, so we had a few hours to ourselves that we had planned to kill seeing a few of the local attractions. This was the plan anyway, but the best laid plans still go awry. Shaun and Cansu were travelling in on the Spirit of Tasmania, and have been delayed. So Drew and I spent the day exploring Hobart CBD solo, which is totally walkable, with everything so close together. After a few hours, the fatigue of the day and dragging luggage around caught up with us, so we were very thankful that the host of the Airbnb finished up early, and we were able to check in; the thought of putting our stuff down and resting sounded too good to refuse. We had a 40 minute walk to the Airbnb, so we explored a little around Salamanca and then started the journey. We made it about 15 minutes in before we were at the base of a near vertical hill (I may be exaggerating slightly, but it was super steep), we were tired and had luggage, so said “stuff this” and got an Uber instead. 

We feel pretty blessed to be staying in the most magnificent Airbnb, which fits my definition of my perfect house. It is a glorious mix of old, luxurious opulence, and modern Japanese influence. So many deep and dark colours and brandished golden details, mixed with polished wood and massive windows and natural light, topped off with a beautiful view of the water and Hobart. I will have a hard time with the checkout on Friday. I have been obsessively taking pictures of every corner of the property just to have decor inspo for our own house!

When the rest of the gang arrived, we made our way to an adorable sushi train restaurant called Sush Track for delicious food and cute Tokyo rail network decor. 

With a quick stop at a grocery store for supplies, and a bubble tea stop, we headed back to the Airbnb to spend the night getting merry with the family of some of our dearest friends who are joining their families tomorrow. I am so thankful to be invited to witness their special day! 

This will be a short trip, but we will fit in some fun activities along the way.