March 3 - Sydney to Port Arthur, Tasmania

Tuesday, March 3 - Day 27 - Sydney to Port Arthur, Tasmania

We try to get up for the sail-in to Sydney Harbor but it is still very dark by the time we are docked.  About 7AM we go up to the stern pool deck to watch the sun rise over the opera house and to take photos of the famous bridge over the harbor.  That done and since we have to be out of our cabin by 8:30AM we are in the dining room a little after 7AM for our last round of Eggs Benedict!  Once again breakfast is very slow but the dish is served hot and we do enjoy it.

We anticipate sitting in the theater from 8:30AM until at least 9:30AM but we are called to disembark at 8:45AM.  We proceed ashore and find our luggage.  A porter assists us with a cart and we drop off the bag we are shipping home with White Star Luggage Service.  Hope we see that again in June.

The cab line is quite long and we dismiss the porter with a $5AUD tip.  He seems surprised and pleased with it.  The line moves smoothly with the help of a uniformed, female port employee who accepts no delay or blockage from the cab drivers.  Our cabby is a young, small Asian man who loads our bags in this trunk (aka the boot) and front seat and off we go to the domestic airport.  We had been told the ride would cost about $50AUD and with a decent tip that is what it does costs.

In the terminal Carolyn does some additional rearranging, since some things could not go off with the ship handled bags, but had to be hand carried to declare at the customs stop, which we didn’t have to go through. That was one thing that had been a problem when we were trying to pack yesterday. Live and learn!! Dick secures our boarding passes from a kiosk.  He had checked in on line yesterday so they pop right out.  The line to check our bags, etc. moves smoothly and the lady we draw is helpful and friendly.  Our bags are within the weight limit so there is no problem there and she does not even ask about our carry-on items.  We make a stop to charge up Carolyn’s laptop before proceeding to security which moves smoothly also. We don’t have to remove our shoes, nor do we set off the alarm going through and our hand luggage does not receive an extra check. We now have about two plus hours to kill. The check-in lady suggested we go to the food court for some lunch and time on the computer...they want $65pp to use the lounge! The food court is huge with every type of food you can imagine. We opt for subway then walk on down to the waiting area for the plane. 

Our flight is to board at 1:35PM and does so. They allow us to board early since there a steps involved and Carolyn is slow.  There is absolutely no issue with our carry-on luggage and the overhead bins are huge compared to some in United’s 737 fleet.  We land in Hobart, Tasmania on time and make our way to the Europcar rental counter where the line is six persons deep with only one lady behind the counter.  Another counter man arrives shortly but it is still a 30 minute wait before we are checked in and on our way to find our car.  The parking lot space numbers are not legible but we find by the license plate and load up.  This time, we find the GPS in the camera bag with no trouble and we are off. Well Carolyn does...Dick still can’t see black in black!

First stop is at a Cole’s Grocery store for some breakfast food and we give in and buy a bottle of bourbon and some KFC chicken for dinner!  Back on the road, it is a pleasant drive down (over?) to White Beach and we have no trouble finding Harper’s on the Beach.  John, the owner, meets us as we pull in and shows us our two bedroom cottage.  It is neat and within sound of the surf.  Carolyn is in heaven!

First stop, after unloading, is a short walk over the dunes to the beach for a photo of the sunset.  Then, cocktail time and dinner.  Dick discovers that our international plug adapter has blown a fuse so we may have a problem there but will worry about that tomorrow.  We clean up the kitchen and Dick heads for bed and is soon sound asleep. Carolyn reads for a while and falls asleep book in hand.  We are both very tired.