Last Day in Tasmania, Tasmania Trip (Day 12)

26th March 2016, Saturday

Raining again when we woke up. My friend helped to prepare breakfast for us, then we all packed our luggage and loaded them up to the car. Then we drove out to buy some breads as it was a long long way back to Hobart Airport (about 4 hours plus ride). Quite sad, it was the last day in Tasmania. We passed by a few smaller towns and many mountains and fields along the way. We also passed by many creeks and each of them has a name to it. We also saw a wild wormbat along the roadside when we passed by burney lake. After 2 hours plus, we stopped by a power station at nive river for toilet break. My friend's husband was "chasing" her to get off the car quickly as he wanted to go to the toilet urgently...kekkekee....After 5 mins break, we continued on the road again until we reached  Bascilla Bay Oysters for lunch.

Fish & Chips

Seafood Platter

This time, we ordered a big seafood platter and a fish & chips to share (our last Tasmania lunch)..hohoho....After the nice lunch, we drove to the petrol station near the airport to fill up the oil tank and headed to the rental car park near the airport. We reached the airport at around 1 plus, which was still early for our check-in. So we just find some seats to sit around the airport, the airport was very small too. I noticed that the luggage trolley requires to pay for it too. We were thinking whether to check-in through Qantas counters or Jetstar counters for our flights as we booked through Qantas website, however, the flight stated was Jetstar plane. By 2.30 pm, there was no flight number displayed for check-in whereas Jetstar counters were opened for check-in. However, there were a couple of passengers who went to Qantas counters and were successfully checked in. So we walked towards Qantas counter and checked with the staff where we should do the check-in. She told us to go over to check-in with Jetstar counters as it was a Jetstar plane.

So we went over to Jetstar counters and we decided to check-in separately as i will be stopping for another 3 days in Melbourne whereas my friends will be flying back to Singapore. My friends went ahead to check in first and my friends were asking them if Jetstar can help them to transfer their luggage to the flight to Singapore when they land in Melbourne for stopover as they only have a 50 minutes stopover grace period. (It's a bit troublesome to do a transfer in Melbourne as it requires passengers to check out, including passing the customs from the domestic terminal and cross over to the international terminal and check in again, including passing the customs). The staff took a look at their fight route and told them the 2nd flight was Qantas flight, therefore will require to check with Qantas staff whether it is possible. He came back and told my friend that he will need to direct them to his colleague on this. So while waiting, he did my check-in. I was able to get mine done quickly as mine was just flying to Melbourne.

Later, the other Jetstar staff told my friends that they cannot help them as the 2nd flight was under Qantas. Then we went over to Qantas counter to see whether the staff can help them. The staff also told them she cannot do anything and asked them to call their customer hotline instead. (Quite frustrating when they tell you to call their hotline instead of helping passengers to resolve the problem on ground). Oh well, so we tried to call Qantas hotline (Australia) but it was on hold for long long time. Meanwhile, my friend tried to call the customer hotline (Singapore) using her own phone. Luckily, someone picked up her call in Singapore and tried to help her out. However, the call was also put on hold for more than 15 minutes while she did the check. And the check-in counters for Jetstar were closing in another 20 minutes and I had to go in to the gate soon too. We gave up waiting for the Australia side to pick up our call.

Flight to Melbourne

In the end, I went ahead to proceed to the gate and they had to wait outside still as the customer service staff (SG) told them not to check in first. I managed to meet them again at the gate when it was boarding time. Then I was told that the customer service staff (SG) had helped them to book an accommodation in Melbourne for the night as the first flight out to Singapore will be the next day. And so we boarded the plane but were seated separately. I was seated with another young lady who was alone. There was a couple with a baby seated on the next row beside us and the baby screamed from volume level 1 to 8 to show his displease. The dad had to use his ipad to keep the baby entertained. Wondered why the flight back to Melbourne was not Qantas Link, at least we will have free snacks on plane... -_-?

I moved to the back seat after the plane was on the air and i got the whole row to myself. But there was nothing to do except to sleep or watch the clouds. We landed in Melbourne airport @ 6.30 pm and we went through the customs and waited for our luggage. And I also missed the 6.30 city bus out to the city too. After everything settled, I bid bye bye to my friends and went to take the city bus to Southern Cross station. It took 20 to 25 minutest to the station and I bought dinner to eat in the hotel too. It was rainy heavily too, so i took a cab to the hotel. But the driver didn't know the hotel's location, so i gave him the address which he keyed into his GPS.

Double bed

Single Bed

When we passed the hotel on the opposite side, i told him that that's the hotel i was going to. However, he just said ya and he turned to the left side which he stopped to let me off. I told him it was not the hotel is located. He said this is where his GPS's end point is. I still told him we just passed the hotel on the other street. He still insisted it is the correct place... -_-"... Pek chey!
Anyway he still drove out to the street that we passed earlier and finally, he saw the hotel and said "ooo..it's here.." I paid him the fare ($10) and took my luggage to check-in the hotel. I was thrilled when the staff told me i got a free room upgrade. After settling all the check-in stuffs, i carried my luggage up to my room, which was on the 2nd level. So happy....my day finally ended!!! Seems like a long day today. My friends also checked in to their hotel safely and had a very nice dinner from the hotel room service. I only had Hungry Jack meal as my dinner...hohohoo....

Hotel Stayed:
Miami Hotel Melbourne