Brisbane to Hobart

Tasmania in winter may seem a strange choice of destination but there were incentives and we succumbed to temptation. Qantas was offering some hotel specials and we built our itinerary around those. 

The key motivator was the Silo Hotel in Launceston. Ever since we stopped for a look at a silo hotel outside Christchurch on a trip to New Zealand in 2014, Majella has wanted the experience of staying in one. The silo hotel in Launceston is grander than that one and an obvious attraction. Cradle Mountain was also among the Qantas offers so we added that. Dates were set around availability of those hotels and the rest of the itinerary followed.

We prefer flights that depart and arrive at convenient times. On that basis I booked flights via Melbourne, departing Brisbane mid-morning and arriving in Hobart late afternoon with time to make it to our accommodation at a civilised hour. The COVID outbreak in Melbourne made that look risky as flights from Brisbane to Melbourne were being cancelled. Changing to flights via Sydney on the same day, Wednesday 8 June, would have cost $400 so instead we switched to go on Tuesday 7 June for $6. A mid-afternoon departure was fine but arrival in Hobart was substantially later, around 9:00 pm. Still that would leave time for a leisurely wander in Hobart on Wednesday morning before collecting our car and heading off.

We were away from home a little earlier than planned, dropped the car at Andrews, checked in at the airport, and settled in the Qantas Club for a 2 hour wait to fly. We had almost 2 hours to relax in Sydney before our flight on to Hobart. 

As we waited to board I thought to check whether there might be a Tasmanian COVID app. There was and a a website where we were required to register and obtain QR codes before entering Tasmania. We downloaded the app and registered on the website before boarding.

It had been raining in Hobart when we arrived but fortunately was not raining at the time. We left the plane, walked across the wet tarmac and along a long path to the entrance where waited in a queue for temperatures and QR codes to be checked. Then we waited another 20 minutes for our baggage to arrive.

Sky bus dropped us a block away from the Customs House Hotel but the rain had stopped and we walked that easily enough. We checked in, found our room, and relaxed before bed.