2/15/15 Hobart, Tasmania

We got to Tasmania and picked up our rental car at the airport.  We drove about 20 minutes to get to the hotel on the waterfront in Hobart.  Although not the most up-to-date, it is clean and convenient to the waterfront.  Our options were limited for dinner last night as it was Valentine's Day and most of the restaurants were either booked or had a set price menu (very expensive).  The manager of the hotel directed us to a fish and chips place and we had a fine meal.  We came back to the hotel and collapsed as we were all very tired.

We woke up this morning feeling so much better!  We had a lovely breakfast and then headed out to Port Arthur.  The day was a bit dreary with mist and a few sprinkles, but perfect weather for where we were headed.

It was an hour and a half drive along some pretty countryside.  Port Arthur was very interesting.  It was a prison which was used as a punishment station for repeat offenders from all the Australian colonies.  The idea was to use discipline and punishment along with religious and moral instruction and training and education to rehabilitate the men sent there.  Some of them left there as blacksmiths, shoemakers and shipbuilders, while others became broken men.  The facility was quite large (about a hundred acres) with many of the buildings open for viewing.  We got a 40 minute walking tour as an overview and then a 20 minute harbor cruise.  I will try to include some pix.  We drove back to town and Dave took a nap while John, Lana and I did some window shopping.  Unfortunately as today is Sunday, most of the shops were closed.  We came back to the hotel to pick up Dave and went to dinner.  Tomorrow we will drive to Cradle Mountain.  I don't know if there is wifi there so the blog may have to skip a day.

2/14/15 Melbourne, Australia

Happy Valentine's Day everyone!  Well, we are still fumbling our way to our destination.  Our flight took off last night (Thursday - remember we lost a day) on time.  We traveled on an Airbus, which was huge!  The problem came at the end of the flight.  Because of possible thunderstorms predicted in Melbourne, the pilot determined that we would have to land in Sydney to refuel just in case we would have to circle before landing in Melbourne.  The fueling took an hour so by the time we got to Melbourne and got through passport control and customs, we had missed our flight to Tasmania.  We eventually got re-ticketed, but have to wait four hours for our flight.  We are all a bit exhausted and punchy, but it is good to be here and the next leg is just a short one hour flight.  It is 80 degrees outside and a bit humid, but it sure does beat the single digits at home!

2/12/15 LAX

We had a wonderful day at the Getty Museum!  The campus is huge.  We went through all of the buildings and saw some beautiful art, sculptures, furniture, illuminated manuscripts, and photography.  Everybody working there was very pleasant and helpful - you could tell they were happy to work there and were delighted to help us in any way.  We had a lovely lunch at the restaurant and then took a walk through the extensive gardens.  The Getty is located on a hill overlooking L.A. and the views were great.  We got to the airport early and had a sandwich for dinner as we had a very filling meal at the museum.  Our biggest task now is to keep each other awake until we get on the plane.  We will get to Melbourne on Saturday as we lose a day going over (aren't we lucky to be able to skip Friday the 13th?!).

2/12/15 Los Angeles

I just wanted to let you in on our plans for the day just in case we don't get to get online again before we leave.  We had a good sleep and breakfast this morning and will go to the Getty Museum at 10. We plan on spending the day there and then will go to the airport.  I hope we can stay awake until our flight which is at 10 of 11 tonight.  Not to make you jealous, but the temps are in the 80's here - a beautiful and sunny day!

2/11/15 Los Angeles

Our plane took off on time and we arrived at LAX with no problems.  Unfortunately, we lost our first class seats (frequent flyer miles), but we were just glad to get on a plane.  We were concerned that our luggage might not have caught up with us, but 3 of the 4 bags were in the first set off the carousel!  It is 11:15 PM our time and the bed is calling our names!

2/11/15 Charlotte, NC

I didn't expect the adventure to start so soon . . . We got up at 3:30 this morning to catch the shuttle to the airport.  We checked in and boarded the plane on time (5:30) for our 6 AM flight.  After everyone was on board, a malfunction with a sensor was discovered.  A mechanic was called and eventually they made us get off the plane .  We rebooked our tickets in Charlotte knowing we were not going to make our connection.  Shortly thereafter, we reboarded our plane, but before taking off, they discovered a problem with the nose wheel.  That was fixed fairly quickly, but we had to be de-iced again.  We finally took off at 10:00 and had an uneventful flight.  Of course, by this time we not only had missed our original flight, but our re-booked flight!  When we landed in Charlotte at 11:45, we were re-re-booked (if there is such a word) and are now cooling our heels until 4:40 PM when we board our next flight to L.A.  We should sleep like rocks tonight!  I just hope our luggage catches up with us before tomorrow's flight to Australia!  The good news is that it is 45 degrees here and we can see green grass rather than a snow covered landscape.

2/10/15 Providence

We have made it to the hotel and will have dinner here and stay overnight as we have a 6AM flight to L.A. tomorrow.  Our plan is to stay over tomorrow night in CA before boarding our flight to Australia    on Thursday.  We will be traveling with Lana and John and look forward to great adventures in the lands down under.