travelling allrite

I hate the anxiety I feel about flying. When I finally wake at the late time of 8.30AM after an earlier disturbance I don't feel rested. I feel sick. I actually hear a Jetstar A320 fly overhead, but the skies are grey and there is the threat of wind and rain. It is fortunate that I don't study the weather too closely or I would be even more nervous about flying. We check out and drive into central Launceston with no better idea than to wander around and perhaps find some breakfast. Sitting down at a Banjo's Bakery the other two order pies and myself a vanilla slice, a.k.a a snot block. I can't even finish that, my tastebuds hypersensitive with nerves. Returning the car right at the specified time to the airport we check in for our flight. With two bags of fruit and food we are returning heavier than we arrived. Airside at Launceston Airport is surprisingly nice for a regional airport, with a large local produce and general goods store and cafes, including on...

It's a strange feeling wandering the streets of Launceston around closing time. The combination of quieter streets, a mishmash of architecture from the 1870's and 1970's, and the cool clear air remind me of a Japanese rural city. But it also brings back memories of my adventures in Australia years ago. There's a Myer department store which appears to have escaped the renovations and retains the worn charms of my childhood. The toy section is better than our Miranda Myer. Also seen along the way a hobby store, French bistro, Harris Scarfe, Toyworld and a variety of shops that seems to have gone missing in Sydney. We walk to the City Park, green lawns and ornate ironwork. We are too late to see the Japanese macaques and the conservatory is closed, but there are still families and young people playing in the sun. The sky is clear enough to see the top of Mount Wellington when we awake, our first sight of the top of the mountain that towers over Hobart. I...

A 747 flight to Tasmania? And not even to Hobart, but the regional airport of Launceston. And with Jetstar? What??? Okay, I'm being deceptive. The flight number of our Jetstar Airbus  A320 from Sydney to Launceston in Tasmania's north was JQ747. A bit like the old QF787 flights to Canberra. We'd bought the tickets months ago during one of Jetstar's big sales, taking advantage of the school holidays dates, our first time flying into Launceston and my first summer visit to the state. As always I felt anxious about the trip (though considerably less anxious than about of next one), though I consoled myself with the short flight times. It helped that Sydney presented its finest flying weather yesterday with clear, mostly calm, skies. I wake early, feeling like I have had too little sleep. Despite this being a Sunday I had stayed up late last night doing work. Outside is another perfect day for flying. Not a cloud in the sky and not much wind. It's also a gr...