Arduous Antipodean Adventure

The Pains of Trains and Planes?

Technically an antipode is a point on the globe exactly opposite another. So "the antipodes" are the two points on the globe that a joined by an imaginary straight line passing through the very centre of the earth.

Colloquially we Brits tend to refer to Australia and New Zealand as "The Antipodes" (capital letters) which they aren't. The antipode of somewhere in Australia is located in the North Atlantic whilst the antipode of a UK address is equally soggy, being in the Pacific Ocean south of New Zealand.

This pedantic nicety did not bother No 3 son when he set out on Wednesday last from here ...

... Shoreham Beach in East Sussex. He crossed the river Adur on this footbridge ...

... and caught a train from here to the airport.

From the station at Gatwick ...

... he caught a very different train ....

... before spending some time here.

He actually spent nearly three hours waiting for his flight; the deep joy of long distance flying, long times waiting!

Then there was a change of planes at DXB ...

... and another change at MEL ...

... before arriving at his last airport of the outward journey ...

... and so, welcome to Hobart, Tasmania.

Thanks to the joys of travelling half way round the world, he left Gatport Airwick at 2025 on Wednesday and arrived at Hobart at 0930 on Thursday, 26 hours and 5 minutes later (?) (!). It defies the body clock, it defies common sense and it confuses the brain.

Here is No 2 sons "safe-arrival" text.

And no wonder!

Being his father's boy, No 3 son would have preferred not to be met by Tim and Lynne; he would have preferred to get closer to his destination by public transport. "You experience more of a country on a bus that in a friend's car" is his sensible opinion.

Hence the email to fbb asking for the old man's recommendations.

Metro Tasmania, operators of local buses in Hobart ...

... did not appear to run to the airport; no mention on the rather coarse diagram.

Services 664/665/X64/X65 turn south just short of the airport serving Cambridge (just off the map, top left).

Fortunately, the Hobart International Airport web site was more forthcoming. What No 3 son needed to do is to book a seat on an "on request" coach which "meets every flight".

He could book on line - it appears very simple ...

... and the coach will deposit him at the "Transit Centre" which seems a good place to be.

So far so good. But the lad wants to get to 277 Arve Road, Geeveston; wherever that might be.

And there it is, bottom left. Now we know that Tasmania Transit doesn't get that far south. Again, the interwebnet comes to fbb's rescue via a search for "Geeveston buses". That's Tassielink, sport.

And there's a timetable - and even fares.

The 1200pm (i.e. noon) will get the lad to Geeveston at 1.30pm, that's 1330 in real money. A bit of Google Streetview, reinforced by the bus picture above, reveals that Brisbane Street is right outside the Hobart Bus Terminal, arrival point of the airport shuttle.

Perhaps Brisbane Street IS the Hobart Bus Terminal? There is, however, no bus to 277 Arve Road ...

... so a lift would be needed from the "town" centre, namely the car park st the rear of the Forest and Heritage Centre.

But apparently the hip hop and happening place to go in Geeveston is ...

... the Wall of Lollies!

And 277 Arve Road? That isn't even where No 3 son will be staying. His hosts have just finished building their house and "it doesn't have an address yet", so a helpful neighbour provides the necessary legitimacy of existence.

277 Arve Road - Possibly!

fbb is utterly convinced that this journey (at about 11,000 miles) is the longest schedule that he has ever investigated; very nearly a true Antipodean Adventure!

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Stop Press - Weather Report

At 0756 yesterday (Saturday) snow fell at Seaton, East Devon! It even settled, briefly on fbb's model railway and the roof of their limo.

The hexagonal precipitation had all disappeared by 0815, so fbb did not need to rush out and buy a snow shovel.

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To recover from our virtual jet lag we will go to Groby near Leicester tomorrow

 Next Arriva bus blog : Monday 13th February