I'm going down: to Hobart Town...

After an early start this morning to get to the airport, I'm now in Hobart, It's only a 2.5 hour flight from Brisbane, so even thought Tasmania is on daylight saving time, I arrived just after noon and was checked in to my hotel by 1 pm.

The only hiccup was the 11 kg of excess baggage charges at $10 per kg (ouch). No doubt it will be the same on the way back, so I won't be buying many souvenirs. Unfortunately Virgin Blue has changed their sporting goods policy and it's no longer as liberal - on two previous trips with bikes there were no excess baggage charges.

Oh - and on arrival at Hobart the Airport Shuttle bus was nowhere to be seen. I waited for a while then approached a taxi driver to see if the bike bag could be loaded into the boot somehow. The driver was unusually obliging and with only a little effort we got it into the back seat.

The hotel is quite close to Salamanca Place, and today is market day, so after settling in to my room I wandered around the markets and had lunch from one of the stalls, followed by a capuccino at Cafe Retro.

The markets are a feature of any trip to Hobart...

Some on-and-off showery weather arrived with me, and will persist tomorrow, according to forecasts.

The rest of the afternoon was spent re-assembling my bike. It survived the journey only a few chafe marks, but it is now apparent that the Surly painters are very economical in applying the paint. I encountered some minor difficulties fitting the fenders (which I hadn't actually fitted before), but otherwise everything went together well and is all but finished. It just needs a few tweaks in the morning and then I can take it for a test ride.

For dinner I returned to Salamanca Place and then along Constitution Dock to a wonderful little waterfront restaurant called Fish Frenzy; fish 'n' chips and a greek salad, washed down with a Boags Premium lager...the perfect way to end the day.