22 April 2017 / leggypeggy

When travel plans go awry and life still delivers

airlines, boats, Flinders Island, Melbourne, Sea Shepherd, Tenacious, Williamstown

Marina at Williamstown with Melbourne CBD in the background

A few days ago we bowled up to Essendon Airport for our flight from Melbourne to Flinders Island (off the northeast coast of Tasmania). We’d driven there from Canberra, with a fantastic overnight stay in Yackandandah. Another bonus was our chance to catch up with a fellow blogger, who prefers to remain anonymous. Nothing like a little intrigue.

As we headed to the terminal, our fellow blogger said we couldn’t go without a proper send-off, so s/he escorted us to the departure lounge. We checked in and close to 4pm, the staff announced the flight to King Island.

Hmm, hang on. We’re going to Flinders Island and there’s only one plane out there.

So we moseyed up to the ground crew and said we’re awaiting the afternoon flight to Flinders. Sorry mate, but that flight went at 10:30am.

Ugh, ugh, ugh. I’m going to attribute that mistake completely to me and the fact that when I booked the flights I still needed to have a cataract removed. It’s not a good excuse, but it’s the only one. The cataract surgery was free and successful, and the replacement tickets cost about $500.

And then there was the night’s accommodation in Melbourne until we could fly out the next morning. Ugh, ugh, ugh.

Greenpeace’s Steve Irwin Sea Shepherd

But the bright spot in all this is that our fellow blogger wouldn’t let us out of her/his sight.

We were ferried to the hotel, allowed to check in and dump our bags, and then squired around some of Melbourne’s more interesting, but slightly off-the-beaten track, spots. Luckily we were allowed to buy our host dinner and a beer.

Our main photogenic stop was to visit Williamstown, on Hobsons Bay. It’s where Greenpeace’s Sea Shepherd is docked. As a special treat we also saw the Tenacious, a British tall ship that caters for anyone with a disability.

So all in all, my goof-up was a great, but expensive, hiccup. The hotel was a bit dear in our opinion, but they threw in breakfast and free wifi. I had to go to the front desk to get the wifi activated. Still amazes me that so many Aussie hotels want to charge for internet. It was part of the package in Yackandandah.

And more soon about Flinders Island. We’re having a great time here, but sort of slow and limited internet.

P.S. My goof-up on flights means that, at this stage, we’ll return to Essendon/Canberra on the 27th of April, not 25th as we’d planned. I have to give Sharp Airlines (which services Flinders) huge credit in that they’ve said come along to the terminal on the 25th and if there’s a no-show or cancellation, we’ll be good to go. Great customer service.