Nesohu 2.0

Before we can get into REM state, we forced ourselves up and prepare for another short flight to Tasmania. Now, for the benefit of those who don’t know, TAZ is an island south of Melbourne which is 233 times the size of Penang / ½ the size of Peninsular Malaysia. The flight took around 1 hour from MEL to Launceston (LST)  airport.

Once we got our car, the first place we visited is Bridestowe Lavender Farm. As far as we know, Tasmania is one of the 3 places that plants Lavender, the other 2 is in Provence, France & Hokkaido, Japan. Unfortunately for us, it’s already near winter and the flowers aren’t blooming. But with a few clicks on Photoshop, I’m able to blend some lavender into our photo album. A “how-to” can be prepared if any of you are interested. Just leave me a comment/ email me.
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Having traveled every couple of months, I could consider myself a regular passenger of AirAsia. Even though this was not my virgin flight overseas with AirAsia, it’s one of the biggest aircraft that I’ve sat on. They put 9 chairs in a row instead of asking us to pay extra for comfort and in flight entertainment.

It’s an 8-hour long flight you must be wondering how we kill time without a movie marathon. Well, I was going through this book called MindMap by Tony Buzan  . This is an interesting book that makes me realized why I’m not scoring good results in school. Instead of doing line notes, the book teaches us how to break through language barrier and draw notes like how our brain works.

When you’re travelling on such a long flight, a good rest is very important. For RM20 extra, you’ll be getting a comfort set. What’s inside is a mask, a pillow as well as a long blanket to keep you warm. And if you’re ambitious to save passengers from Snake on the Plane (2006) you could put it as a cape.

Usually aircrafts will not serve good food. But all we need up there is something to warm up our body and is filling. And to have your meal hot up in the sky, well, that’s amazing. And mineral water is only RM4/bottle. Hey, if you think that I’m shouting for no good reason, read this “Everything’s Amazing, Nobody’s Happy”

After the 8-hour long journey, we arrived at Melbourne Airport almost midnight, cold and a bit lost. Brad came and picked us up from the airport and he’s quite a nice guy. Besides being a driver Brad checked us into the Caravan Village, which is a nice place btw. Its 7 minutes drive from the airport and the cabin is really cozy. It has shot shower, a toilet, a full kitchen and 2 bedrooms. It was so cold that night that we need to wear thick socks and cover our face to sleep.

Tomorrow we’ll be flying again. Next up: Tasmania

What about Transportation? Well, you can either take a local tour or hire a vehicle. There are a few options available (Avis, Budget, Europcar…), but we went for Europcar. You can check your preference from Vroom3. Rest assure, the cars you get overseas are much better than the Kancil or Saga that we use to commune to work.

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Now let’s talk about places to stay. Accommodation doesn’t mean a place you stayed for the night, but how much you can accommodate for a cheaper price.

Just think bout it, you’ll only be staying there for the evening, take a bath and store all your souvenirs. I’m not telling you to sleep on the streets, but you don’t need a 5 star hotel with a swimming pool, spa and gym right?

Well, if you agree with me, it’s easy for you to find a decent youth hostel from the Youth Hostel Association (YHA).

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After coming back from Germany 18 moons ago, it’s about time for us to escape from our work & wedding arrangements. With our limited budget, there are a few ways we can do this:-

1. Travel local – you’ll still receive calls from your bosses
2. Travel overseas with tour group – no need planning, expensive, limited options
3. Travel overseas backpacking – cost efficient, abundant of options, but need tones of planning

Thanks to the help of Irene & Sherlyn, we managed to get Zero-Fare tickets to Melbourne last August. It’s good to plan your trip early as you’ll have a lot of time to do your research & arrange your trip to suit your heart’s desire. There’s no direct flight from PEN-MEL so PEN-KUL-MEL is the closest we got.

Because of the shutdowns we have at work and reservations for my wedding, my leaves are rather limited. We only went for a short week’s trip. But if you ask me, Tasmania itself will need 2 weeks to cover, not forgetting Melbourne. It’ll be a good time to go travelling as the economy is not good. We’ll have good reason to relax before the demand, capacity and requirement for our time & knowledge is being useful again.

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