What Happened to the Sky?

Up well before dawn and off to the airport to catch my flights.  There are no direct flights between Adelaide and Launceston, Tasmania which meant a connection in Melbourne.

The aircraft touched down in Launceston and the first thing I noticed was it was It was decidedly cooler.  I had booked a small car with a local car rental company, however they didn’t have one available so I was given a free upgrade to a larger vehicle.  It was a Renault four door automatic with a microchip card instead of an ignition key and an automatic park brake.  I sat in it for a few minutes familiarising myself with the control before heading towards the city.

Being a Renault, it’s European.  I must have the cleanest windscreen in Launceston.  Every time I indicated my intention to make a turn I cleaned the windscreen.  This isn’t a new experience for me.  It occurs for the first few days each time we arrive in the UK.  Why can’t the rest of the world’s car manufacturers get their controls on the right side!

The Tasmanian authorities must have changed the flight path into Launceston.  I was sitting in the office working away when I recognised the roar of a low jet directly overhead.  Then the old grey matter kicked in and a distant memory told me that was the sound of heavy rain!  Indeed it was; and I stood at the window watching it pour down.  It’s been some time since I saw the wet stuff arriving with such intensity.

There isn’t much to write about the hotel.  All hotel rooms seem to be the same.  One annoying thing I’ve noticed they all seem to have in common is the poor level of lighting.  If you want to read in the evening then I have to go to the bathroom which is the only source of decent light!

This morning I woke to an overcast grey Tasmanian day.  It wasn’t cold, but I had this foreboding feeling we might be waking to many similar days on Waiouru.  You don’t get a green land and lush vegetation without rain!  Over the last couple of decades my four seasons have been “Warm, Hot,  Hotter, Bloody Hot”.  Snow looks nice – but I’m now starting to have doubts!