Arrived in Launceston ok after having an easy morning in Melbourne. Simon dropped me off at a train station nearer the city so at least it was cheaper and quicker to get to Melbourne. April and I had a few tears before I left, which was inevitable!! I've known her since around September 1998 but only for abour 2 months and after that we've mainly kept in contact by letter and emails! Two visits inbetween to Toronto, and I think I saw her about once on each of those trips! So, we got to know each other much better seeing as I spent about 2 and a half weeks or so at their house. I don't think I'd have been able to afford to be in Oz as long if they weren't here, so I'm very grateful.

Got picked up at the teeny airport by Simon's mum and also his niece and two nephews. A luggage carousel was put in earlier that day too, how handy! It is a really teeny tiny airport as you basically get off the plane, have a dog sniff your hand luggage (they don't allow any fresh fruit or vegetables in the country in case of disease from the mainland - good thing the veggies I had leftover from my lunch were cooked!), go through some doors, and then you pick up your luggage (you used to just have to take it off the luggage trucks), and then you're out the other side!
Simon's mum drove me a little bit around Launceston main town centre, so I could see it a little, and then we drove to Marcus' house where I'm staying, which is not very far from the town centre, which is good. Met Marcus (Simon's brother) and his son Alex, which was nice. Marcus also said he could take me to Cataract Gorge tomorrow, so that's good. I'm happy to wander around by myself, but it's also nice to have company when wandering around the sights :)
Marcus took me to the local supermarket to buy a vew groceries and just to show me a little bit around the town. There's a nice cafe on the corner where his house is, where I'll probably have some breakfast tomorrow too.

Thought I might have a little evening stroll down to the river but ended up just wanting to have a shower and crash out, which is exactly what I did. I know I've only got a couple of days in Launceston but I do need to sleep too! I haven't really done a lot today, but travelling just takes it out of me.
It was about an hour in the car to the train station, then a 40 minute ride to central Melbourne, and then a 20 minute bus ride to the airport. I got to the airport really early, so I had a wander around the shops there and managed not to buy anything - yay! Not much I wanted to buy there though, apart from some nice chocolates, and I managed to resist those (especially as I had some chocolate mice in my bag already, and April had also bought me some little cupcakes to bring away with me) so I whiled away my time by writing postcards and updating my diary.
So, then it was just over an hour on the plane, and then another 25 minutes or so in the car to get to the centre of Launceston.
Seems like quite a compact but very nice little town too so I'll probably get up fairly early and have a bit of a wander by myself, if Marcus doesn't come to the house too early.