Testing....Testing

We'll call this my trial post as I'm still in the [last minute] planning stages of my trip to the land of Oz (and NZ), but I thought that this would be a good place to start. You see, I am somewhat torn as to my exact route that I'll take to go over and under and through and past all of the wonderful places that these two countries have to offer. So I'm sitting here, drawing on my rather primitive looking map in pink, green, red, and blue as to what my options are, which will take the least time or allow me to see as much of a place as possible while I'm there, which will be most cost effective, when ferries, trains, and flights leave, their place of departure, and time and place of arrival. I come to a tough one--Tasmania. Oh, how I'd love to go to Tasmania! And yet, it's such an inconvenience. It would mean backtracking to Melbourne from Alice Springs, which would require a pretty penny--about the same by flight or rail, followed by an overnight ferry ride across the Bass Strait to Devonport, which is an additional $200. This does not include the day's activities, nor does it factor in transportation. So I think to myself, "Perhaps Tasmania would be a good place to learn how to drive. It's not too big, you really can't get lost as the only interstate is basically a giant circle, and I'm sure there'd be plenty of friendly faces along the way."



Naturally, the first thing I want to do is find how long it would take for me to drive to and from the various cities I'd like to visit and if it would all be worth my while, or if I should devise an alternative plan. It would really be senseless for me to hire (their word for rent) a car and not have ample time to visit all the places I want to see. It might be a better idea to simply use the rail system, or perhaps to allot more time than just one day for Tazzy. So I go to good old Google, click on maps, and then choose "directions" by car. As the starting location I typed in "Devonport Tasmania Australia" and as the destination, I simply typed "Hobart", assuming that it will just assume that I want to remain in Tasmania. I read the directions, and if this is how long it's going to take me to get there, I had certainly better think twice about going to Tasmania for just one day. I have a feeling that the most exhausting portions would be #53, 113, and 128. Go ahead, give it a look yourself. ;-) http://maps.google.com/maps?saddr=Devonport+TAS,+Australia&geocode=&dirflg=&daddr=Hobart&f=d&hl=en&sll=-41.175455,146.351294&sspn=0.049939,0.087547&ie=UTF8&z=3