arriving in Hobart!

So the flight from Sydney to Hobart was nonexistant. I fell asleep and it felt like we were there in ten minutes. I was really surprised that they gave us food on the flight, since it was only two hours, but it was SO GOOD. Alright, let's compare American plane food to Australian plane food. Well, on United I had dinner (pasta and salad, it was pretty good) and breakfast (pancakes and sausage that were.... decent), but they did give us a sandwich for lunch. It was smoked turkey and swiss cheese on a classic white roll, and it was dry and flavorless and the cheese was definitely American, not swiss. Oh and with that came a pecan cookie. Mmmm lunch. Now American lunch, meet Australian lunch. On the Qantas plane we got "Egg Mayo with Za'tar and Baby Spinach on Multigrain Bread." Egg mayo was just egg salad, but Za'tar was a spread made from sumac, sesame seeds, thyme, oregano, and marjoram, and the baby spinach was fresh and the bread was really good. We also got mini Toblerone chocolate bars and tea with milk in the most adorable little red mug with the most adorable little white spoon. I was really, really impressed.

Anyway. I fell asleep after eating and then woke up when the pilot said to prepare for landing, and I looked out the window and we were flying over Tasmania and it was AMAZING.

I didn't take this picture. ha. but isn't it beautiful?

Sydney was very green and then very shiny and fully of buildings and such. Tasmania is a giant expanse of rolling brown hills with the occasional river and patch of trees. There weren't many buildings at all, and we had to fly over this marsh to get to the runway and I swear it looked like we were going to land in the water. And the entire Hobart airport was one room. haha. There were actually a lot of kids from UTAS arriving, almost all of them from China, and after getting our bags we got into a van for the drive across the Derwent river and into Hobart itself.

Our driver drove on the wrong side of the road,

everything was INCREDIBLY GREEN,

we saw a bunch of pretty boats,

and then we crossed the Tasman Bridge over the Derwent River into Hobart! That's Mount Wellington in the background. :)

And that's basically it so far. I didn't have much time last night to walk around Hobart, but from the little drive through town I can tell already it's a really cute little city. Today I'm exploring with some friends so I'll have a million more pictures to share later, along with pictures of my room! Adios!