To QLD
Just wrote up my last notecard and checked my digital
presentation for my speaking engagement this arvo (only five hours from now!).
Unfortunately the Blues lost in Brizzy last night (which also explains why I couldn’t get a hotel room there last night), but it will make for an exciting (deciding) game three in Sydney in mid-July.
I finally got around to packing around 11:30
– which should come as no surprise to those of you who know my travel
habits. I was in bed around midnight and
woke up at 5:00 this morning, made myself a cuppa, and got everything lined up
to go. I intended to catch a cab around
5:15 for a 6:30 flight, but Kylie said how early that was. If you remember my Melbourne trip with Amanda
last year, you will recall the Australians have a habit of getting to the
airport with only minutes to spare for their flights. Having taken enough flights in Australia last
year (I think at last count it was 10), I decided I would split the difference
of Kylie’s recommended leaving time (5:45) with mine, and used an app (GoCatch)
to electronically hail a cab about 5:20.
It came around 5:30 and I was off for the ten minute trip to the
airport.
There was a fair amount of traffic, and I admit that I was a bit nervous cutting it that close. It was crowded in the terminal (though the lines were for JetStar check-in), so I breezed right through check-in at Virgin and was to security by 5:50. It only took a couple minutes to get through the line (not having to remove shoes, belt, or sweater really facilitates fast security, and I was pleasantly surprised that I was departing out of the second closest gate (a welcome site considering the run I had to take with Amanda to get our flight last year). When I got to the gate there were only two dozen people there for a mostly booked flight that was set to board in five minutes. They started boarding with row fifteen, which happened to be my row (they started from the middle of the plane, having passengers from row 15-29 board via an exterior stair). I walked across the tarmac and up the stairs, getting my bigger than supposed to be carry on stowed (in the overhead “lockers”) with some skeptical looks from one of the flight attendants.
I lucked out on timing, as the sky opened up as soon as I took my seat. The plane filled in over the next twenty minutes, though I ended up with an empty seat next to me (which came in handy for the mobile office I seem to be operating). Got my work done, had another tea, and am all set as we begin our descent into Brisbane.
Unfortunately the Blues lost in Brizzy last night (which also explains why I couldn’t get a hotel room there last night), but it will make for an exciting (deciding) game three in Sydney in mid-July.
 |
| Pie, mash, and mushy peas softened the blow of the Blues loss. |
There was a fair amount of traffic, and I admit that I was a bit nervous cutting it that close. It was crowded in the terminal (though the lines were for JetStar check-in), so I breezed right through check-in at Virgin and was to security by 5:50. It only took a couple minutes to get through the line (not having to remove shoes, belt, or sweater really facilitates fast security, and I was pleasantly surprised that I was departing out of the second closest gate (a welcome site considering the run I had to take with Amanda to get our flight last year). When I got to the gate there were only two dozen people there for a mostly booked flight that was set to board in five minutes. They started boarding with row fifteen, which happened to be my row (they started from the middle of the plane, having passengers from row 15-29 board via an exterior stair). I walked across the tarmac and up the stairs, getting my bigger than supposed to be carry on stowed (in the overhead “lockers”) with some skeptical looks from one of the flight attendants.
I lucked out on timing, as the sky opened up as soon as I took my seat. The plane filled in over the next twenty minutes, though I ended up with an empty seat next to me (which came in handy for the mobile office I seem to be operating). Got my work done, had another tea, and am all set as we begin our descent into Brisbane.
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