After 3 days in Sydney on business (work conference), I was looking forward to Friday 3pm when a bus would take me to the airport for what would be a leisurely 2 hour flight home. It wasn't meant to be. This isn't a bad news story. It is entirely unremarkable. It is just a journey I had. Many people, some of you, have far more interesting stories related to travel on airlines. Feel free to relate them here so we can laugh or empathise.
Storms.
I knew from the forecasts that there was a possibility of storms later that day. It had been very warm and sultry in Sydney which at this time of the year is not unusual. With several days of mid 30C temperatures, it was plain inevitable. I had hoped that our flight would get out in time. It was not to be. A large electrical storm struck before our flight, delaying it by 30 minutes. A mere delay I thought. I had a connecting flight in Melbourne that was due for departure 45 minutes after the scheduled landing, so delays were more significant than usual.Stuck on the tarmac.
45 minutes late, we got on the plane. I thought that considering we had a few people who were connecting to my flight, they would delay its departure, so I was still reasonably confident. That was confidence not born in reality. We sat at the terminal for another 30 minutes. What was horrid was that the air conditioner was not functioning. With 30+C outside and a cramped and full plane of people, the temperature soared, unlike the plane.At this point, I admit that I have phobias. Flying is one and one of those reasons is another phobia of claustrophobia. This was not good for my stress levels.
Finally, we moved out to the runway. At this stage, there was still no rain, but clouds that were menacing. It was then, we were told that the previous storm had caused a bank-up of planes, and that we were number 16 in the queue. As we sat, and sat, the temperature continued to rise. We sat on that tarmac for another a good 90 minutes. In this time, the rain set in and raised my phobia stress levels to the maximum. Watching planes land close up in the rain isn't good if they scare you. What was the worst for me was when I spotted several large lightning strikes at the end of the runway. I wanted to leave in a hurry, but those strikes frightened at a whole new level.
Finding humour under stress.
The plane was fitted with televisions on every seat, that require payment to use. As a consolation to our despair, they gave us free use for the duration. Out comes all the headsets as the attendants passed them out. Unfortunately for me, my television was the only one NOT working. Just like the good old days of television repair, the attendant suggested a mode of fixing it. There was a black box under the seat that had all the wiring. He told me to kick it. So I did. And it worked. It kept turning off mind you, but for the entire journey, I had to keep kicking my television to make it work. That amused me.Joining the queue
We finally arrived in Melbourne about 4 hours late and yes, my connecting flight was gone. It was then that my life in a queue began. Only the queue to be in the queue was missing. We queued to find out what was happening. We were told we would be put up in a hotel. So they sent us to another queue. After waiting for our turn, we found out that we weren't supposed to be in that queue and were sent to another queue. I am a patient man, but my patience was being sorely tested as it was now nearing 11pm. Eventually we found out that there was no pus to take us to the hotel, so in a taxi and another queue at the hotel (there were many of us, not just from our flight.). After finally getting into the a room, nearing midnight - it was time for dinner, a bit later than I usually eat it.We can't get a flight for you until 4pm tomorrow.
We were hoping for an early flight out, but it was not to be. This is my weekend man and I just want to get home to my family. Things could be worse as I am really the lucky one. Lucky because I have a company credit card and I was willing to use it. I ate well and I caught a taxi to go shopping to fill in my time. In fact, to fill in time, we went to the cinema and saw Invictus, which I will leave for a film review later.Comfort shopping.
When women get a bit sad or depressed they comfort eat, mainly chocolate and ice cream. Good for them I say, but I am a man I tell you. I was feeling down and flat and needed something to cheer me up, so I did what a man does - I bought computer games. Well, maybe that is more a geek man thing, but still a man I say. I bargain shopped and got 6 games for $116 Au and considering the ticket price for the games was $400 Au, I feel I did very well for myself.This was my little bag of goodies:
The story has an end.
Finally, trouble free, we finished the journey. 27 hours after I left Sydney, I was home. I decided very early on that work was going to owe me for my lost day. I was going to take a day off, with pay to make up for it. Now I don't have to do it unofficially. I was given a call from senior management to ask how I was getting on and he told me to just take a day off when it suits. I didn't say I was going to anyway, I just thanked him and moved on.Woman have spooky powers.
My partner is not a woman to be messed with. She has eerily strong mental powers. We were on holidays once and after she saw yet another story on Princess Diana, she commented that she should hurry up and die to give us some real stories. 2 days later, she died. Considering they still rabbit on about her, she didn't really get her wish though. Another time, a race driver (Craig Lowndes who drives V8 Supercars) was on the news and she just plain hates the guy. She commented that she wished he would crash his car. The next day he had a major crash when his car left the ground and rolled mid-air (he survived and is still racing).Well, when I rang her to organise picking me up at the airport before leaving Sydney, she commented (jokingly) that she didn't feel like driving (a one hour trip) to Launceston to pick me up and I should just come home tomorrow. And I did. She scares me :-)
Thanks for reading - or not. Again, feel free to share you travel stories as you in Europe and North AMerica have far worse weather to screw up your travel plans.
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