I’d got the text to a point where I figured a pause was appropriate around seven-thirty, put myself through the rain room and waited while Madam did the same, making slight adjustments to the arrangement of various items in The Black Monster before we toddled off to breakfast.
Orana House is a largish B&B operation, and there were seven other vehicles ranged on either side of the Blue Bug when I glanced outside. It should come as no surprise to learn things in the breakfast room were buzzing along when we wandered in around eight-fifteen. We wandered back out around half an hour later, with not much on the Orana House agenda apart from the final redistribution of hefty items between the two suitcases. That task comes with the regulation concerns about weight and adequate packing around bottles that weren't there on the way down.
Actually, with the damage being limited to three small bottles of single malt, a Riesling, a Pinot Gris and a Sauvignon we weren't going to run into issues with the 23 kg luggage limit unless they were exceptionally heavy bottles.
Still, with two hours between check out time and handing back the car, and around twenty kilometres to travel between accommodation and airport you need something to kill a bit of time and in this case, having ruled out a visit to Stefano Lubiana the something involved a return visit to Puddleduck to place an order for wine and investigate the possibilities when it came to arranging a supply of Perry.
I ordered what should be a good summer drinking mixture, with three bottles of the Riesling and the Verjuice, and doubles of Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc and Pinot Noir, and arranged a mixed box of Perry and Cider, both of them being despatched freight free.
There weren't any other paying customers in the Cellar Door when we arrived and between placing orders, discussing various matters and making the acquaintance of the property's watch duck, a bit of leisurely filed in a fair chunk of time.
Madam was keen to loop through Richmond and call in at the bakery after that, which killed a bit more time but had Hughesy feeling slightly queasy when thoughts of further gustatory activities reared their ugly heads.
It's twelve thirty local time as I sit in the departure lounge tapping this out, and I reckon it will be Brisbane (at least) before I start to feel even slightly peckish.
From Richmond, we made our way back to the airport, passing a couple of wineries that would have helped kill time quite effectively, though the old concerns about baggage limits meant it was deemed best to sail straight on by. Predictably, having checked The Blue Bug back in and printed out the boarding passes it turned out we had around ten kilograms to spare.
There was, however, a brief moment of semi-excitement after I'd placed my carry on stuff into the regulation trays and brought them over to the scanner. A corpulent gentleman, having forgotten he had something resembling aSwiss Army Knife in his carry on gear, managed to involve himself in a lengthy negotiation with the security operatives while Hughesy stood there, waiting in what had seemed the quicker of the two queues.