Wednesday, 23 October 2013
A seven-forty flight meant an early start, and we'd booked a cab for six-fifteen so you might think four-thirty's a tad early to be up and about. It did, however, give me a good half hour of wake up activities before the shower and a good hour to prepare for departure. I could have done with a bit more shut eye action, but the dryer drama and persistent rumblings in the thunderstorm department got in the way of that. It was just on 5:59 when we shut the door and headed to Reception, and around 6:05 when the taxis started arriving at the front door.
I'd been sent to check when the first one lobbed, but, no he wasn't looking for a booking. Neither was #2 on the rank. When I headed inside Reception informed us that cabs arrive at regular intervals from this time onwards, so if we weren't there we weren't diddling the dude out of a fare. There is obviously plenty of taxi traffic out of Meriton Zetland in the mornings.
We were back outside heading for the top of the queue when a third cab arrived, quoting the relevant room number, so that was that sorted out, thank you very much.
And just as well. Driver Dude was one of the nicest, chattier cabbies I've encountered. He might have been happier with a slightly higher fare, and it might have been cheaper to grab #1 on the rank and save the booking charge, but things worked out rather well all round. Hopefully he picked up a big fare in front of Arrivals.
The minor dramas continued after we'd checked in.
Sydney Airport at that hour of the morning sits right in the post code next door to Bedlam, particularly as you approach Security Screening. In my haste to bundle things into the tray, I bundled some things on top of the wing of the reading glasses, which meant I was in the market for a new pair once we'd been scanned and scoped.
Actually, I didn't mind. That particular left side wing of the frame had been threatening to snap off for a while, and it could have happened in a less favorable situation. Down the escalator, glance straight ahead and there's a pharmacy. I might have preferred to pay less than $24.95 for a pair if reading glasses, but these are a far sturdier model than the previous pair. A ten dollar bill and most of the shrapnel in the coin purse meant the pocket was considerably lighter as we made our way to Gate 39.
Once we were there I set about separating the string that allowed me to hang the old pair around my neck, and successfully broke that as well. Add one more item to the shopping list.
Boarding ran smoothly, but there was some sort of technical issue that delayed departure by around forty minutes. Taxiing out to the runway it was obvious that overnight drizzle had removed much of yesterday's smoke haze, though one couldn't tell whether it had any impact on the flames to the west of us.
A window seat on the left hand side on a southbound flight prevented any glimpse of the fire situation once the aircraft banked around over last night's accommodation, so I'm none the wiser in that department.
In any case, with the Travelogue once again up to date somewhere over Bass Strait, it's Clochemerle time again.