|
| 8:10am |
The time of general waking. (Whilst
there was a 3:58am waking, it wasn't general, rather merely purpose-based,
and after a drink of water and such, more sleep.) |
| 8:59am |
Yup, as I'm doing updates and such, the morning show is blathering
on and on. Apparently this morning, the Olympic Torch is moving from
Sydney, so we're getting flame-by-flame commentary as it moves along
the streets of Sydney to Bondi Beach, bound for Melbourne (to arrive
tomorrow). |
| 9:08am |
Sadly, we had to switch the set off,
so we won't get to watch any more torch-carrying. But I went for a
wander downtown, leaving Tubby behind. |
| 9:34am |
We popped into the Baker's Delight bakery by the nicer of the two
Woolworths stores (this one isn't dangerously close to where all the
backpacking college kids loiter about). Much nicer, indeed. |
| 10:03am |
Amidst the mid-morning wander, we
popped into the hair place Rachel had highlights put in her hair yesterday
whilst we were out in at Katherine
Gorge, and other such places. |
| 10:14am |
I managed to get photos with Amanda and Tuppy, but due to a technical
glitch (further explained at 2:07pm), we won't have those to share.
I did manage to squeeze out the photos of Crocodylus
Park out of the camera before it got weird, though... |
| 10:42am |
We wandered down to the shopping area
to pick up a few trinkets on Tubby's trinket list, grabbed chips at
Red Rooster, and sandwiches at Subway for the flight. After getting
back to the room, we arranged ourselves and our things to get ready
to head out. |
| 10:43am |
Oh yes, and to finish the chips, since they were still warm, and
no one likes cold chips. |
| 11:18am |
We made our way outside to wait for
the shuttle. Despite trying to request it for a specific time, the
shuttle operators told us when they would pick us up for our 1pm flight
to Adelaide. Truly a laid back place, they figured 90 minutes was
plenty of time. |
| 11:37am |
Kevin, the same delightfully angry chap whom shuttled us to the
hostel on the first, is our shuttle driver again. We loaded up, handed
over the shuttle travel voucher, and settled in. |
| 11:58am |
Only one turn-around to return to
a place Kevin neglected to stop, then we were off rumbling down the
highway toward the airport. |
| 12:16pm |
The shuttle arrived at the airport, Kevin helped the coach belch
out everyone's luggage before he scurried off again. We made our way
indoors, and while there was a queue, it moved along famously. |
| 12:26pm |
Check-in was a breeze, as was the
security screening. Just a few minutes after grabbing all of our bits
and pieces from the security x-ray belt, we found ourselves at Gate
1 and waiting for the boarding call. |
| 12:37pm |
Success! Without separation of business class and those in steerage
economy, we all piled aboard and settled into our seats. |
| 1:00pm |
Despite the announced departure time
being right now, that seemed likely given the ground crew still tossing
bags on board, with several carts left to go. |
| 1:14pm |
Our baggage was the last to be loaded, first with Rachel's bag being
tossed aboard, then the much larger combination Tubby-Frank bag. (I
think it was also handled in a more respectful manner than the former's
luggage, but I may have a bias.) |
| 1:19pm |
We pushed off of the gate, but ended
up sitting on the tarmac for a bit longer. That gave me a moment to
glance around and note the military aircraft, including two U.S. Air
Force planes, big ones like a C-5, sitting on side airstrips. (Which
reminded me of a comment Wayne made yesterday on the tour to the effect
that the Royal Australian Air Force "owns" the Darwin airport,
and lets the civilians use it... go figure, eh?) |
| 1:24pm |
Flight 757 in our 737-800 rumbled down the runway and into the blue
skies. |
| 2:04pm |
The lunch crew comes by offering snacks
and, well, lunch. Or so I thought. After stopping with row 18 or 19
(we're in 21), they continued back with the bar without any thought
for the rest of us. Bugger. (Good thing I brought my own sandwich,
huh.) |
| 2:07pm |
It seems our flight attendants enjoy a good lark as much as the
next chap. They returned and lunch was served. As we did our daily
updates, I found that someone (Tubby) goofed up the computer's ability
to read the photo card, and all the photos taken this morning were
wiped out. But I didn't find that out until we were on the plane. |
| 3:25pm |
Once again, Tubby and I stretched
the boundaries of the laptop's battery, and it completely konked out,
so he switched to back-up power (a Dale Brown paperback), and I went
into hibernate mode (took a nap). Up on the televisions, it's 50 First
Dates with Adam Sandler and Drew Barrymore... which we saw in February. |
| 4:29pm |
We landed in Adelaide a bit ahead of the promised arrival time of
4:35pm. |
| 4:30pm |
As we began gathering our bits and
pieces, we had occasion to meet the folks in the row seating behind
us (mum Teresa, dad Jeff, and the adorable, but not-yet-3-year-old
Isabelle. (Unlike Tilly of days ago, Isabelle was chatting happily
throughout the flight, singing, and having a go with the set of kiddie's
amusements, featuring Vegemite crayons and activity book, playing
cards, and other tidbits.) It seems this is her seventh flight, and
she's quite the veteran of air travel. |
| 4:45pm |
Whilst waiting for our luggage at the carousel, we met up again
with Isabelle and her parents, and with her grandmother joining them.
Rachel chatted a bit more with mum Teresa, as Isabelle seemed delighted
to have recognized the chaps on my backpack as SpongeBob. I was properly
introduced to Isabelle, and even though she didn't quite know what
I was (a duck wasn't an option chosen), she seemed keen on taking
me home, and looked a little disappointed that I would not be able
to nest amongst her other toys. (She was eager to get home to them,
too, having been in Darwin on holiday; it seems dad is working on
the railroad, and is finally home after a six-month assignment up
north.) |
| 4:58pm |
We make way to the Skylink stop, and
find the shuttle is an hourly service running between here and the
hotel, but the next departure isn't until 5:30pm. |
| 5:02pm |
After a taxi driver tried to incite several shuttle stop folks to
the taxis ("Taxis are cheaper than the shuttle."), we head
inside and set up shop -- laptop, set the luggage down, and find a
Diet Pepsi to sip upon. |
| 5:20pm |
The shuttle, driven by Denis, showed
up a bit earlier than I'd expected, but I managed to gather my things
just in time to find out he's early, and we'd be at the kerb for another
10 minutes. Alas, at least we're prepared. |
| 5:31pm |
After waiting for two others that were allegedly to join our 5:30pm
shuttle, we were off, and they didn't make it. |
| 5:57pm |
We arrived at the Director's Studio
hotel outfit, checked in, and Sharlene (from Nelson, New Zealand)
gave us some suggestions of things to go and see. We thanked her for
her kind advice, and ventured upstairs to unpack. |
| 6:28pm |
We'd have left the room earlier, but it seems the Lisa Gets a Pony
episode of The Simpsons detained us unnecessarily.
And this was the late shopping night stores are generally open until
9pm, whereas most other nights only 9:30pm. |
| 7:02pm |
A walk out of the hotel and toward
the shopping district revealed two things: first, the people don't
wear enough hats, and second, they enjoy shopping, while not wearing
those hats. |
| 7:16pm |
We passed by a lovely fountain in Victoria
Square. So we snapped a photo. |
| 7:40pm |
Along the shopping mall stood The
Reject Store. Tubby figured that the motto, "Where everyone's
a winner" meant yes, even he, might find something worthwhile.
(The logic being he is part of the group "everyone", although
not everyone is him; sort of a Venn Diagram sort of thing.) Anyway,
we did stumble across some interesting
candies we didn't buy, but Tubby did purchase several rolls of
1.5 meter long gum, after his roll was nefariously chewed by person(s)
unidentified in this forum. |
| 7:53pm |
The shopping area itself is several blocks long, and rather
pleasant to stroll about. But the call to snack and sleep took
hold, so we began heading back. |
| 8:38pm |
We're back all snuggled into our penthouse
room (Level 3 of 3 levels possible). As I posted things, the carbon-based
life-forms chose between Evolution on the tube, or the Miss
Universe finals (despite us previously having seen Miss Australia
earlier this week). I'm beginning to think I should have let Isabelle
adopt me. |
| 10:11pm |
Enough of these good times. After getting the last three days of
updates posted (32.5 MB and nearly 4 hours later), it's time for sleepy
eyes. Ta! |
| 10:23pm |
Sorry, I'm really going to sleep now...
I just had to see the end of Evolution. |
| |
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