West Wandering: The Flight To Perth
When last I posted I told you about our pre-departure stuff in Sydney.
This (and the next few) posts will be going off my dodgy recollection, as I have not had any time to post.
So, the flight to perth is only half the story, or more likely a third of it - as quite a few things occurred before and afterward.
My mother had suggested that my brother drive us to the airport. This would be appealing, as it would mean that we didn't have to leave quite so early, but caused Shannon a lot of apprehension about allowing someone else to driver her baby car. In the end we caved in to letting Kieran drive us, since we had some small shopping to do beforehand. He got us there with plenty of time to spare, and just as well too.
So, we checked in and headed into the departure lounges - through those wonderful metal detectors and x-ray machines. Low and behold, I beeped as we went through, and after a wand sweep and squeal, I was directed to take off my boots and put them through the x-ray. 40 centimetres height of lacing takes a while to undo, and even more to do up, so I wa suitably miffed. As they passed through the machine, the operator stopped it and took a very close look at the boots. The metal plate on the side with the logo showed up, so did the eyelets - but grabbed his attention was something the same color as the metal in the soles. There was a strip of something in the soles! I thought - well, that's it, they're gonna confiscate my shoes off me. I was lucky. I got them back, and intact, I just had to flop around in them till we arrived at the hotel.
Finding our gate, we also found a very bored looking GST Requiem - one Mark "Duck" Clutton - who as it turns out was on the same flight us us - yay! We boarded and found our seats, got the safety demo, and took to the sky for a 4 hour flight. Despite being advised by my brother who works for the airline we were flying, I did not change seats, and there was quite enough room where I was. This of course didn't stop me from getting up, wandering around, and chatting to Duck whilst in flight. It was good to catch up.
The only drawback of the flight - the Loo. You have to be a midget or a child to get in there, and not only am I neither, but I am a large man. Someone prior to me had watered the floor with urine, but I felt a little less disgusted when I attempted the physics of it myself, and found it bloody hard to work the equipment without watering it.
Landing in Perth we dismounted the virgin after a bloody good time, and headed in. I spotted some guy with a Decepticon t-shirt, and remarked on his fine choice of attire to Shannon. We collected bags, and tried to figure out our plan of action. Duck was getting a lift with Ben Szymcof, and we hoped to fit in the vehicle too. I pointed out the guy with the Decepticon t-shirt to Duck (he being an old school transformers fan), and he said "You know, I think that's Ben." It was too.
Ben was not at all what I expected - which is what I'd been told to expect from Duck. He had a length of hair tied back, and a kind of a slink to his walk, which totally contradicted the level of excitement often given in his voice. His other half, Pam was very much a contradiction to him, but they suited each other well. We packed into their vehicle and they took us to the Goodearth Hotel, where Shannon and I checked in, and headed off with them again for a meal. It was good to get to know these two that I talk to online and via email so often, but had not met till now. From there we headed back to the Hotel, where he dropped Shannon and I off and they headed home.
We got a bit of time to absorb the fact that we had a room then - as it had been quite on the go till that stage. The room itself was basically one 15 metre (if that) long rectangular thing with a balcony, lounge, queen bed, kitchenette and bathroom all on the 6th floor. The balcony gave us a great view of the ABC car-park and the high-rise constructions going on, and if you craned your neck to the right, you got a pretty good view of the Swann River. Shannon decided to crash then and there - while I decided to call Craig Wakeford who was apparently looking for something to do that night.
I met Craig in the hotel foyer, and we headed off in his car. He showed me a couple of sights and things around perth, particularly things to do with the Camarilla games, such as Kings Park (his character's haven), and the Westralian (a place the Invictus own). We ended up in a restaurant called the Blue Duck, where he had dinner, and we both had drinks. We talked a lot of Cam game talk, particularly vampire stuff. Adjourning from there we had a brief walk before settling an another drinking establishment and sharing a few, and continuing the conversations, this time much more Mage focused. It was all in all very pleasant, and since I hadn't seen Craig in person since Sydney Conclave in 2003, it was good to catch up.
Of course, I had to head back and retire, as while in West Australia the night was young, it was morning by my NSW body clock. I stumbled in, set my alarm (early morning start) and crashed.
Next Time: Perth - Conclave Day 1
This (and the next few) posts will be going off my dodgy recollection, as I have not had any time to post.
So, the flight to perth is only half the story, or more likely a third of it - as quite a few things occurred before and afterward.
My mother had suggested that my brother drive us to the airport. This would be appealing, as it would mean that we didn't have to leave quite so early, but caused Shannon a lot of apprehension about allowing someone else to driver her baby car. In the end we caved in to letting Kieran drive us, since we had some small shopping to do beforehand. He got us there with plenty of time to spare, and just as well too.
So, we checked in and headed into the departure lounges - through those wonderful metal detectors and x-ray machines. Low and behold, I beeped as we went through, and after a wand sweep and squeal, I was directed to take off my boots and put them through the x-ray. 40 centimetres height of lacing takes a while to undo, and even more to do up, so I wa suitably miffed. As they passed through the machine, the operator stopped it and took a very close look at the boots. The metal plate on the side with the logo showed up, so did the eyelets - but grabbed his attention was something the same color as the metal in the soles. There was a strip of something in the soles! I thought - well, that's it, they're gonna confiscate my shoes off me. I was lucky. I got them back, and intact, I just had to flop around in them till we arrived at the hotel.
Finding our gate, we also found a very bored looking GST Requiem - one Mark "Duck" Clutton - who as it turns out was on the same flight us us - yay! We boarded and found our seats, got the safety demo, and took to the sky for a 4 hour flight. Despite being advised by my brother who works for the airline we were flying, I did not change seats, and there was quite enough room where I was. This of course didn't stop me from getting up, wandering around, and chatting to Duck whilst in flight. It was good to catch up.
The only drawback of the flight - the Loo. You have to be a midget or a child to get in there, and not only am I neither, but I am a large man. Someone prior to me had watered the floor with urine, but I felt a little less disgusted when I attempted the physics of it myself, and found it bloody hard to work the equipment without watering it.
Landing in Perth we dismounted the virgin after a bloody good time, and headed in. I spotted some guy with a Decepticon t-shirt, and remarked on his fine choice of attire to Shannon. We collected bags, and tried to figure out our plan of action. Duck was getting a lift with Ben Szymcof, and we hoped to fit in the vehicle too. I pointed out the guy with the Decepticon t-shirt to Duck (he being an old school transformers fan), and he said "You know, I think that's Ben." It was too.
Ben was not at all what I expected - which is what I'd been told to expect from Duck. He had a length of hair tied back, and a kind of a slink to his walk, which totally contradicted the level of excitement often given in his voice. His other half, Pam was very much a contradiction to him, but they suited each other well. We packed into their vehicle and they took us to the Goodearth Hotel, where Shannon and I checked in, and headed off with them again for a meal. It was good to get to know these two that I talk to online and via email so often, but had not met till now. From there we headed back to the Hotel, where he dropped Shannon and I off and they headed home.
We got a bit of time to absorb the fact that we had a room then - as it had been quite on the go till that stage. The room itself was basically one 15 metre (if that) long rectangular thing with a balcony, lounge, queen bed, kitchenette and bathroom all on the 6th floor. The balcony gave us a great view of the ABC car-park and the high-rise constructions going on, and if you craned your neck to the right, you got a pretty good view of the Swann River. Shannon decided to crash then and there - while I decided to call Craig Wakeford who was apparently looking for something to do that night.
I met Craig in the hotel foyer, and we headed off in his car. He showed me a couple of sights and things around perth, particularly things to do with the Camarilla games, such as Kings Park (his character's haven), and the Westralian (a place the Invictus own). We ended up in a restaurant called the Blue Duck, where he had dinner, and we both had drinks. We talked a lot of Cam game talk, particularly vampire stuff. Adjourning from there we had a brief walk before settling an another drinking establishment and sharing a few, and continuing the conversations, this time much more Mage focused. It was all in all very pleasant, and since I hadn't seen Craig in person since Sydney Conclave in 2003, it was good to catch up.
Of course, I had to head back and retire, as while in West Australia the night was young, it was morning by my NSW body clock. I stumbled in, set my alarm (early morning start) and crashed.
Next Time: Perth - Conclave Day 1