This week Danita & I flew to Melbourne. We decided to take public transport as that would make it a bit of an adventure. Leaving the house we each had 3 pieces of luggage – a large suitcase, a carry-on bag and either the laptop or a handbag (just to clarify – I had the laptop). The house we’ve been living in is at the bottom of a very steep hill with the railway station at the top. About half-way up the hill we were both thinking we really should have booked a taxi. Also, it was starting to rain.
Just then a car stopped on the other side of the road and the lady offered us a lift. This was someone we’d never met before and so it was really special. Of course, we gratefully accepted and arrived at the train station much earlier than we’d planned. This was excellent as Danita & I are both happier being early rather than late.
At the station we’d purchased our tickets (having stood in a queue for quite a while as one of the ticket machines was broken and it was peak hour). A couple of people directed us towards the lift – very useful when juggling lots of luggage. Naturally, we got different sets of directions from two different people but once they’d discussed it they did point us in the right direction. This information was also offered without us asking – very thoughtful of them.
On the train we managed to get a seat – pretty amazing given that we were travelling at peak hour.
So by the time we arrived at Central Station we were feeling generally in harmony with the universe.
Of course everything in the universe is in balance and so just as we were feeling at one with everything it all went pear-shaped.
We needed to change trains to get to the airport. By the time we got to Central we both were in need of a bathroom. Unfortunately, the toilets at Central are outside the gates. Thinking the ticket machine would recognise that we were in transit I put my ticket into the slot to receive the message “Ticket Captured”. I now had visions of being trapped on the outside of the gates and then when & if I did get to the airport of having no ticket. Feeling somewhat annoyed by this situation I slammed my hand down on the offending machine which drew the attention of a couple of security people. I explained my dilemma and they helped out by calling an attendant who was able to open the machine and retrieve my ticket – phew!! By the time all this was sorted and Danita had also gone to the bathroom (with less trauma than my visit) we were running late for our airport train.
Thankfully, Sydney trains don’t run on time – a situation for which I was very grateful.
At the airport we checked-in using the automated machines and felt delighted we didn’t have to get into the (very long) queue. Huh!!! Tricked again. Because we’d arrived earlier than the 30 minutes before the flight the luggage dropoff counter wasn’t yet open. Hence, we had to join the queue. After gradually working our way through the line we eventually made it to the counter just as the luggage dropoff counter was opened (somewhere else).
Flying Jetstar is something only for people less than 5 foot tall – leg room seems to be an unknown concept. Since it was only an hour flight we managed to survive but on alighting found ourselves to be candidates for the Ministry of Silly Walks (see Monty Python).
Clearly the universe had decided we’d balanced the morning’s numinousness and our luggage came out first at baggage collection (now there’s a first!!). Onto the shuttle bus into the city (and we managed to be at the head of the queue).
By the time we arrived in the city it was definitely lunch time. We like healthier food and Danita is wheat intolerant so fast food outlets are generally not an option. We went wandering the nearby streets of Melbourne and eventually found a place which (according to the menu) looked like it had reasonable options. Unfortunately, the meal turned out to be cold and rather dried out – not great but at least we were slightly less hungry.
Next was the train to Frankston – a very pleasant trip of about an hour. We arrived in Frankston at taxi change-over time; a queue of people (another one) but not a taxi in sight. We stood around in the cold for some time and after some calls from other people in the queue eventually taxis started to arrive. We had a driver who was very talkative, berating us for bringing the Sydney weather – like we had any say in it!
Arrived at my daughter’s house and settled in for a delightful few days with her, her husband and children. Overall an enjoyable adventure and start to our time away.