Day 37 - Across the Tasman Sea. G’Day from Oz.

​Whilst today has not entirely gone to plan, I am now safely in my hotel in Brisbane! 

I was awoken this morning in Christchurch by the sound of chainsaws doing work on a nearby tree. Dad suggested that they might not think 8am to be early. I politely disagreed! Still, it gave me ample time to then finish packing and check out of my apartment.

My plan had been to leave my suitcase at reception, and to go and do some final caching in Christchurch before going to the airport. Annoyingly, reception was closed this morning so I had to leave with my suitcase. I used this as an excuse to visit my favourite cafe nearby and to enjoy a pot of tea and my beloved banana bread. I got chatting to both the (super friendly) cafe owner and also a lady, originally from the UK, who was sat at a table next to me. It was a pleasant way of passing time. 

I then caught the bus to the airport and used my extra time there to get a virtual geocache (to do with the statue below), do some shopping and have a yummy lunch. I also very much enjoyed overhearing a young girl in conversation with her parents. They had been visiting Christchurch to meet her new-born cousin. Cue questions about how her aunt had grown her cousin in her tummy…. I may have LOL-ed. 

I did also have to use all my self-restraint to not buy this from duty free:

The flight left slightly late, and I slightly felt like banging my head against the seat in front of me when the man next to me decided the flight was a good time to give his (grown up) son a lesson in finance, covering government bonds, hedge funds, fiat money, inflation and…. I put in my headphones at this point!

It was not all that long into the flight when they put out a call for any medical professionals. It turns out that an elderly lady was having chest pains. We did continue to Brisbane but were met there by paramedics. Luckily the lady seemed to be ok. 

I navigated my way through security, baggage reclaim, biosecurity and the train station to make it into central Brisbane. My hotel was allegedly a 12 minute walk from the station. To be fair to Google, I had not told it that I needed to drag a wheelie suitcase up the hills with me. Maybe I should have stuck to my rucksack from interrailing….

I was VERY happy to get to the hotel, where I got checked in and met Andy, my tour manager, who gave me my tour stash. I’m not going to lie, I’m not sure I need another backpack and water bottle (nice through they are!), and shall we maybe just say that the T-shirt is ‘not my style’!?

I am now in the hotel bar, enjoying a Diet Coke, and realising what I probably should have worked out - I am definitely going to be lowering the average age, average alcohol intake, and average number of Y chromosomes on the tour. Still, am looking forward to meeting everyone properly tomorrow (and enjoying the fact that I am not jet-lagged!)