Best laid plans
It’s a miracle I made it to Sydney and back. Let me break it down for you.3:00 pm – Santi and I head into the CBD to meet up with Nasser and Bader. We drive around for yonks looking for a park. Finally we get one, valid til 4:00 pm on Elizabeth Street. After that, it’s a clearway til 7 pm. We do the Pay N Display thing and head down to see Santi’s mates. The idea is, Santi is driving me to the airport, for a 7:00 pm flight. So far, so good.
4:15 pm – I start getting jittery and wonder whether we should head. So, we take our leave and leg it down to the car.
4:30 pm – The car is not there. Santi loses the plot. I look up at the Clearway sign and try and explain the concept. Not getting through to Santi. He starts to blame me. “You said it was fine to park here!” I tried to explain, I had just checked that we could park and that he only had to pay til 4 pm. I didn’t realise he didn’t know…argh.. you get the drift.
4:40 pm – Santi is majorly stressing out, as if HE were the one about to miss a flight. Traffic is intensifying, he’s moaning about having to pay an extra $200 for a rental car and not knowing where to pick it up. I’m thinking on my feet, as fast as I can. I spot a police box, head straight in and ask them where to go for towed cars from Elizabeth Street. The guys laugh at me and tell Santi he’s never gonna see the car again. Santi blanches. I raise my eyebrows and curl my lip in a “I’m not impressed, here, guys” kind of expression. They give me the address. Santi’s blabbing, “I can’t go to Newstead and back to your place in time to take you to the airport and be back in time to meet Penny for dinner.” I put him in a cab, run up the street to find my bus stop.
4:45 pm – I text Grace, begging for a lift. She rings me back and asks if I can be at my place at 5:00 pm. “No way in hell”, is my answer. We settle on 5:20.
4:50 pm – the 195 arrives. Not the 199. So I stew through the traffic until we get to the Sol Breads bus stop on Vulture Street.
5:00 pm – I’m still walking up Hardgrave Road as I spot the 199. I run to the bus stop and just manage to jump on before it takes off.
5:10 pm – I’m powering down Ryan Street, making record time, until I get to my driveway. I open the door, rush in, add a few things to my luggage, change clothes, shoes and run out the door again.
5:25 pm – As I’m checking my handbag for wallet, boarding pass and keys, Grace arrives. She bundles me into the car, jabbering that we’ve still gotta pick up Bec, her friend, who’s going to the airport on the same flight as me.
5:45 pm – We arrive in Spring Hill, just off Gregory Terrace. Grace bounds into the house. No Bec. Seconds later, an unamused Bec is dragging her luggage down the hill as fast as she can, smoke coming out of her ears.
5:50 pm – We’re on our way, snaking out through the back of the Valley to avoid the traffic and rejoining at Kingsford Smith drive, just after Brekky Creek. Bec is bemoaning her luck, certain that she’s going to miss her flight. Moi, I’m cool. I know the route like the back of my hand and I know we’ll get there by 6:15
6:10 pm – Simone calls. My stomach flutters, but my voice remains steady. After a bit of light banter, we establish that we’ll both be on planes in opposite directions Monday morning, so I won’t even get to see her before she flies off to New Zealand. All that pent up energy. All those expectations. *sigh*
6:15 pm – Grace squirrels into a parking spot in the middle of the busiest ever passenger drop off in the history of Brisbane. Bec opens the door and does a James Bond lunge for the departure hall. I step out of thecar, retrive my luggage from the boot and give Grace a hug. Thank God for Web check-in.
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home