Quick trip

Quick trip to Sydney starting yesterday morning.

Tram to train to bus to Airport! Boarding pass. Security. Plane.

Land. Top up Opal card. Train to train across the bridge.

Exit train. Walk in a large circle trying to find which direction will take me to building E7A. Google maps spins round and round until I tell it to stop trying to point in the direction it thinks I am pointing. Ok. That way. 

Floor seven.

Hi! I made it!

Lunch. Cockatoos across the lawn. I order the chocolate pudding.

Forty-five minutes to look over my talk.

Talk!

Reception.

Small tummy ache. Stinky noises. Excuse me. (Maybe it was the chocolate pudding.)

Hotel. Alone in the room decorated in browns, grays, and beiges. Evening on the plastic chair in the corner, writing a test for the class I'm teaching next week.

Clean teeth. Pajamas. Bed.

Sleep.

Cold!

Fumble in the dark for the button to turn on the heater. Put jacket on over pajamas. Lump all the pillows on top of the blankets. Shiver.

Sleep.

Hot!

Fumble in the dark for the button to turn off the heater. Throw the pillows onto the floor.

Sleep.

Alarm. Sigh.

Clean teeth. Clothes.

Call home, briefly.

Hotel breakfast in browns, grays, and beiges. Sticky floor. Spots on the dishes. Room key doesn't work. Hotel desk. Room key works.

Pack up. Check out.

Lovely weather. Brief walk around campus.

Back to the train station.

Surprise! Train station closed. Buses replacing trains.

Cross street, find bus. Board bus. Sit on bus. Sit on bus. Sit on bus. Check time. Heart rate rises!

Pull out phone and start mapping alternate routes. Sit on bus. Sit on bus.

Escape bus!

Hurry to taxi rank. Hop on taxi.

Sit on taxi. Sit on taxi. Sit on taxi. Check time. Sit on taxi.

Onto the toll road!

Tunnel to tunnel to traffic to tunnel to tunnel.

Airport!

Seventy-dollars.

Print boarding pass.

Security. Phew! Made it.

Wait.

Board. Fly. Sleep. Headache.

Lunch. Juice.

Land. Headache.

Disembark.

Bus to train station ---

Wow, the weather is great! And the fresh air helps the headache.

Skip the train. Walk along Southbank.

Tram.

Home.

Ah.

The end.