Day 92 – Perth to Melbourne – Kids in confined spaces!!!Oct 21, 2009
|
|
My first thought upon waking up this morning, ‘We need to get a 4 year old and a 15 month old to the other side of the country in a pressurized aluminum tube. Not something any sane person should look forward to………or possibly attempt….but who has ever called me sane?
We locked up the van to it could be towed into storage and then dropped ‘mater off for service. The Holden place near the airport has offered to store the car for us and give us a lift to airport. It seems like great service but I am afraid of the bill. The dealership in Cairns seemed to have a 75% surcharge on interstate cars…but they were Queenslanders.
Aaron has developed a habit where every time he sees a plane, he points to it and rather loudy screams ‘Daaaah’. Kind of cute when you are in your own car, but in a busy terminal, it probably annoyed a few people…..too bad! By the time the flight departed at about 10:30 Aaron had already fallen asleep in my arms so he missed another takeoff. The little champion managed to sleep for about 90 minutes so we were over ‘the bight’ by the time he woke up.
Now as anyone who has been on a plane in the last 10 years will know there is not much space between your knees and the seat in front. Picture this - a rather large 15 month old on your lap and trying to fold your tray table down for a meal. It doesn’t work. The solution I discovered is sweet talk the lovely woman in front of you to slowly pass sections of your meal to you over the top of her chair. This is easier if you are married to said lovely lady.
I used to look forward to the peace and isolation of air travel. Knowing mobiles, pagers and e-mails could not reach you and all you could do to pass the time was read, watch a movie, sleep or have a drink. It’s fair to say travelling with a 15 month old takes away a lot of this appeal.
Evan as always was the seasoned traveler. Understandable as he now has nearly 20 flights under his belt. Not bad for 4 and a half. He followed our progress on the map and made the most of the kids’ pack colouring in and doing the puzzles. His highlight was dessert, a strawberry cornetto (trumpets in WA speak) which he made the most of before it covered him and everything he was wearing.
In spite of what we put these two boys through, they continue to amaze us with what they are capable of. Drive halfway around the country in a box on wheels, no problem! Fly across the country – easy. My parents gave me the travel bug when I was a kid. I sometimes wonder what all of this is doing to Aaron and Ev. When they grow up they will probably never leave home.
Once in Melbourne we had the misfortune to have a car booked with Red Spot car rentals. Seriously, pay extra and get a decent car. The car was dented, unclean, the paperwork was seriously dodgy and the thing was not even full. It is going back the same way. The car itself is a Nissan Tiida, Not only a silly name, a lousy car to drive.
Sorry if you drive a Nissan Tiida. Not sorry for my comments, sorry you are driving one. It was not quite as bad as the Mexican built Nissan we drove in Cancun but it is in a similar league. The Dodge Neon rounds out the top three.
It is probably an indication of how much we are enjoying the ‘caravanning lifestyle’ that with all of the choices of accommodation in Melbourne we chose to stay in, you guessed it, a caravan park. Ok this time we needed a cabin rather than a site. It’s funny - at dinner time my first thought was to go outside to the BBQ’s and when you need the loo you head for the door before realizing there is a bathroom built in. (the caravan does havea bathroom but if you use it you need to clean it so we use someone else’ s)
Melbourne has thrown us tonight. It is 8pm local time so the body clock is at 5pm. Not an unusual issue but what is compounding the problem is that everywhere we have been in the last 3 months does not believe in daylight saving so it is pitch black. In Melbourne at 8pm there is still a little bit of light on the horizon. The boys were so exhausted they just crashed….and embarrassingly Al and I crashed soon after at about 7pm Perth time. Like Merl and Earl, just after ‘Deal or no deal’ and a nice cuppa tea…..I like that Andrew O’keefe, he’s a nice boy, not like his uncle, he was a bit ‘fiery.’
