Tuesday, March 12, 2013

Day 5 – Adelaide, flight home

25 February 2013.



Today, after sleeping in a bit, has been a good one.  The only thing is that the stuff we did today could’ve easily been done in Melbourne. 

Following a brief visit to the gym while Ruthie slept in, we packed up, checked out, and went in search of breakfast.  The only problem: Ruthie’s plans for us to wander the multitudinous parks that surrounded the city required sunshine, or at least a lack of rain. 

It was still raining lightly after we’d finished our breakfast in North Adelaide, so we wandered across the street to the movie theatre.  We started our day with late morning showing of Silver Linings Playbook.  Actually, let me be more accurate: we started the day with watching the last 10 minutes of some Nicolas Sparks film which made Ruthie teary, and then we watched Silver Linings Playbook.  Turns out that finding seats 30 minutes early at this particular theatre – or at least at this particular time of day – was totally not necessarily.  But instead of potentially being disruptive twice by walking back out, we just stayed in our seats. 

Then, not one to turn down Ruthie’s movie-watching moods and considering that it was still dreary outside, we decided to double feature and returned to the lobby to refill on snacks, another soda, and tickets to Django Unchained. 

I’m happy to report that both films were enjoyable, and I’m sure watching them in Adelaide made them all the better. 

Our double feature wrapped up with enough time for dinner at a Thai restaurant and now we’re at the airport.  Our plane’s been delayed coming from Perth, and so we’re delayed getting back to Melbourne. 

Our flight out here was probably half full, first thing on Thursday morning.  But sitting here watching the terminal fill up, it looks like our flight back, late on a Monday night will be slammed full.  What makes me most nervous: the quantity of babies and small children.  Fingers crossed… [Edit: Apparently the A320 we used seats more than I’d envisioned – and no screaming babies disturbed our 1.5hr flight.]

Also, it’s been interesting to note that airport security is not nearly as strict as what we’re used to dealing with in the US.  Not only was I able to carry on multiple full bottles of liquid, but I’m pretty sure I’ve seen a couple family members escorted down to the terminal by non-flying members.  Since there was no check of boarding pass or ID, this makes sense as possible – but it’s so out of place to see that it’s still a bit startling. 

All in all, I have to say it was a really good trip.  Given how much time it takes to travel to/from/through the airport combined with flight time, I’m not entirely certain we saved heaps of time by flying to Adelaide.  But, at the end of the day, it was as much of a chance to drive parts of the Outback and other sections of Oz as it was for experiencing the other cities themselves. 

-EP

No comments:

Post a Comment