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Year View| Summary| Highlights| Month View| Thursday 24 June 2004 (Day View)

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24.06.2004 – Thursday 24 June – No Flights & Pizza

• I had to book an airfare home. I discovered that airfares aren’t cheap this time of year. The cheapest was around $355, with many being more than $1000, and going via Sydney or Townsville. I guess lots of holidaymakers are clogging up my travel space. After considering several options, such as sharing petrol money with buxom Swedish tourists who are scared of spiders, wide open spaces and the dangerous outback but want to drive to Cairns, or couriering myself express in a large box covered in “fragile – no forks” stickers, I decided that the $180 tilt train was the best option. The tilt train leaves Friday evening, and Monday evening, and takes a full twenty-five hours to get to Cairns. I’d originally planned to get the Friday evening train, which would have got me into Cairns Saturday evening, and I could then have got a Sunday evening flight to Cooktown.

Evening

• Having decided what I was doing, I headed into uni and spent the evening with Marcus and Clint, buying pizza, watching them play Counter Strike, and various other exhilarating experiences that I have forgotten or repressed. By the time I got home, I’d decided that leaving tomorrow evening wasn’t a good idea. It would mean I’d have to stay up all night so I was tired, pack, clean, sort the computer, and generally panic. I’d also miss a party Friday night – and just didn’t feel like rushing around. I had a chat to Mum, and decided to take the Monday train, arriving Tuesday evening and flying Wednesday morning into Cooktown – this happily decided, I went to sleep.

Tomorrow

• Then, when I woke up tomorrow, I checked airfares again before phoning the rail centre to book the train, and discovered a $190 flight on Wednesday. After a bit of considering and a phone call home, I decided to take this flight instead of the train, meaning I’ll now get into Cooktown Wednesday evening, rather than morning, but I’ll have a few more days down here to relax and pack, and only two hours on a plane compared to twenty-five on a train. But wait, this is tomorrow...