Getting There is Half the Problem

We Australians know a thing or two about travel. That's because of where we live. It was Paul Keating who once described Darwin as the arse end of the world (compared to other world cities) and most Australians and lots of Darwinians took it on the chin, broadly agreeing with his description.

However, it strikes me that maybe Paul had it only half right, that in fact Australia itself is at the arse end of the world and for us to get anywhere, we have to travel a hell of a long way. In deed the northern hemisphere is where a lot of the action happens. It's not the only place of course, but it would it be a brave tourist who decried Europe, the UK, Canada, and the US as boring, nothing much happening and nothing to see here. Trouble is, they're such a bloody long way from we live.

This means that a trip to Europe from Australia is a good twenty hours away, the UK, twenty two hours and to the US, it's a fourteen hour flight. Now I write this little piece sitting in a relatively pokey but comfortable apartment in San Francisco having just completed the said fourteen hours of economy class to get here.

Now it was an uneventful flight, I must say. That's how you want them. A passenger jet this very day landed in Toronto and flipped over onto its back on the runway with all souls, crew and passengers escaping with their lives. No, our flight had a head wind which made us late by half an hour. I can live with that.

But by God, I am buggered. I did not sleep at all, which means I have been awake for twenty four hours. Seating was as comfortable that cattle class can be, an aisle seat and a middle seat. Chris and I got up four or fives times to go to the toilet for non-existent wees just to get up, stretch and go for a wander to move our bodies. The first eight hours was okay, but the second six hours was a challenge.

Of course, we had our Cabot neck pillows, novels to read, downloaded music to listen to and movies and television to watch. But by hour eleven, I just wanted to rip every piece of clothing I was wearing off and set fire to my shoes.

However, I did watch two movies. Juror No 2 with Nicholas Hault, and Caddo Lake with Dylan O'Brien. Both three stars, the first, a modern take on Twelve Angry Men, this time with a twist that the original did not possess, and the second, a mystery thriller with a touch of the supernatural about it. Both fun, and some great acting in both. I also watched two episodes of Veep. I tried to read my new novel but could not start it due to the aches and pains in my body. The concentration was just not there.

Anyway, we made it in one piece and are happy to be here though sore, stiff and extremely tired. We've been out for a beer and had a walk marvelling once again at SF's architecture. And of course, the WAYMOs, San Francisco's driverless cars. They are ubiquitous now. Who knows, we might try one.

We won't push too hard tomorrow.Read more