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Oh, I dunno. I've occasionally found myself accidentally in the wrong seat and had the "owner" not say a word. I figured I was just paying it forward. I'm sure she would have moved if I'd asked and it wasn't as if the view out was going to be captivating. Besides, she was pregnant and I think...

Thanks for the kind words! As it happens, I am a writer. I write under a variety of noms-de-plume and regularly publish stories, mostly on Medium.com but I've also been published in two anthologies this year. Actual printed books, mind. I make a modest part-time income from writing. I might be...

One pissed-off cabbie I was on my feet and racing as soon as the door opened. striding mightily down the hall to baggage claim and customs. This is where the Apple AirTag comes in handy, but still, it was a while before my big yellow bag came along, even though I was quite sure by now that it...

Well, it was mostly me getting crook in New Zealand and having a coughpy day of it but there's more to come.

Hurry up and wait At least Auckland has enough Qantas flights that the checkin and lounge are both open. I carried my bags off the big orange bus feeling that I had arrived at a safe haven. Here I could ditch my bag, hunt around for some electrolytes - whatever they might be - find a cosy corner...

Frazzle Travel As it was, I slept a little past my ten AM checkout. My friend Megan with the car offered to drive me and my bags somewhere but as she appeared in rattling good health and humour I declined the kind offer in case I was infectious with something nasty. By this stage I was pretty...

Sunday was the final day of the gathering. A brunch at ten, some would be leaving early, say our farewells, promise to meet again at local groups, in Finland next April, and/or Adelaide next November. My Auckland flight to Sydney and then to Canberra was leaving at 1725. So long as I caught the...

I remember discussing this question at the Amsterdam convention in 2010. e-books were just starting to become a thing but of course there's nothing to label and leave, short of dropping your Kindle on a park bench or something.

Waiheke wandering I won't describe every meal, every morsel, every merlot. Waiheke is famous for hosting Neil Gaiman's wife Amanda F Palmer during the pandemic and the time of closed borders. She remembers it with mixed emotions. Quite a large island, full of beaches, rolling green hills...

Well, having had a pregnant wife and daughter two times each, that thought struck me as well. Nevertheless, I wasn't going to argue with her, and if she looked meaningfully at me, I was up and out of my seat and smiling. Poor love, she'll have even more hardship once the baby's out. At least the...

Taking a Trip out to Waiheke Island, Hoping the Weather is Fine Immigration was the usual thorough New Zealand affair. I've been through any number of times and make sure my boots are clean, I have no food etc. etc. I looked carefully at the card and marked that I'd been in contact with farm...

Heh. Most kind. I like writing travel stories. Especially now I'm back home and back to normal. It was pretty rough for a bit there. I have another night and day of story before things get grim, so enjoy the ride. I'll give a warning when it's time to fasten seatbelts and hand out the airsick bags.

Kangaroo hop over the Tasman Security in Melbourne is efficient, but not so a rather long walk through Dutyfreeland, a place that holds little interest for me nowadays. The Qantas lounge is in a basement and I think fond thoughts of the Flounge above with a view over the airport, attentive...

Whispering Down to Melbourne Friday 13 October 2023 Flight 2315 QF1511 CBR - MEL VH-YQX B712 Scheduled: 0605 Boarding: 0543 Gate 11 Seat 3F Pushback: 0602 Takeoff: 0610 to N Landing: 0704 from E Gate: 0710 My Boeing 717-200 is really a Douglas DC-9 from out of the Sixties, given a few new...

Hitting the dark road With a flight out of Canberra at 0605, my memory inevitably turned to the beginning of my last trip, when I'd been a bit rushed, at a loose end, and the fog had threatened to jeopardise my jaunt. This time I got it right. Out of the door at 0430, Uber a couple of minutes...

Ah, wasn't sure anybody was listening, Best get this done before the NaNoWriMo madness begins.

You know, I wasn't going to bother with a simple "there-and-back-again" trip report from Canberra to Auckland, Qantas all the way. But on completion, I decided that the best trip reports are those where things go off the rails, and this one did, for sure. So, for those with a good memory, my...

You could probably do it once or twice if you had a good reason - my spouse was just run over by a bus sort of thing - but how long would it take before you got spotted as a freeloader? I remember, though, the good old days of Anytime Access. As a Silver Service cabbie I'd often get an airport...

Maybe they see an angle nobody else does. To my mind, it's a very risky venture. Presumably they are aiming to fly their used A380s at capacity as often as possible but if one of them goes tech and has a serious delay you are looking at not a lot of reserve to deal with it, especially if one of...