Not necessarily in that order. Of course, being 55 in the over 50 team I am one of the oldest players in the tournament and as it’s my first I’m also one of the newest but I was thinking of other things.
Some thing new – I got a call from Qantas on Thursday saying my flight had been cancelled and I was booked on a later flight, with a new flight number. I was leaving at 10 past midnight with a 3 hours transit so I was immediately worried about the connection. However the New flight left only 5 minutes after the one that was cancelled. Why this meant a new flight number, I don’t know.
At lat the day had arrived and I woke at 4am. Far too early really but since I was awake I checked in on the Internet. Move my seat across the aisle so instead of being in a block of 3 occupied seats, I was in a block of 4 to myself. When I got on there was a girl on the other aisle but we had 2 empty seats. I then went back to sleep for a bit. I actually did some work in the morning but stopped about 1pm and spent the rest of the day getting ready.
My sons came over for dinner on Friday night as usual and David had said he’d take me to the airport. I changed to my tracksuit and walkout shirt about 9-30. It is a proud moment when you first wear your country’s colours. We got there about 10:15, which seemed more than enough time. The queues were huge and you really do need to give your self a couple of hours to be sure.
I saw Betty and Janese at the end of the international check in queue and joined them. It was much shorter than the general queue and we were nearly at the counter when they halted us and gave priority to the Melbourne passengers since that was the next flight out. Eventually they cleared and we checked in. I caught up with a group of the men in the coffee area upstairs and it seemed everyone except me was going via Brisbane. The flight wasn’t bad and with the extra space I managed an hours or so of sleep. Just as I was about to board I noticed I’d borrowed some else’s name on my boarding card. A Roxanne with the same surname.
Once at Sydney I checked with the service desk who assured me it was just the boarding pass in error and that my bags really were going all the way to Auckland.
I found the Emirates check in, got my boarding pass and went through customs etc. There were a couple of other players in the departure lounge and the numbers built up over time. In the end there was quite a large contingent of both men and women on the flight. This flight was even better on a 777 with individual screens and on demand movies. I watched the Bourne Ultimatum, which I’d missed in the theatre. The flight was only 2 ½ hours. Once we were through immigration it was easy to find the rest of the group. In fact the Melbourne flight had been delayed and we caught up with the end of them in the passport queue. They had some containers for us to leave our bags in and the minibuses were ready so once the next flight from Brisbane arrived we headed south to Hamilton. I didn’t take any photos but the countryside looks very lush compared to Australia. Lots of water and some decent hills in the background. Picturesque seems an appropriate word.
The some thing old, unfortunately, is the hotel. Perhaps we have been spoilt with the accommodation we have had for the state team at the Australian Championships, which are usually self contained apartments with our own washer and dryer and kitchen. This is a motel and although our room does have a kitchen, not everybody has one in their room. We have a second floor with a double and a single bed for the 3 of us. There is one small cupboard for the 3 of us with a grand total of 6 coat hangers. There is also an extra single in the downstairs living room but n o one wanted to risk their back on it. There is also a spa but it is empty and non functional. The manager keeps telling how great everything will be once the renovations have been completed but that does nothing for us this week.
It is liveable but not luxurious.
After we had settled in and had a look at each other’s rooms we headed out in a bus to a nearby super market. They had cooked prawns on special so we bought some as well as some sauce as well as crackers cheese and so forth for dinner, as well as a bottle of champagne (and more coat hangers). Not all the champagne managed to get to the glasses with some of it on Annies tracksuit and the floor.We had just started eating when the bus with the bags arrived so we all went out and found our gear. It was well after midnight before we got to sleep. For me it was about 9pm Perth time and for the other 2 about 11 at home.
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