My time in Canberra was brief but so worth it. I had a great time but it wasn’t all plain sailing. Let’s just say I cut it so close that had I been later than I was… I would of hated myself for ever. Lets step back a bit though. After flying all the way south from Brisbane to catch up with the folks and having a brief few hours with them and stopping by for a 10 minute catch up with my old team I flew from Brisbane to Sydney to Canberra. The only thing on my mind for half that time was “get my phone working” as the phone that was waiting for me was stuffed.

So $100 later and a cheap android phone I was good to go! I didn’t get it fully working till I got to Sydney so that was a relief when I was able to have the GPS nav ready for Canberra. I only managed to drive on the wrong side of the road once and that was immediately after leaving the rental car lot… woops! Indicating with the windscreen wipers, that is a whole other story.

I had a quiet night on Friday night and then spent Saturday morning at the War Memorial and it turns out it was Open Day so it was nice of the RAAF to put on a display for my arrival to Canberra. But because of this I was running late and a stop to grab some lunch at the slowest cafe known to man (confirmed by my Canberra friends) and I was running way behind.

It was a 215 wedding for a 230 start. I thought it was a 230 for a 245… When i realised this it was 2pm and I still had a 25-30 minute drive out of the city. I broke every speeding and road rule known to man and thrashed the crap out of the little car that Avis gave me (which is a whole other story) but either way… I got there directly ahead of the bride. So I did make it! If i had of missed the ceremony I would of hated myself for ever that I had flown all that way and then missed it.

The ceremony itself was great and then the reception was back at the hotel where I was staying and it was great to meet all of Stuart & Michelle’s local friends and family. I did get singled out for travelling so far but like I said every time someone mentioned this to me, I would of travelled there no matter what! That’s how good of friends they are!

So as I headed off to Melbourne before returning home, they head off on their Honeymoon to LA and beat me there by One day (18 hours actually). Either way it was a short but brief time in Canberra, the wedding was great and they had a great time! Now the trip was all worth it… now to head home tomorrow!

Current Location: The Langham Hotel Melbourne

I touched down at 7am this morning after my flight from LAX and damn I am running on a mix of adrenaline, caffeine and who knows what else. My body probably doesn’t know what hit it, but I am continuing forward, pushing through the stress, the fatigue as I try to get myself to Canberra without falling apart.

The flight down was good, nothing to complain about at all. I had an exit row seat and it went well. I hit the ground this morning and headed home with the folks for a few hours. Sadly the phone I was meant to have access to didn’t work so that was the end of that and I had to scoot down to the shops to pick up a cheap phone for the weekend. But I can get it unlocked when I get back to the USA and then I will have a backup/visitors phone for anyone who comes to visit.

I did manage about a 10 minute visit to my old work to say hi to everyone and see their new office. Things have changed so much back here with so many new things to look at it is crazy! The new airportlink tunnel is open and dad took me through it on the way back to the airport. But sitting in the passenger seat feels wierd cause there should be a steering wheel there!

Anyway I need to try and get this phone fixed before my flight to Sydney, so I will do some work while in the air!

Catch you all in Canberra…

Current Location: Virgin Australia Lounge – Brisbane Airport

Well I just finished packing a suitcase because tomorrow, I am back at it again. But this time, it is a big trip. A flash in the pan journey all the way back to Australia!!

I will be posting a full trip report when I get back and probably a few updates from the road, but I just wanted to get a quick and dirty post out on the site before I speed away. heres a quick rundown of the plans:

Tuesday: Fly to LAX – Overnight Radisson
Wednesday: Spotting, catching up with people, Midnight Flight to Brisbane
Thursday: Does Not Exist in my timeline 🙁
Friday: Land in Aus, catch up with parents for a few hours, hug mum and dad goodbye, Fly to Canberra
Saturday: Catch up with friends for a Wedding, maybe do a touch of sightseeing
Sunday: Friends in the morning, wave them bye as they head to the airport for honeymoon, I fly to melbourne
Monday: Meetings, Lunches, catch ups, shopping for supplies, the usual
Tuesday: Fly home to LAX, Go back in time, touch down in LAX before I even left, Fly home to Seattle!

Its going to be full on, only a total of 4 nights in Aus, but hey thats what you gotta do!