G’day mates! I am blogging at you from a new location: Cairns, which is in northeastern Australia and is the jumping-off point for Great Barrier Reef tours. It is currently early Friday evening here.
As I mentioned yesterday, there were some spousal negotiations regarding our journey to the airport this morning. Those negotiations went quite well and we checked out of the apartment, grabbed a cab, and made it to the airport with plenty of time to spare. Things were looking good.
We got checked in with Qantas and our luggage was sent along its merry way to the underbelly of the airplane in no time at all. Things were looking really good.
Security was a breeze — there was no waiting, we didn’t have to take off our shoes or coats, and it was pretty much the kind of smooth sailing that existed back in the 20th century. Things were looking really really good.
We got to our gate and settled in for the wait, which was about 30 minutes. Boarding began and we got onto the airplane, stowed our carry-ons, fastened our seatbelts, and prepared for take-off.
Nothing happened.
Our 9:45 departure time came and went. Flight personnel kept coming onto the PA system and apologizing for the delays, but still we went nowhere.
Finally, around 10:00, the captain told us rather vaguely that something was going on in the terminal and said very apologetically that there was a possibility that we would have to get off the plane and go through security again. What the what???
Sure enough, after another 15 minutes, everyone on the plane had to get off the plane, taking our carry-ons with us. When we got in the terminal, there were security people and Qantas employees everywhere, as well as a security guy with a big German shepherd. As we were walking back to the security screening area, a voice on the announcement system was letting everyone know that there had been a security breach and that the entire Qantas terminal was being evacuated. I looked out a window and saw that all the airplanes at the jetways were being divested of their stored luggage, including ours.
We got down to security and there were hundreds of people, possibly a couple thousand, trying to go through security. Luckily for us, people were given priority to go through the lines based on their flights and our flight was first.
We got through security and I was randomly pulled out of the line to be tested further for explosives. Luckily, I wasn’t carrying any.
We headed back to our gate and got right back on our plane. We ended up taking off about 90 minutes later than planned. We still have no idea what caused all the commotion and I’m not even sure that I want to know.
Our flight was calm and easy and we landed in Cairns without further incident.
So here we are, enjoying the tropical breezes of this lovely beach town. It’s sunny and in the upper 70s. It’s a rough life, I tell you.
Tomorrow, we leave early for a day on the Great Barrier Reef. Provided that none of us is eaten by a shark, stung by a box jellyfish, attacked by a saltwater crocodile, or in some way maimed or killed by any of the other sea life lurking in the great big ocean*, I hope to have lots of great photos to share tomorrow.
Until later…
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Well, at least this time it wasn’t Pete’s fault. And I’m really happy to hear you weren’t carrying any explosives, because that probably would have caused a really long delay.
I’ve flown through Newark twice, and both times we sat on the plane, on the runway, for two hours! No explanation, no apologies, and this was back in the 2oth century. Really, I kind of hate flying, but it is the fastest way to cross an ocean.
The first time we went to Mexico, there was extra security at the gate before boarding the plane to come home. All the women and children were allowed to board the plane with whatever bags they had, but all the men were patted down and had their bags searched. I had to giggle as they stopped Mark and let me go through, because while I tend not to carry explosives around either, IF someone in the family was going to suddenly go postal, it wouldn’t be him!
Glad you guys are having fun, I hope the reef is fabulous and the water calm.
Oh no! Glad it went relatively well. I am WITH YOU on the big bodies of wa-wa. God only knows what kind a sea monster in lurking under there ready to eat you for lunch. Have fun!
I hope everything goes well, Cairns sounds lovely. Here is my travel hell story. Ten or so years ago, Céline Dion entered into an advertising agreement with Air Canada — she designed the attendants’ uniforms and shilled the company on TV. I was on an Air Canada flight from Denver to Toronto with my boss, Marie-France, heading home after attending a conference. We boarded the plane and the plane taxied away from the gate. And stopped. The pilot announced that there was a problem with the landing gear, and they needed a part to fix it, and that we should just sit tight. Well, the music that they were piping through the cabin was, you guessed it, Céline. Song after song after song. I am not a fan. After we had been sitting there on the tarmac for an hour and a half, and had cycled through the playlist three times, I told my boss my theory: we had actually taken off, and crashed, and now we were in hell – a cramped, hot plane forced to listen to ‘My Heart Must Go On’ for all eternity.
So you’re saying you look shifty on an international level? Good to know next time I go somewhere with you.
So much for getting to the airport in plenty of time! Glad you finally reached your destination. Just wear a lifejacket, you’ll be okay. A lifejacket sprayed with shark repellent…
Love the line “Luckily, I wasn’t carrying any.” It makes a good story and in the end, that’s always an excellent thing for a blogger!
So, did you ever find out WHY?
And it hasn’t been mentioned yet so I’m asking: are you willing to share your reasoning behind not visiting Steve Irwin’s Zoo? That would be SnakeMaster’s (he’s my youngest) ultimate destination!
Karen, there were a couple of reasons why we didn’t go to the Australia Zoo: First of all, it’s more than an hour from Brisbane, so we would have had to rent a car to get there. Second, it’s crazy expensive — on par with going to an amusement park. That wouldn’t necessarily deter us on top of all the other costs we’d already incurred, but the distance, plus the fact that our time in Brisbane was limited, made us decide to skip it.
Also, I don’t really like snakes and crocs.