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A Pigeon in the Airport
Before I begin the trip stuff, an announcement. I think I have heard the voice of frog in my pond!
It's a rattly sort of sound being emitted from either the rushes, the rocks or further back. I'm further convinced it is frog because I can't see a thing, even though the sound hasn't moved much. It's also loud enough to hear from inside the house.
LIMITED EDITION TRIP REPORT
18 July - 14 August 2008
A Pigeon in the Halls
While waiting for my 11pm flight out of Perth - which eventually became a 2am flight - I'm certain I saw a pigeon fly down the centre of the hallway in Perth Airport. It was in no particular hurry and seemed to know where it was going, which set it apart from almost every other creature in that place. In a sense, its laid-back attitude epitomises Perth, a relaxed she'll-be-right that I wasn't going to find overseas.
The Qantas flight to Narita, Japan, was delayed - not unreasonably - by thunderstorms in our skies. If those didn't delay a plane, I'd hate to see what would. It wasn't Qantas' night, though. When we were finally aboard, a rather embarrassed voice came over the intercom, saying "Ah - our refuelling procedure has temporarily been halted. Something has gone wrong with our truck and we have to get another one."
It must have been fatigue; we mostly thought that was funny. As it turned out, it was better to spend those extra three hours waiting in Perth than waiting in Narita, which was hot, confused and uncomfortable for all concerned. The North West flight I was catching from Narita to LAX had been overbooked in Manila, its point of origin, so a lot of us were given standby passes which was a bit much considering I'd booked my flight three months earlier. I'd also like to thank the pushy South African woman next in line to me who got us both actual seat numbers.
International travel is not fun. We can blame sensational travel books for making it seem as though it is. I always remember the definition of adventure defined by alternate history author S.M. Stirling as being someone else in deep shit a long way away. It's also a difficult thing to cut loose from one's ties. Often you don't even realise they're there until you have to plan for an absence, making sure everyone who needs to know does know you'll be gone and all the paperwork is done in case you get abducted by terrorists, aliens or suffer venomous yak bite while away. The holiday may be fun but getting there has knobs on it if you live as far away from everything as I do.
North West Airlines is now on my list for never fly with again and Narita Airport to be avoided at all costs. I don't usually get airsick but I made an exception for NW, staggering off at LAX barely remembering how to walk. I'm lucky that my friends meeting me remembered what I looked like - or remembered what I looked like after two days travel - and hauled me off to the blessed peace of a flat surface in Lancaster, California.
To be continued in Chapter 2: It's Warm! The Mojave Desert
It's a rattly sort of sound being emitted from either the rushes, the rocks or further back. I'm further convinced it is frog because I can't see a thing, even though the sound hasn't moved much. It's also loud enough to hear from inside the house.
LIMITED EDITION TRIP REPORT
18 July - 14 August 2008
A Pigeon in the Halls
While waiting for my 11pm flight out of Perth - which eventually became a 2am flight - I'm certain I saw a pigeon fly down the centre of the hallway in Perth Airport. It was in no particular hurry and seemed to know where it was going, which set it apart from almost every other creature in that place. In a sense, its laid-back attitude epitomises Perth, a relaxed she'll-be-right that I wasn't going to find overseas.
The Qantas flight to Narita, Japan, was delayed - not unreasonably - by thunderstorms in our skies. If those didn't delay a plane, I'd hate to see what would. It wasn't Qantas' night, though. When we were finally aboard, a rather embarrassed voice came over the intercom, saying "Ah - our refuelling procedure has temporarily been halted. Something has gone wrong with our truck and we have to get another one."
It must have been fatigue; we mostly thought that was funny. As it turned out, it was better to spend those extra three hours waiting in Perth than waiting in Narita, which was hot, confused and uncomfortable for all concerned. The North West flight I was catching from Narita to LAX had been overbooked in Manila, its point of origin, so a lot of us were given standby passes which was a bit much considering I'd booked my flight three months earlier. I'd also like to thank the pushy South African woman next in line to me who got us both actual seat numbers.
International travel is not fun. We can blame sensational travel books for making it seem as though it is. I always remember the definition of adventure defined by alternate history author S.M. Stirling as being someone else in deep shit a long way away. It's also a difficult thing to cut loose from one's ties. Often you don't even realise they're there until you have to plan for an absence, making sure everyone who needs to know does know you'll be gone and all the paperwork is done in case you get abducted by terrorists, aliens or suffer venomous yak bite while away. The holiday may be fun but getting there has knobs on it if you live as far away from everything as I do.
North West Airlines is now on my list for never fly with again and Narita Airport to be avoided at all costs. I don't usually get airsick but I made an exception for NW, staggering off at LAX barely remembering how to walk. I'm lucky that my friends meeting me remembered what I looked like - or remembered what I looked like after two days travel - and hauled me off to the blessed peace of a flat surface in Lancaster, California.
To be continued in Chapter 2: It's Warm! The Mojave Desert
Before I begin ...
So it is funny!
I have a horrible feeling NW's overbooking is typical of US airlines' lack of customer service - it seems too be an example of common complaints I hear from my US internet friends when forced to fly anywhere.
How nice to have a frog. I miss my moaning frogs - too far from open water here to have them :(
no subject
When we were trapped on the ground at Melb airport for an hour, on my return leg, the pilot apologised and said some other airline had his gate, and did anyone on board have an eight letter word containing 4 e's and no other vowels to help him with his crossword puzzle?
no subject
Thunderstorms are pretty much irrelevant to planes. The usual reason for such delays is that they are dangerous to ground staff and Australian airports are very unionistic, so the ground staff run for a coffee break when there's a thunderstorm 10km away.
You should have been able to get seat allocation on Northwest when you booked your ticket. If the travel agent was too much of a doofus to do if for you, you should have been able to do it on nwa.com. Yes, US airlines often over-book. The big upside, if you're not in a hurry, is that you can volunteer to stay behind and sometimes get very good compensation.
I don't want to discourage you from travelling, but Narita is among the better airports (100 times better than LAX, for a start) and has good trains straight from the airport for those stopping over. (... and, fwiw, it has the most incredibly excellent wheelchair-accessible toilets of any airport that I've seen in the world.)
Northwest is in the process of being absorbed into Delta, so they'll be gone, by name at least, within a year. Nobody's likely to mourn much. :)
no subject
Nor would I blame Aussie unionism for the Qantas delay as the problem was the plane's late arrival rather than late departure and they still had to get it ready to leave. Hence the willingness of passengers to accept that the problems were not their fault.