There was something in the air ... that didn't want to stay there

I've got a fabulous excuse for missing the blog for a few days...

I made a last minute decision to fly up to Brisbane on Saturday night for Mark's party. I had an excellent time. And despite only three hours' sleep and a hangover everything was going well until Sunday night.

My plane back to Sydney was delayed for an hour and a half and then when we got to Sydney the plane was in a holding pattern for forty minutes because of the storm. THEN we were diverted to Canberra.

This just doesn't happen in Australia, so nobody knew what to do. The airline tried to make plans to turn back and were negotiating with Sydney to be allowed to land after the 11pm curfew. But apparently the ice on the runway was too hazardous.

Two hours after landing in Canberra and several snacks later we were let off the plane. Still nobody knew what to do, and Virgin could only secure forty beds for three hundred people because Qantas was competing for accommodation for its similarly stranded passengers. For some reason only one bus could be found that would drive to Sydney, so then cabs were brought in to drive everyone back. A few of us just couldn't cope with the idea of being in a cab for three or more hours and chose to stay the night.

By 2am I was finally in a hotel bed. It might be because I was so damned tired and incredibly glad to be in a bed, but I'm now in love with the Crowne Plaza Canberra.

Three hours after getting to sleep I received a wake up call to get on the return flight. Virgin were too lousy to pay for breakfast, so I compensated by grabbing all the shampoos and bickies. I even stole a muffin from the restaurant buffet. Not very noble behaviour, but sleep deprivation is my excuse. And it was worth it for the look on Daniel's face when I got it all out of my bag.

Anyway, you wouldn't read about it (well, I guess you are reading about it), but not only were we at the airport ridiculously early for the scheduled flight, but the flight was then delayed by nearly an hour.

I've been recovering ever since with piles and piles of sleep. Daniel reckons this will cure me of doing crazy things like flying to Brisbane at two hours' notice, but for some reason it hasn't.