Shmi Shem: June 2012

After 5 months plus some days of working, my planner asked if I wanted to go on a break just before I transfer to a new department. I said yes, surprised that I was even going to be given a break considering I was still on probation. Then all the reshuffling happened and I got a new planner and a new co-IC. I was worried for a bit since I might be asked to cancel the trip as I was the only person left in the department who sort of knew what happened. Fortunately, my new planner was cool with the idea of my mini vacation and even suggested I extend it considering it was only for 3 days. V tried canceling and re scheduling the flight but Air Pacific didn't have flights one day earlier than was originally booked and canceling and going with Virgin meant paying nearly a grand again so we just stuck with our original sched.

Flying out of Melbourne was a bit stressful. It was a Tuesday night flight out which meant I was still at the office. I meant to leave at 2 pm but with things coming up at the last minute, I got to leave at 3.30 pm. I got home at 5.20 pm and managed to pack some more items before we left at 6 for the airport.

While waiting to board our delayed flight, there was a bit of a commotion with some passengers of the Thai Airways flight. The boarding gate was next to ours so we sort of got a front view seat. A guy was a bit frazzled and trying to ask one of the ground crew for help and was told to go to the service desk. Next, security personnel starting arriving by twos putting disposable gloves on. They were all headed to the toilet. Two ground crews manned the entrance and redirected passengers to other toilet facilities. Then they brought in 2 wheelchairs. Then a stretcher. One ground crew staff mentioned how the flight started as a nightmare and continues to be a nightmare. V and I looked at each other and were glad we weren't on that flight.

Finally, after 45 minutes, we were allowed to board and were on our way to Fiji!

From the time we arrived at the airport to the time we departed, it was nothing but a relaxing experience. The fact that we were relatively away from everything and the people were lovely made it such a lovely experience.

I'm a bit lazy writing about everything so I'll just post photos instead.