A trip, I'd rather forget!

It’s been awhile, five weeks and so much has happened that it already feels like it could have been a year ago. I was sitting at work when I received an extremely disappointing message from a friend. It felt shattered, and the thought of what the weekend would bare scared me.. Nothing like being secluded in a City with no close friends to be distracted by, just your own thoughts to drive you mad.

So without much thought I skipped through the Airfare pages on the internet. Nothing like a last minute get away to keep myself distracted for a weekend I thought! A mate of mine had been begging me for a few months to come help finish his 4wd and watch him compete in this year Tough Truck Challenge. But up until now I didn’t have much interest in it, nor money. But I figured why not.

I phoned the lads and warned them on my decent. Obviously the first question: When and where are you landing?

I didn’t know this either, so in a mad rush I eagerly surfed the net back and forth trying to get the best price. About five hours before take off it appeared that I had some flights booked, I didn’t have the confirmation, but I figured I could get them once I arrived in Newcastle. I had a Virgin Seat, from Darwin – Melbourne – Newcastle and on the way home Jetstar back to Melbourne and Tiger to Darwin. At this point I was pretty content with the plan.

So I messaged the guys, still unsure how I would get from the plane to their house or even to the comp ground which is two hours away by car. But honestly this was the least of my worries; I was supposed to be at work tomorrow and the day after that. I quickly slipped into the boss’s office; this wasn’t going to be easy! I could feel my face go flush and my heart beating as I lied about my where about. I hated lying, but I hated the thought of being stuck in Darwin with my thoughts even more. Eventually after much integration, the word was given, and I’d be in New South Wales tomorrow. I feeling of premature relief came over me. And with a smile I packed up my table and headed home.

I had a couple of hours to pack my gear. A couple of spare shirt’s, shorts and a singlet.. that should do I thought, surely it couldn’t be cold. And in any case I didn’t have any warm clothes up here with me in the tropics anyway. This would have to do. So I grabbed my bag and headed to the airport.

It was at this point as I was climbing onto the plane I finally received a reply from the boy’s. It seemed that they were going to be picking me up.. Sweet I thought. Another wave of relief and now all I had to do was get relaxed and enjoy the next 8 or so hours of flying!

I hate flying; I’ll just point this out right now! Sleeping is hardly an option for me. I even tried having a beer to help drift off into lumber land, but it wasn’t working. With a bloke beside me who required a seat belt extension I wasn’t exactly in a comfortable position either, hanging half way out into the laneway getting bumped every time another misfortunate fool made there way towards the toilet. This sucked!

Sometime in the early morning I arrived in Newcastle, and made my way to the entrance of the airport. It was at this point I started to realise I may have made some minor miscalculations.. Like temperatures, it would seem that NSW is not exactly the tropics. My loosely hung singlet, shorts and ever reliable pluggers were about as useful as cling wrap in a cool room. I rummaged through my bag and slipped on two more t-shirts in a lame bid to gain some warmth.

As they always say about a journey, it’s the trip not the location.. In most cases I would agree. But this time around, I was already feeling wiry, totally drained from the mad rush and sleepless night. This was going to be a nightmare! All I could hope for was a little sleep before the comp. Ha, like that would ever materialise, and I was right.

This is what the fuss was about..

By late Friday we had the car on the trailer, incomplete but we were already 4 hours late for scrutineering. So off we set… Hunter Valley, most commonly known for its fine wines and picturesque landscape would be the back drop to one of the biggest redneck events of the year. 5000+ blocks camping in the bush, doing what blokes do when the wife isn’t around! And I sure as hell didn’t feel like I should be any different. After drinking a few long necks on the road I was well and truly already feeling the mind numbing affects of the alcohol. So I quickly jumped onto the port and…… And I woke up the next morning, cold, shivering in the front seat of my mate’s car, covered in what looked like spew. Yes, aged 24 and I had no recollection of the night before; I could only see the remanence of disgrace sitting in my lap. The next morning was surly a walk of shame I’ll never forget. The boy’s taunted me with wild stories of the night before. As luck may or may not have it, these deranged activities never did come back to me. But I still sure felt like an idiot!

The fog lifting as the sun riases sunday morning.

The rest of the weekend seemed pretty dull in comparison, well apart from the sleepless night under a tarpaulin! As you could imagine I wasn’t feeling the best, my pride broken and my mate pretty pissed that not only had I spewed in his car, but his comp rig was still not running. $20 000 invested to make in here, countless hours, mates had worked on it for him… and nothing to show for it. Every time something seemed fixed another problem would arise. I just kept my head down and wondered around like a lost soul catching up with all the guys I had met on my previous trip a couple of years ago.

It wasn’t until the end of the event that things started to get messy again. We faced a fierce storm heading back into Newcastle and I started to panic. Only a few hours from now I was supposed to be boarding a plane and judging by the weather it would be a fluke if I was going anywhere. I had forty five minutes between interconnecting flights in Melbourne, I couldn’t afford a delay. The original plan was to get home early Monday morning in time for work on Monday. The thought of not making it home in time worried the shit out me. My job was already hanging on a line, not turning up for another day was sure to cause some waves.
As I had already by this stage guessed, my plane wouldn’t be leaving anytime soon.. HIT BY LIGHTNING they announced over the speaker phone! And that’s when it became apparent. I wouldn’t be getting home tonight, and if I was getting home at all it was going to cost.. I’ve already blogged about the long, long night sitting in the Melbourne airport silently waiting on the cold metal seats.. A hard way to finish a trip I guarantee you! All I could think about was getting home, guess I had that distraction I was looking for.

I guess I smiled a little.. Photo taken by two hot random chicks ;)

You know, I was never all that excited about the trip, and in hindsight I’d be thinking a little different if I was to do it again! But you live and you learn hey. At least I got to catch up with some of the friends I’ve made over the years and I guess that’s something.