> Leave Perth
As you leave, you notice that the building for Australian Quarantine and Inspection Services has a bright tangy-green lawn that is covered in grazing rabbits. Thank you, early immigration practices for that thoughtful addition to the biodiversity of this country. It is very cute to observe, but still somewhat… ludicrous.
> Enter QantasLounge
So, the band of Alice Cooper apparently have free access whatsit as Koru Air New Zealand members too, and they are making a hell of a racket on the other end of the hall from you. ‘Keri Kelli’ is gaffa-taped onto a guitar propped up on the wall near their seating and it makes you think of Kelli XXXXXX, who would be right at home with them. Or more likely, getting them to do Charades, rather than yell loudly about their bootleg copies of films like ‘Lars and the Real Girl’.
You have no idea who Keri Kelli is. You look them up on the computer terminal and discover that their original name actually sounds kind of cooler than their stage name. You shrug, go back to checking email.
In the other loungey-area (you are too tired to bother much with effusive description of the decor, but there is a great buffet area), there is a news broadcast about an earthquake in Indonesia, which leads to worries about a tsunami in the Asian region. You worry about former students in the region.
> Find flight
You are going to be on a flight for about six hours. You told yourself you’d get some sleep on the plane, and are ready to do so; getting more sleep in Auckland and then being completely knocked out for much of the upcoming 12-13 hour flight to Los Angeles is on the cards too. You thank your genetic and behavioral disposition to be able to zonk out in the seated position.
174 to NZ. Gate four. As you settle into the very, very nice space given to Row 11, Seat A (bulkhead, footspace, fold-out table, slide-out video screen, bugger all on the films list) you can just peek a glimpse of Alice Cooper in Row 4 before he’s tucked peacefully into Business Class anonymity with his champagne-quaffing wife.
> Pass time
You muse about an idea for the Skeptic Zone panel introduction you’re doing – a checklist:
“Everyone got a silly accent? Jokes about sheep for the Canadian? Inappropriate questions about masculinity for the Ukrainian/American? Do we have an astronomer? A psychologist? PhD in CELL DEATH!!!!? And television’s Richard Saunders? Right, then we’re all set to begin…”
Half-way through an early 90s film featuring Kenneth Branagh, Emma Thomspon and Stephen Fry, you fall asleep.
> Arrive Auckland
Arriving in Auckland, you wander around the city for two hours, shower, get changed and repack your hand-luggage
. You then proceed to create a commotion at baggage check by producing your Zoom H4, which is usually flagged as ‘a potential weapon’. You realise that as an inadvertent joke played upon nervous airline staff across airports you’ve visited world-wide, it never really gets old.
> Enter KoruLounge
You reassemble your hand-luggage again and hide again your recording devices so you don’t frighten the other inhabitants of the comfy lounge.
Take out laptop, start typing this, start browsing through notes for the conference, start drinking first coffee for the day. It is 6pm here – 1.50pm at home – 1.50am at your eventual destination.
You discover you’re featured on the Rise of Atheism conference page. Oooh.
> Leave Auckland
Flight NZ6, after watching someone in a Air New Zealand flight steward uniform float angelically around the Koru lounge introducing herself as somethingorother to do with the flight. You vaguely reflect upon how you’d have to be better at conversational skills than you currently are to make that task especially bubbly and engaging over a period of time, especially to sustain a career. You decide to settle for slightly undercaffinated, drowsy and with a fully-charged laptop for the next leg of the journey.
You fold and shut down laptop. Goodbye Koru lounge. You’ll see it again in less than a week.
{ 2 comments… read them below or add one }
The second person is too often ignored. thanks.
hehehe! the life of a jetsetter, great read Kylie! i’ll look forward to waving during the live-streaming of D*C
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