Pinky & Blinky's Big Adventure
So this couple I was traveling with woke up on Saturday with a whole day of nothing scheduled in Melbourne, a day to explore, visit the bookshops and museums, etc., but as we gathered to plan our afternoon, we found ourselves confronted periodically by members of the hotel staff, who seemed somewhat anxious and confused. We laughed about it a little, until I piped up to joke about how maybe we were supposed to have left already, including catching a midday international flight, now long departed. Unfortunately, it wasn't much of a joke. Over the course of our holiday, having not had much time spent at leisure to indulge in obsessive itinerary re-checking (and acting in ignorance on my part, or at least from the dates supplied), nobody thought to question Saturday or Sunday, 24th or 25th?

We managed to get the jet set rebooked for the next day, but still had to organize a place to stay, the hotel we were at being most thoroughly booked. The Langham, a very swank joint, were very helpful, and we ended up in the nouveau-deco Intercontinental Rialto, over in the city center. The hotel had only in the last few months reopened after a multi-million dollar renovation. It was o.k. Way overpriced, especially since one of the rooms was being heated instead of cooled. Luckily, that was the other room from the one I stayed it.

We shuttled out to the airport the next morning, very early, and once passport control opened, off went our intrepid explorers, leaving me to wend my way to the domestic terminal for a quick jaunt back to Sydney, from which I happily write this update, albeit anxiously awaiting news of what will have transpired in Los Angeles. Tune in (or post a comment, M&P) to discover: overnight stay or connecting flight and long drive home in the winter dark of North Carolina?