Category: Uncategorized
Procrastination
I have friends who are organised.
They plan their trips a year in advance, they know where they are staying, 🚂which train they will catch from which platform; ✈️which bus will be used from which side of the street. And they pack – neatly, 👔👖👗👢organised, with nothing left behind. All their ducks neatly in a row.🐤
I wish I could be like that.
I have no idea where or when my next trip will be, which means when it does happen, it is a little like a whirlwind of organisation with no structure, but an ebb and flow, like an amoeboid being pulled by the currents.
This trip is no different.
Of course I am hugely excited; of course I will have a wonderful time; of course it will all work out; and of course I have no idea what bus I will take from Dubai to Al Ain because my flight has changed, but I have been unable to change my bus booking. And of course I will not miss another flight. 😂
I am so fortunate to have friends all over the globe inviting me to participate in the adventure of Life, with new ones joining my circle daily. Even Dawn from Etihad, in Manchester, (me in Oz – Etihad in UAE – go figure) who helped me with my flights went beyond the call of duty – thanks Dawn.
Tickets paid for, trail booked, friends waiting to meet me – so so fortunate.
So why the hesitancy in packing, why the knot in my stomach and the voice that says, if it is all cancelled, it will be fine. You can stay, walk with your friend, tend to your garden, spend time with friends, be close to your daughters.
Must buy Panadol, tummy meds, antibiotics – maybe not. But then again remember what happened last trip. 😂 Suntan cream, band aids (plasters), And then again I probably won’t. Oh yes and don’t forget adaptors. Camera? Just phone?
Friends have lent me packing capsules in an attempt to get me ‘more organised’ and 24 hours before my flight leaves, I have still not packed. I shall do so shortly. 
And as I write that sentence, I am reminded of how all weekend I said to myself, I will start packing, …. But first I’ll mow the lawn. I’ll get packing…… But first I’ll do the washing….. I’ll get packing….. But first I’ll vacuum the house (why I hear you ask? ) I’ll start packing …. But first I’ll write a blog 😄
😄So here I am – about to pack, my room looks like a bomb has hit it, the dog is restless, I really should try and get some sleep but know I won’t. What to include in the case and what to leave out –
Binoculars, maybe not, riding gloves – don’t forget. One pair of shoes or two? Beanie or sun hat? either way I don’t exactly get it right – so I guess it hardly matters. 😂😂
I always promise myself I will be more organised next time 🙂 🙂 🙂
Am I the only traveller that leaves in such a state of mixed emotions with everything done at the last moment. 😩😜
Trains and tears….
Melbourne, weep.
A city as sophisticated and elegant as Melbourne Still does not have transport from its airports into the city.
Here I am, on a Friday evening in third world Africa, saying good-bye to my ‘baby’ Jessica, at the main Oliver Tambo Airport. Painless the travel was, 30 minutes from home to airport, and when I was ready to go back, 35 minutes from airport to my front door
There is a distance of 33km, as the crow flies, from Sandton, where we ‘live’ to the airport. This can take more than an hour on the freeway, and longer if there is a traffic hiccup, which of course sounds quite familiar to my Melbourne ‘family’.
Except there is
The train;
the Gautrain.
Conceived in 2000 and completed in 2010 (imagine Melbourne thinking that far ahead!!). I visited during the construction and there was disruption, no denying that. In some of the busiest parts of the city where large, sophisticated stations were built.
Big disruptions.
And we quietly muttered and grumbled and navigated our way around construction sites where there should have been roads.
And it cost heaps, estimated at SAR 3.5bill it ended up costing in excess of SAR25bill.
And it created jobs – heaps of them; more than 120 000 jobs and 15 000 courses for unskilled and management were made available.
It has 80km of dual railway line, 30km of tunnels and includes ten new stations. 11km of new bridges.
Other interesting trivia is that it involved about seven and a half million cubic meters of spoil [ph] and the tender papers took 7 hours to deliver and took up 18.5cu metres!!!!
A really a massive project –
As I said, Melbourne,
a big commitment.
But oh, does it work. For a fair cost, one can park in the parking provided (and there is enough) get on a spotless, quiet train that leaves every 12 minutes and takes less than 20 minutes to deliver you right to the airport.
Why, oh why can a cities like Johannesburg and Pretoria plan and work together to create a state of the art commuter system to their major airport and Melbourne has a gridlock drive, hugely expensive parking and slow unreliable buses into the city and then perhaps if you lucky into the suburbs.
Melbourne weep.
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