With the start of the national league season of the Australian Gridiron League, it was time for me to prepare for not only my regular 2 to 4 weekday domestic work flights,but also Saturday travel. And, as luck would have it, my first appointment was for a Saturday afternoon game in Sydney, right on the back of my return from Mackay on Friday night.
And so, after finishing up work on theFriday, I headed to the airport only to find a most unwelcome 1 hour delay for DJ616 coming back from MKY to BNE. Exactly what I didn't need. But nonetheless, I was back in BNE at 7.45pm, and after an Airtrain ride and a bus trip, I was back home by 9pm. Now to empty my carry on bag of all my work materials, and repack it. This turned out to be a much harder task than anticipated, as our new travel code requires us to hand carry and not check in any part of our uniform or refereeing equipment, and also requires us to be dressed in a business shirt, tie and jacket, with dress shoes whilst travelling. So, after much rearranging and cursing, I finally managed to get all my gear into my carry-on bag. Football boots take up an inordinate amount of room in a bag.
Unfortunately, as daylight saving was still active, this meant an incredibly early start the next morning. The rest of my officiating crew for this game were coming in from other parts of the country, and we had planned to meet 4 hours before the game in order to bond as a team. Thus, I had an early DJ flight out of Brisbane – at 5.30am. So, I had planned on waking up at 4am, dressing and catching a taxi at 4.30am (no public transport at that time). Unfortunately, nervous energy won out, and after tossing and turning most of the night, I gave up and got up at 3.30am, trying to be very silent so as not to wake Mrs and Master AN*G, and changed my taxi booking from 4.30am to 4am.
Watching the live taxi tracker app, I noticed that a taxi had been assigned and was on its way to me by 3.45am. So, I quickly grabbed my bag and headed outside, and was on the way to the airport at 3.50am. Arriving at the airport at 4.20am, it was surprising how busy it was. Then it dawned on me – start of the school holidays! Unfortunately, the carry on bag x-ray machine took exception to some of my gear. Well, I guess a radio microphone transmitter pack sitting next to a ball pressure tester with ball needles, and 3 penalty flags weighted with shot in the middle can cause most x-ray operators to take a second look. So, it was off to unpack the bag, and then fight with getting it all back in again,before I could get through to the lounge.
Not surprisingly though, the Virgin Australia lounge was quite deserted, and I was greeted with the cheeky comment from the lounge angels that I was better dressed than I usually am. I was offered the earlier 5am flight, but declined,since transport had already been arranged Sydney end for my original flight.
Skipped over my usual toasted sandwiches and pancakes breakfast. A bit of fruit, and some cereal was all I went for – I can never eat much on game day. Never have, not in my 25 odd years of officiating.
Boarding was called right on time at5.10am. I had pre-selected my preferred 3A (front row of the economy cabin), and found to my pleasure that I had the whole row of 3 to myself, with no one in 3B or3C. 3DEF also only had one occupant – obviously very few Golds and Platinums fly at this time on the weekend, with rows 3 and 4 typically blocked off for Gold and Platinum frequent flyers on DJ domestic flights. The rest of the plane was probably at about 60% to 70% load, not bad for a crack of dawn weekend flight.
The flight itself was uneventful, and we arrived in Sydney right on schedule, where I was met. As we were leaving the terminal, I noticed the visiting team waiting at the baggage carousel – that would have been one large load of team bags coming out.
Fortunately, the other 7 members on my crew arrived on time (for those who know the game and are trying to add up – we have an alternate appointed as well, in case of injury during the game), and the game itself was uneventful. It's always great to work games with crew members you don't always see on a regular basis, you learn a lot from each other and see how things are done in different states.
After the game and the post-game debrief, it was time to head back to the airport. Unfortunately, I had 3 hours to kill – because of uncertainty over game finishing times (injuries, overtime, etc), we are always booked on flights well after the normal finishing time. And, being a Saturday, there were very few flights in the evening. This time, I was on a Qantas flight back at 9.05pm, and it had only just turned 6pm when I reached the airport. Unfortunately, I was unable to get on the 7pm service as I had a non-changeable fare type. So, it was a leisurely dinner and second shower in the Qantas Club lounge for me, whilst I completed paperwork from the game. I'd managed to snag 4A (front row of Qantas 737 economy) at OLCI time, much better than my previously allocated row 10 seat. It was a reasonably quiet flight, with no one in 4B. Got back to Brisbane just in time for the last Airtrain to the city, and then a local bus trip put me back to within 200 metres of my front door. Home again – and a whole week before doing it all again...
And so, after finishing up work on theFriday, I headed to the airport only to find a most unwelcome 1 hour delay for DJ616 coming back from MKY to BNE. Exactly what I didn't need. But nonetheless, I was back in BNE at 7.45pm, and after an Airtrain ride and a bus trip, I was back home by 9pm. Now to empty my carry on bag of all my work materials, and repack it. This turned out to be a much harder task than anticipated, as our new travel code requires us to hand carry and not check in any part of our uniform or refereeing equipment, and also requires us to be dressed in a business shirt, tie and jacket, with dress shoes whilst travelling. So, after much rearranging and cursing, I finally managed to get all my gear into my carry-on bag. Football boots take up an inordinate amount of room in a bag.
Unfortunately, as daylight saving was still active, this meant an incredibly early start the next morning. The rest of my officiating crew for this game were coming in from other parts of the country, and we had planned to meet 4 hours before the game in order to bond as a team. Thus, I had an early DJ flight out of Brisbane – at 5.30am. So, I had planned on waking up at 4am, dressing and catching a taxi at 4.30am (no public transport at that time). Unfortunately, nervous energy won out, and after tossing and turning most of the night, I gave up and got up at 3.30am, trying to be very silent so as not to wake Mrs and Master AN*G, and changed my taxi booking from 4.30am to 4am.
Watching the live taxi tracker app, I noticed that a taxi had been assigned and was on its way to me by 3.45am. So, I quickly grabbed my bag and headed outside, and was on the way to the airport at 3.50am. Arriving at the airport at 4.20am, it was surprising how busy it was. Then it dawned on me – start of the school holidays! Unfortunately, the carry on bag x-ray machine took exception to some of my gear. Well, I guess a radio microphone transmitter pack sitting next to a ball pressure tester with ball needles, and 3 penalty flags weighted with shot in the middle can cause most x-ray operators to take a second look. So, it was off to unpack the bag, and then fight with getting it all back in again,before I could get through to the lounge.
Not surprisingly though, the Virgin Australia lounge was quite deserted, and I was greeted with the cheeky comment from the lounge angels that I was better dressed than I usually am. I was offered the earlier 5am flight, but declined,since transport had already been arranged Sydney end for my original flight.
Skipped over my usual toasted sandwiches and pancakes breakfast. A bit of fruit, and some cereal was all I went for – I can never eat much on game day. Never have, not in my 25 odd years of officiating.
Boarding was called right on time at5.10am. I had pre-selected my preferred 3A (front row of the economy cabin), and found to my pleasure that I had the whole row of 3 to myself, with no one in 3B or3C. 3DEF also only had one occupant – obviously very few Golds and Platinums fly at this time on the weekend, with rows 3 and 4 typically blocked off for Gold and Platinum frequent flyers on DJ domestic flights. The rest of the plane was probably at about 60% to 70% load, not bad for a crack of dawn weekend flight.
The flight itself was uneventful, and we arrived in Sydney right on schedule, where I was met. As we were leaving the terminal, I noticed the visiting team waiting at the baggage carousel – that would have been one large load of team bags coming out.
Fortunately, the other 7 members on my crew arrived on time (for those who know the game and are trying to add up – we have an alternate appointed as well, in case of injury during the game), and the game itself was uneventful. It's always great to work games with crew members you don't always see on a regular basis, you learn a lot from each other and see how things are done in different states.
After the game and the post-game debrief, it was time to head back to the airport. Unfortunately, I had 3 hours to kill – because of uncertainty over game finishing times (injuries, overtime, etc), we are always booked on flights well after the normal finishing time. And, being a Saturday, there were very few flights in the evening. This time, I was on a Qantas flight back at 9.05pm, and it had only just turned 6pm when I reached the airport. Unfortunately, I was unable to get on the 7pm service as I had a non-changeable fare type. So, it was a leisurely dinner and second shower in the Qantas Club lounge for me, whilst I completed paperwork from the game. I'd managed to snag 4A (front row of Qantas 737 economy) at OLCI time, much better than my previously allocated row 10 seat. It was a reasonably quiet flight, with no one in 4B. Got back to Brisbane just in time for the last Airtrain to the city, and then a local bus trip put me back to within 200 metres of my front door. Home again – and a whole week before doing it all again...
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