Not the Worldcon post
Sep. 8th, 2010 09:46 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
threemonkeysWell, I'm back from Melbourne and more or less intact. Even when the travel arrangements work pretty much as they should, it is still so tiring. Anyway, as is my style (hah) here are a few notes about the trip not directly related to Aussiecon 4.
Christchurch and the earthquake. How weird to be in Aussie and have New Zealand items lead the news. The earthquake was number 1 and the crash at Fox was number 2. It was the number one topic of conversation for a bit. I have family in Christchurch - they are all OK which is the main thing, but all have damage to their houses and have had to spend time without power, sewage facilities or even drinking water.
There were floods in Victoria. You wouldn't have noticed it in Melbourne though. Nobody wants to complain about the rain there. They have been in drought for the last 5 years. Complaining about bad weather seems like bad form.
Feet. You don't really think about them that much until they go wrong. Mine went wrong and I was in quite a bit of pain if I stood around too much. I wasn't the only one so afflicted. Too much standing around talking on day one means a lot of people sitting putting their feet up in following days. It means no exploring into central Melbourne. Partly because of the foot pain involved and partly because there was so much to do. Instead of expeditions to restaurants there was the quick hobble to the Crown casino complex for a quick meal and back to the convention centre.
As mentioned in the previous post, I got a room upgrade at the hotel. The room was the same, but the view was much better - one might even say spectacular. On the subject of the room, it was very luxurious. The bathroom area alone was almost as big as some whole rooms I have stayed in elsewhere. Then there was the bed - incredibly comfortable. Yet the layout of the room was quite odd. For a big room by hotel standards it was a poor use of space and some of the ergonomic things were just plain strange. It seemed like a place planned by interior decorator stylists rather than people with practical experience. Did I mention that the bed was comfortable. Good. In the end, that was the thing that mattered. When you aren't getting much sleep, it is important that you get the most out of it.
More to come...
Christchurch and the earthquake. How weird to be in Aussie and have New Zealand items lead the news. The earthquake was number 1 and the crash at Fox was number 2. It was the number one topic of conversation for a bit. I have family in Christchurch - they are all OK which is the main thing, but all have damage to their houses and have had to spend time without power, sewage facilities or even drinking water.
There were floods in Victoria. You wouldn't have noticed it in Melbourne though. Nobody wants to complain about the rain there. They have been in drought for the last 5 years. Complaining about bad weather seems like bad form.
Feet. You don't really think about them that much until they go wrong. Mine went wrong and I was in quite a bit of pain if I stood around too much. I wasn't the only one so afflicted. Too much standing around talking on day one means a lot of people sitting putting their feet up in following days. It means no exploring into central Melbourne. Partly because of the foot pain involved and partly because there was so much to do. Instead of expeditions to restaurants there was the quick hobble to the Crown casino complex for a quick meal and back to the convention centre.
As mentioned in the previous post, I got a room upgrade at the hotel. The room was the same, but the view was much better - one might even say spectacular. On the subject of the room, it was very luxurious. The bathroom area alone was almost as big as some whole rooms I have stayed in elsewhere. Then there was the bed - incredibly comfortable. Yet the layout of the room was quite odd. For a big room by hotel standards it was a poor use of space and some of the ergonomic things were just plain strange. It seemed like a place planned by interior decorator stylists rather than people with practical experience. Did I mention that the bed was comfortable. Good. In the end, that was the thing that mattered. When you aren't getting much sleep, it is important that you get the most out of it.
More to come...