Sydney – Checking In

Woke up at bloody 3am in the morning to catch a flight down to Sydney to join Mum and Sis.

My flight was at 7.45am, and I had to reach there an hour or so earlier, so left the house at 5.30am. Walking to the train station was a circus balancing act, as I had to juggle a total of three luggages. So, I anticipated the usual 20-minute walk to Melbourne Central Station to take a free train ride to Southern Cross Station (train rides before 7am are free-of-charge) to board the Skybus to Melbourne Airport.

After walking 20 minutes, I reached it, only to find the gates shut. This man approached me, and asked me what time the station was going to open. When I told him this was my first time taking the train so early in the morning, the man told me that this was the first time he encountered this, and usually every day at this time he would catch a train around this time, but he had been waiting for half an hour and the station still had not opened.

Raising my eyes to heaven in praise of my 'good' luck, I waited and waited and even resorted to flinging my arms wildly before the security camera and banging loudly against the metal gates out of desperation. I suggested the guy to do the same, which he did.

After waiting for what seemed to be the longest time ever, in which I spent trying to dial my friend for SOS and whiled the time away talking to the guy, I checked my watch for the 50^th time and discovered I still had an hour and a half more to go before my flight take-off! Panicking like crazy, I decided to walk to the next nearest train station, which was a good 20 minutes away.

“Are you coming along?” I asked the man, with a hidden agenda that he would help me carry one of my three luggages.

“No, you go ahead. I’ll wait here,” the man insisted, to my aching shoulders’ disappointment.

And, so with my 3 luggages, I headed in the direction of Flinders St Station. On the way, this fucker tried to make conversation, which I would usually be glad to entertain, but couldn’t he see that I was having great difficulty walking around town with three luggages and looking like a demented idiot?

When I finally reached Flinders, I was very very confused, and choose a platform by default. Seeing no trains coming, I approached this homeless guy to ask him for directions.

Very kindly, he tried his best to help me but was of no practical help. In the end, I found the right platform and waited for the train to come, but soon lost patience and as time was running out, I decided to hail a cab instead.

Seeing virtually no cabs in existence along the dark and gloomy lane, I turned towards the train platform once again in utter desperation. And, then I saw that the next train was due at 8.20am!

Spewing a line of vulgarities, I was panicking while my eyes scanned the empty streets desperately. Finally, a line of cabs came approaching my direction. I waved and boarded one.

“How much does it cost to go to Southern Cross?” I asked.

“Around AUD$9,” he replied.

After boarding the cab, the taxi driver was on his way when suddenly he whipped his head around and asked, “Are you going to the airport?”

“Yes.”

“How are you getting that?”

“By bus.”

“And how much would that cost you?”

Thinking that he was merely making casual conversation, I just replied, “”$25”, not entirely sure of the cost myself.

“And how much will you pay me if I take you to the airport?”

“$20.”

The taxi driver laughed, a cold, sinister and mocking laughter. “It costs you $25 to get there by bus, and you are offering to pay me only $20. Quote me a price.”

“$20.”

“It will cost you $25 and an additional $9 in total if you go by bus,” he reminded me now.

“Okay, $25 then.”

“$35.”

“No, $25.”

“$35,” he was saying now, his voice raising a notch higher.

“No, $25,” I repeated again. And, then finally, “It’s okay, just take me to Southern Cross.”

In the end, I went to check the prices and discovered that the actual cost for a single trip was only $16 and a return trip $26. That stupid fucker tried to cheat my money!

The flight to Sydney was just over an hour. Virgin Blue had limited leg space in exchange for cheap domestic air-flights, in which I slept all the way. Had to take a bus from the Domestic Airport (Terminal 1) to the International Airport (Terminal 2) which was a good 5 to 10 minutes away. Finally understood why I should learn to appreciate Singapore's Changi Airport even more.