Summer Journeys - Melbourne

There is not too much to say about this part of my summer holiday. I stayed with my brother for Christmas and we did our usual things got drunk, watched the Boxing Day Test, etc.

My first Ashes Test! Katich and Watson played well...2 out fo 11 isn't too bad.

I got to see Ruby and Cooper for an afternoon before they were whisked away to stay with their maternal grandmother in Newcastle.

Drinking beer, a usual Melbourne day

There was one intriguing aspect to the visit though. Due to multiple unexpected victories in an annual 8-ball tournament I had to return to Canberra for one night so as to play in the ACT champion of champions Grand Final (we lost to a 1st division team). I chose to fly up to Canberra, play in the tournament and then fly back the next day.

A street band in Melbourne

Lucas and I decided that instead of spending money on a taxi ($50 each way) or him driving me and picking me up (1 hour of hassle) I should ride my motorbike to the airport, leave it in the overnight parking and pick it up the next day.

My bike at the airport. There is something hugely wrong with this picture - can you see what is is?

It costs $50 to leave a vehicle for 24 hours so that seemed like a good idea (they had security guards and cameras on the boom gates so riding around the gates wasn't an option). Did you spot what was wrong in the photo above? Don't worry, I''ll zoom in for you.

Luckliy for me, no one else spotted that either

Yeah, I realised my error just as the airplane was taking off and I spent a nerve wracking 24 hours praying that my bike would still be there the next day. Also when I first returned to the car park I went to the wrong level.

Look a those eyes, I'm been judged by my two year old neice.

While I believe I am super lucky to still have a motorbike I have since idiotically repeated this feat, only this time at Fenner. On this instance two guys saw the keys at about 9:00am and tried to start the bike but apparently they had been taking the same stupid pills as me and couldn't figure out how to get it started (I checked the security footage). Instead they returned the keys to the Front Office after turning the ignition to leave my parking lights on and draining my battery.

Cooper's look of incredulity when he heard I had done it again