Do you know what it is like to have your last minute re-organized – all your well and truly prepared plans to go awry? How do you feel? Well let me tell you!
The last morning of our week away dawns. Farewells have already been said the night before by Facebook complete with those happy contented final pictures of our New Zealand destination. The taxi has been ordered for the morning, securing a time to take us to the international airport. Bags are packed, boarding passes downloaded onto our phones. Everything is ready.
Waking out of a luxurious slumber on this last morning, drawing open the floor length curtains, and we are greeted with the most amazing sight of snow that has fallen on the mountains before us. Nature had certainly entranced and engaged us with this last viewing of the wonderful landscape before us. Hugging each other tightly, we feasted our eyes on this wondrous breathtaking sight of snow covering the once green landscape viewed only a few hours before. Breathing in the icy air, seeing the sunlight glint and sparkle on this white scene and my thoughts were only of what an exceptional way to end our week away! Not to mention romantic, knowing we were heading back to reality and the work claims on both our times. This was truly amazing! Spectacular and breathtaking.
But all was not tranquil and peaceful. Stretching sumptuously like a cat in the sunlight I reached for my phone only to see that our lunchtime Qantas flight home to Sydney had been cancelled! Not quite believing what my eyes were seeing, I called to Marc to check his phone and yes- there were all our specific flight numbers with a long line through them accompanied by an email informing us that our flight was definitely cancelled. No enlightenment as to why. No explanation given. Just cancelled. And of course, no apology either.
I have never had a flight cancel…with all the trips abroad we had shared, not an international one anyway! Can you now imagine what my serene exterior was now like? No, it was not serene or calm at all. My inners began to quake and tremble. The knot in my stomach started to tighten. This could not really be happening. You see this happening in movies or read other blogs and think “oh how dreadful” …but not once do you think that it could happen to you. Not on an international flight anyway!
Jumbled thoughts of ‘where do we stay’…. ‘Accommodation is fully booked’…’what if we cannot leave today or even tomorrow’…. ‘What about our puppy waiting for us and no Mistress or Master to return home to cuddle him and ensure that we had not deserted him’……’what about work?” (Oh yes, I did think about work but not for too long -truthfully that was not truly my worry- after all I could certainly do without heading back to work…and we both said we really didn’t want the holiday to finish yet anyway….) but questions roller-skated through my head as I faced this unplanned dilemma! Of course, Marc again being levelheaded read the email further and rings the number given us. The usual press 1, press 2 , press 3, oh press 1 again and then endless loud blaring music entertains us as we wait in the quandary cycle of calls to the international Qantas head office to determine what we were going to do!
After approximately 45 minutes we finally were greeted with an actual voice. Explaining our predicament, she repeated that yes, our plane had been cancelled. (We already knew that!) As we had bought business class tickets, (just to finish the holiday) after more never-ending cycle of music with her own many frequent calls through to her own supervisor “I’ll just check with my supervisor first sir” … (Did you know that there were problems with downgrading from a business class to an economy one? Really- all we wanted was a seat on a plane home, at this point in time, I would have been happy sitting on the wing…perhaps that was a bit of an exaggeration, a touch chilly in these snow conditions not to mention the air chill…. but you get the picture,) and eventually offered us two solutions. One being that we could leave tomorrow with our business class tickets intact on a similar flight home or we could take a flight later today from Queenstown to Wellington and then onto Sydney.
All while this long-drawn-out conversation was happening, we investigated flights home today (via computer) through Virgin airways and to our delight there were seats still available. Not the normal economy seats but only premium x ones…more expensive and not many left. Obviously, other stranded passengers had thought the same thing- and they were being grabbed. Grabbing this better resolution and waiting until we had confirmed alternative bookings whilst this time keeping the Qantas person on a long, “Please wait”, Marc ended up declining the Qantas solutions and requesting a refund. We checked into our new VERY EXPENSIVE economy plus tickets on a Virgin flight back to Australia which also included changing our original flight from Sydney to Coolangatta tickets being relatively easy but once more very expensive to do so!
Relief. We were going home. Not quite in the way planned or expected or in a relaxed cabin being waited upon and enjoying those last-minute togetherness time (which has been my theme this whole week away). But we were going home! And today!
As you would think, the knot in my stomach should begin to unwind. My butterflies flipping upside and inside out within my stomach would begin to land and the unsettledness felt would become calmer. Not quite. Like a goose I do believe that my head and my bladder are connected tightly! When something goes wrong, or I am unsettled…I have to pee! Many times! Or maybe it was that contaminated town water in Queenstown that, in my fluster this morning, I absentmindedly drank without boiling it first. That of course added to my lack of equanimity and consternation as I then contemplated the numerous trips to the toilet I would have to take!! More chaos!
Arrival at the airport!
The announcement board before us.
Yes, Q124 had been cancelled- you could not miss it as that one word “Cancelled” glowed and dazzled at us from the screen! Funny thing though- all other flights from other carriers were still intact and flying! Just this one cancelled.
Checked in.
People around us chatting. Some passengers not chatting but rather ranting and raving at the desk airline attendants wanting seats on a plane. (They obviously didn’t know their flight had been cancelled until too late). Working within the consumer industry myself, I felt sorry for them dealing with these kinds of angry and demanding passengers before them.
And at last, that tension release commenced to filtrate slowly throughout my body. The knot that had wound tightly around my stomach was now letting go. Word games and puzzles on our phones and I began to relax once more into my normal face of humanity. My head stopped squeezing my bladder as chaos became organized once more.
Then another red flash appeared on the board. Another “Cancelled’.
Tentatively I looked up.
Do you know the alternative flight we were offered earlier today was now cancelled as well!
Holding Marcs hand, I laughed silently as I walked past all those waiting disgruntled passengers to our plane.
As I sat down in my seat, all I could think of was that God in heaven had indeed looked after us and guided our pathway .. …back to the earthly haven we knew! Home!
OH, what a feeling!!!!
Bad girl aren’t I!