Bound for South Australia

It's my last day of work for nearly a week. Yes that's right. At what has turned out to be the most hectic time of year I am going away on holidays and to a conference. In some ways it will be a relief to set my out of office messages and lock the door behind me this afternoon. All the nuttiness of new course profile and Learning Management Systems will be behind me. On the other hand, it will mean I land back here next Tuesday evening with a day full of Orientation on Wednesday, and three or so days to get ready to teach the new term. Swings and roundabouts.

In the meantime, I am deciding what to pack to take to Adelaide. I have been reliably informed that to fit in I should call it "Radelaide"? I hope that's correct. I mean I wouldn't want to look like an idiot.

 I am very bad at packing. I am filled with angst that I will pack the wrong things, not enough things, too many things, etc etc. You get the picture. I'm also not really a fan of travelling. Well, that's not strictly true. I like seeing new places. It's the boredom of the planes, trains and automobiles that I really don't like. I like to get where I'm going as quickly as possible. Then, and only then, can I feel like I'm actually on holiday.

And that is the disadvantage of living in regional Queensland. To fly to Brisbane to connect to any other capital cities is Expensive with a capital E. Here in Bundaberg we only have the choice (ahem!) of Qantaslink to get to Brisvegas (as the "cool" kids call it). Unless you book months in advance and catch a sale price, you are looking at a minimum of around 300-500 dollars ONE WAY. That's right, a 40 minute plane journey where the cabin crew throw a plastic pack of prepackaged food at you and then land miles away from the terminal in Brisbane is ridiculously overpriced. This means that to fly out of Brisbane at 1pm to get to Adelaide tomorrow requires getting up at 6am to drive the 4 and a half hours to the airport. Imagine my joy and delight at this prospect if you will.

So providing my iPad keeps working the next edition of The Spiralling Shape will be coming to you from South Australia.