More Delays

We woke this morning eager to get back to Canberra. We had a few hours to kill prior to our flight so we dropped off a bag to the salvos of a few things we'd inherited and/or no longer needed. Ella's bag was bursting after all her op shop purchases in the last 6 weeks. She loves finding a bargain and I think she managed to buy more clothes than she brought over with her! Luckily Andy and I had spare space to help both her and Katy.

A last coffee and fresh juice was enjoyed at Dragonfly Cafe before we filled up the car then drove the very short distance to the airport. We found ourselves in the small terminal before the bag drop counters were open. Yep we were that keen to get going!!

In the departure lounge we had a bit of food while waiting for our flight and keeping an eye on which gate our plane would depart from - 1, 2 or 3! Between eating, reading and browsing the two shops, we suddenly realised that the monitor had flashed up departed next to our flight!! Panic set in as we hadn't seen a gate number appear or heard any announcements. Andy rushed up to the unattended desk to see what he could find out with several other passengers in the same position following him. I was sitting there stunned in complete disbelief. 

A few painful minutes later he returned to say that no we hadn't missed our flight - the monitors were on an automated system and failed to display the fact that the Brisbane - Broome flight was still on the tarmac with the passengers inside waiting for the WA police to arrive to check them off!! So we waited more.

Slowly though as the minutes ticked by our thoughts began to turn to worry as to whether we would make our connection. Eventually, when we did board the Boeing 737, it was quick as there was only 25 people on the flight! We left nearly an hour late with our 40 minute connection to Canberra looking dubious.

The flight was uneventful but not fast enough and the Canberra flight would not wait. As we disembarked we were met by a Qantas employee who let us know that we would be staying in Brisbane for the night. And so we collected our luggage along with 13 other people who had also missed their connections too (11 of these were on the Canberra flight.) The mini bus dropped us off at the Stamford Plaza Hotel, located on the banks of the Brisbane River.

By this stage it was 9pm at night, we were rather hungry. Once assigned our adjoining rooms, we made our way down to the restaurant for dinner then retired to bed.

A 9am flight meant an early start - breakfast at 7am before the mini bus arrived at 7.30am to take us back to the airport. No dramas with this flight and we touched down at 11am, very happy to see Sandra at the arrivals gate.

Back home it was wonderful to be reunited with a fluffy Indi. Not too sure who was more excited - Indi or us! Andy had time to shower, change and ride into uni for his 2pm lecture! Ella had a quick turn a round too. She was super keen to see her friends again so I dropped her off at school in time for lunch. Katy well she was happy to play with Indi all afternoon while I refilled the pantry and fridge trying to get organised for the week ahead and began down the long road of washing.