Craig's Adventure as a Chinese Tourist.

The first day of our holiday was not exactly as relaxing as we'd hoped. Then again, it didn't really help that we had to wake up at 5:30am in the morning so that we could drive down to the Gold Coast to pick up five of my relatives. My mother's eldest sister, brother and cousin were arriving with their spouses. Craig and I were to drive them up to Brisbane so all seven of us could catch a flight up to Cairns to begin wedding celebrations as a family.

Getting down to the Gold Coast was no drama. What Craig and I didn't know was that my relies' flight from Kuala Lumpur had been delayed. We were hoping to be out of there by about 8:30am but by the time my relatives got through customs, it was well and truly 9:30am. Our connecting flight to Cairns wasn't until 12:00pm but we still had to drive from the Gold Coast to Brisbane airport. We got going quickly. During the drive, I did a lot of catching up with my relatives and got to practising my rusty Cantonese. It had been a good 5 years since I'd last seen my relies so there was a lot to share between us. During all this, poor Craig only got little bits and pieces of the conversation, only when I remembered to translate!

As we got closer into Brisbane, Craig and I decided to take the new motorway, thinking it would be faster than going through the main city. This was all good and well, except that because it was our first time using the new motorway, we missed the exit! It was 11:00am by now and check-in for our plane was due to close to at 11:30am. Needless to say, Craig and I were more than a little bit anxious. We were able to get off the motorway and head back towards the airport, only we took another wrong turn and missed our exit yet again! Craig was barely containing his angst at this point and I was doing my best to try to keep calm, and avoid any wrong words that might just cause him to implode... Meanwhile, my relies were all cheerful and happy, oblivious to impending disaster.

We finally go onto the right road and as we approached the airport, I casually informed them that we might have to be quick so that they didn't missed their plane. I gave poor Craig the responsibility of checking in my Chinese relies as I returned the Tarago we'd rented. Since it was in my name, it had to be me returning it and not Craig. Poor Craig had barely parked the car, put the handbrake on when he realised that we'd all completely deserted the car. My relies had done exactly what I'd told them to and instantly cleaned the car of their luggage & baggage! By this stage, I was already running towards Thrifty's with the car keys!

Luckily, fortune shone on us. There wasn't a single person queing at the Thrifty's desk (I'd been dreading the hordes) and I hurried explained that I was late for my flight, didn't have time to refuel the car and was really, really sorry! Thankfully, they were really good about it and said I could leave it as it was, they would just charge me a fee for filling up the tank. I raced to join Craig and my relies, much to his relief. I don't think he was looking forward to the prospect of checking in my relatives when he barely knew a word of Chinese!

We checked in without any dramas and with 5 minutes to go, boarded our plane. What a relief! Despite the stress and craziness, I couldn't help myself but be amused. It's easy to laugh about the bizarreness of the whole ordeal, now that it was behind us. But all in all, Craig didn't do too badly for an Aussie travelling in Chinese style. Needless to say, it was the first test of his nerves, hehe. But we've gotten to Cairns safely and my mum was over the moon to catch up with her relatives. So far so good!

Hope you enjoyed the read. There is definitely more to come!

Yours truly,
Demi & Craig.