Tuesday, October 1

It's been a very enjoyable holiday but, sadly, marred by an horrendous airport experience as we attempted to book in for the flight home to Launceston.

We only had one check-in bag and two rather bulky carry-ones, so we didn't expect much trouble.  We checked in on the computer at Robyn's, believing the Jetstar promise that it would 'save time'.  This action alerted Jetstar that we were intent on flying the next day and, barring an unforeseen incident, we would be there to take our pre- booked seats.

At the airport, we printed out a tag to attach to our suitcase.  This action alerted Jetstar that we had arrived at the airport, confirmed that we had one bag to be handed over to a porter who would take it to the designated plane and, barring an unforeseen incident, we would turn up at the correct gate at the appropriate time.

A sign pointed us to the Bag Drop.  Should have been simple!  Oh, no!  This is where the real lunacy starts.  This line is slow because, as a disembodied voice tells us 'the IT system is slow which is slowing down our check-in process. Our IT specialist is looking into it.'  There are hundreds of people in the line, they are all carrying boarding passes and all their luggage has a tag.  What more checking-in do they need?  And the slowness might have something to do with fact that four or five desks are un-manned.

We are in the line for an hour.  When we eventually get to a vacant desk, I heave the suitcase on to the the conveyor, the attendant says, 'Only the one bag ?' and we are waved on.  They must be trained in stating the obvious.

Breathing a sigh of relief that we have survived the baggage ordeal, we forget for a moment that we have to undergo the dreaded security check.  Being the recipient of an artificial hip, I am obliged to empty all my pockets, even of my hankie and comb.  I also have to remove my shoes - and there's no chair to sit on   - and my belt, which has its own issues as I have lost weight recently and the belt is essential to protect my modesty.

Eventually, we pass through the valley of the shadow of death  and emerge into the sunshine of the departure gates.  We, again, thought our troubles were over, but that's another story.