Teddy does a Tour de Friends

[TheWombatOfDoom]

Say yes say yes say yes.

Since I'm slated to go with my fiancee, it might not be an option, but knowing if he's willing or not will allow me to know what options I have. For instance, we both forgot, but she gets first dibs on them if she's available to go. If she's not, then I'll take Teddy. Basically, I don't want an option where I leave Teddy behind or her behind.

[Teddy]

So I just realized my sister gave me tickets to a baseball game on the 12th...which I'd completely forgotten about. I'm going to see if that's correct information, but I could potentially be seeing what I can do to give them to someone else...if not taking you with me. First question - would you be interested in going to a game?

Well, I'll gladly go wherever you drag me along. That said, if I'd be given free baseball tickets myself, they'd probably met the same fate as the free cinema tickets I've received throughout time, namely oblivion, even though when friends pull me along to the cinema, I enjoy it. I'm not much of a sports watcher, though, and I don't think you should let me get between you and your fiancee for the game. I don't know how long they last, but I think I should be able to keep myself entertained in the meantime...

[Cuthalion]

Well, I'll gladly go wherever you drag me along. That said, if I'd be given free baseball tickets myself, they'd probably met the same fate as the free cinema tickets I've received throughout time, namely oblivion, even though when friends pull me along to the cinema, I enjoy it. I'm not much of a sports watcher, though, and I don't think you should let me get between you and your fiancee for the game. I don't know how long they last, but I think I should be able to keep myself entertained in the meantime...

Generally two to three hours. Entertaining, don't worry.

[Skeppio]

Small change of plans (for the better, yay!): It should be fine if you stay here the night. Inquired again, explained, etc, and they said it's okay. Pretty sure we have a spare mattress or inflatable one somewhere if you don't mind those.
I'll have to think of stuff to do in Melbourne. We have a nice aquarium (my default suggestion for people holidaying in Melbourne ) if that tickles your fancy! :3

[LaZodiac]

Be sure to post updates to how your trip is going here when you can!

[Teddy]

Today I got a tour of Gothenburg, also known as the city of poor jokes. They were everywhere (the local grocery store runs "The joke of the week" on their receipts), but the guides on the sightseeing boat sure had the most (and the most forced). I liked the aptly nicknamed bridges "Hairdresser" and "Cheese Slicer" though. We had to sit on the bottom of the boat and duck to get under the Cheese Slicer, for one!

I also sadly missed to take a picture of the completely serious sign in a parking lot reading "Another one of those signs" (in Swedish). That one I liked just thanks to the lengths they went through to put it up!

In less joke-related news, Gothenburg is a lovely city, and very lush this time of the year.

[Asta Kask]

Have now said goodbye to Teddy. I liked him. My cat, Alfons liked him. My other cat, Nisse... was deeply suspicious at first, but was won over by a judicious combination of treats and tummy rubs.

There is a certain similarity in appearances between Teddy and Anthony Perkins in "Psycho", but I'm sure that's nothing to worry about. FinnLassie, I never once saw him brandishing a very large, sharp knife or dress up to look like his mother.

[Serpentine]

Hey Teddy, make sure you give me as much warning as you can of exactly what day and time you'll be turning up in Brisbane and leaving! Gotta tell my housemates and also try and get a lift to pick you up.

[Teddy]

I've been awake for 29 hours straight. Not because of any lack of effort from my part, but I've now learned that I can't sleep in a position where my head isn't fully supported by anything else than my neck. This makes sleeping in a chair quite... tricky, and it turns out neither stations nor trains made it work for me. In retrospect, choosing a nighttime train wasn't such a hot idea.
...
I'm just hoping I'll be able to sleep on the flight to Australia. Otherwise, I might not be the most sociable person when I get to you, Skep.
...
I might solve this by booking myself into a hotel on the first night in Australia just to get some sleep. I'll try to experiment a bit on upcoming travels, unless someone claims that day first.

Hey Teddy, make sure you give me as much warning as you can of exactly what day and time you'll be turning up in Brisbane and leaving! Gotta tell my housemates and also try and get a lift to pick you up.

Weeell, the arrival and departure days for Australia as a whole are set, so with the floating day which no one still hasn't claimed, that'll either mean my schedule for you is exactly as written in the schedule, departing one day later, or arriving and departing one day later, depending on who takes it.

[KuReshtin]

So, if you haven't slept well for the past day or so, you just have to make sure you get a good night's sleep tonight, so you're refreshed for the meetup this weekend.

Have you tried one of those travel pillows that support your neck (see pic below)? They could be of at least some assistance in giving your head the needed support to get to sleep.

Spoiler: Travel Pillow

Show

[Asta Kask]

He bought some earplugs. Then he left them here. Maybe he was giving out subtle hints about the cat door, which can be a little loud at times.

[Skeppio]

I've been awake for 29 hours straight. Not because of any lack of effort from my part, but I've now learned that I can't sleep in a position where my head isn't fully supported by anything else than my neck. This makes sleeping in a chair quite... tricky, and it turns out neither stations nor trains made it work for me. In retrospect, choosing a nighttime train wasn't such a hot idea.
...
I'm just hoping I'll be able to sleep on the flight to Australia. Otherwise, I might not be the most sociable person when I get to you, Skep.
...
I might solve this by booking myself into a hotel on the first night in Australia just to get some sleep. I'll try to experiment a bit on upcoming travels, unless someone claims that day first.



Weeell, the arrival and departure days for Australia as a whole are set, so with the floating day which no one still hasn't claimed, that'll either mean my schedule for you is exactly as written in the schedule, departing one day later, or arriving and departing one day later, depending on who takes it.

Hm, okay. I have work on Mondays, so I dunno if that'll affect our day if we hang out Sunday instead of Saturday.

[DraPrime]

Have you tried one of those travel pillows that support your neck (see pic below)? They could be of at least some assistance in giving your head the needed support to get to sleep.

Spoiler: Travel Pillow

Show

As someone who has had to do a lot of travel and a lot of sleeping in uncomfortable places, I second this suggestion. You'll sleep a lot better if you get a good one. If you don't have any by the time you get to Boston I might have a spare to give you.

[Teddy]

So, if you haven't slept well for the past day or so, you just have to make sure you get a good night's sleep tonight, so you're refreshed for the meetup this weekend.

Have you tried one of those travel pillows that support your neck (see pic below)? They could be of at least some assistance in giving your head the needed support to get to sleep.

Spoiler: Travel Pillow

Show

I have one, although it's kinda soft. Very comfortable, but I wasn't kidding when I said full support. It allows my head to tilt way too far to the side, and that quickly becomes very uncomfortable...

And I'll make sure to! I took a two hour nap earlier, and then had a shower, so now I feel more regular tired instead of catatonic...

[Asta Kask]

Caffeine, Teddy. Caffeine.

[Cuthalion]

He bought some earplugs. Then he left them here. Maybe he was giving out subtle hints about the cat door, which can be a little loud at times.

Heh.

Just wait until he hears the budgie door at Kneeble's.

[Serpentine]

You can spend the extra day here if you want. I'll need the time as well, when you know it - someone might be able to pick you up in the morning but not the evening, for example.
If you're not worried about money, my recommendations would be Carrumbin Sanctuary and maybe one of the other zoos around (Australia Zoo, Steve Irwin's, is within driving distance, but honestly I was pretty disappointed by it). You might also consider the theme parks - Dreamworld and White Water World for one company, and Wet'n'Wild, Seaworld and Movie World for the other. We should find somewhere to go to the beach, too. How strong a swimmer are you?
Did you consider hiring a car? I have a few friends who might be keen for outings to places like the glowworm caves and bushwalking places but having a car is very useful. I'm sure we can manage without, though.

[Somensjev]

You can spend the extra day here if you want. I'll need the time as well, when you know it - someone might be able to pick you up in the morning but not the evening, for example.
If you're not worried about money, my recommendations would be Carrumbin Sanctuary and maybe one of the other zoos around (Australia Zoo, Steve Irwin's, is within driving distance, but honestly I was pretty disappointed by it). You might also consider the theme parks - Dreamworld and White Water World for one company, and Wet'n'Wild, Seaworld and Movie World for the other. We should find somewhere to go to the beach, too. How strong a swimmer are you?
Did you consider hiring a car? I have a few friends who might be keen for outings to places like the glowworm caves and bushwalking places but having a car is very useful. I'm sure we can manage without, though.

dreamworld and movie world are great
the only time i've been to seworld it started raining 10 minutes after i arrived, it kept raining all day
i've never been to the others, but i've heard they're great

[Serpentine]

I've always rated Movie World the lowest, but they've got some new rides that are pretty good. Dreamworld has the best rides (and also lots of kangaroos you can pat, but basically every zoo or wildlife park in Australia has those), Wet'n'Wild is the best water park, and Seaworld has a tank full of adorable stingrays that come right up to you for pats :3
I haven't been to White Water World. You can get cheaper group deals for Dreamworld and White Water World, or for Seaworld, Movie World and Wet'n'Wild.

[Teddy]

Meetuping is fun! Lot's of games! I won Chaos in the Old World, almost Once upon a Time (I was interrupted the sentence before my happy ending ), got in a very unlikely second place in Kitties in a Blender thanks to Straberries the Great Kitten Saviour, and lost catastrophically at Witches (Terry Pratchet), because the dice hated me (as did my blood sugar at that moment. I was a very mopey bear). Oh, and I was the third out of 13 to be eliminated at Nuclear War, but I was the one responsible for the two previous eliminations, so I was in good spirits anyway.

You can spend the extra day here if you want. I'll need the time as well, when you know it - someone might be able to pick you up in the morning but not the evening, for example.
If you're not worried about money, my recommendations would be Carrumbin Sanctuary and maybe one of the other zoos around (Australia Zoo, Steve Irwin's, is within driving distance, but honestly I was pretty disappointed by it). You might also consider the theme parks - Dreamworld and White Water World for one company, and Wet'n'Wild, Seaworld and Movie World for the other. We should find somewhere to go to the beach, too. How strong a swimmer are you?
Did you consider hiring a car? I have a few friends who might be keen for outings to places like the glowworm caves and bushwalking places but having a car is very useful. I'm sure we can manage without, though.

Good! I'll try to book the in-Australia flights in two or three days, then I can tell you the exact times (I'll probably aim for the evening, though, since I'll want to spend as much time as possible with Skep in our one night-surroundings). I probably won't be able to make up my mind now (busy days), but I am a good swimmer, yes (yay for mandatory swimming education! ). What are the temperatures where you live at that time of the year (air and water)?

[Serpentine]

Yeah, no hurry to decide what you wanna do once you're here, though I'll start canvassing for anyone who might have something to suggest or join in. Evening will probably be better for flights if you can manage it (argh 6am flights argh!).
Being a good swimmer is a good start. I'm sure we'll be able to find somewhere.
Last year I made a very conscious note that August seemed like a particularly nice time for someone, particularly a Brit (I realise you're not, but this was my thought ) to come to Brisbane. IIRC, last August was clear and bright, warming up significantly but not unbearably so. Not sure about water temperature, although I swam with Guy in May last year and it was nippy but bearable once you were in. August is the last month of winter, but it's been an extremely mild one so far - I appreciate my heater at night, but I don't absolutely need it and it's even quite warm in the day. Today is 6-22oC, clear sky; it should be getting warmer by then.
And that's my weather report :P

[Teddy]

Two Losses, the Flipsides of Travel
(A headline, because right now I need to put words on my thoughts.)

So, I guess today would be an appropriate day to talk about the negative sides of travel, because of the events of the last two days, in which I've lost two things of immense importance to me.

The first thing is my home. Okay, I didn't lose it per se, it still stands there and my family are still supportative and will welcome me home with warm hugs, but it's the feeling of having a home I can return to which is gone. I thought that the hardest part of this journey would be having to subject myself to new cultures only relying on people I've only met through the computer screen. But yesterday, I realised that no, doing that is exhausting, but the hardest part is that when I've exhausted myself, I can't go home. I can only pack up and leave for a new person in a new city with a new culture I've never known anything of. So if I suddenly ask for a day of doing nothing at all, it doesn't mean I find your options boring, it means I'm close to falling apart and need somewhere to substitute for my home. Because, to be honest, this is very stressful for me, even at the times when I won't realise it myself...

The other object I've lost is both more substantial and of more monetary value. Namely, it's my large bag, the one I kept all my clothes in. I forgot it on the train when I (due to poor information) suddenly was rushed to get off my train before it left the station and forgot my bag in the baggage rack. Right now, it is hopefully in Penzance, which anyone with knowledge of British geography or who bothers checking Google Maps knows is terribly far away from Derby where I'm staying with Strawberries right now. The alternative means it's stolen.

I got a number from the train company which I need to call tomorrow morning. Hopefully they can put my bag on the returning train and drop it off here for me to collect. I could buy cheap clothes to replace the ones I've lost, as well as new toiletries and a new pair of chargers instead of those who went into the bag as well, but that won't be cheap, probably more expensive than just sending the bag back even if it means buying a full ticket for it. But it's not that, the content of the bag has immense emotional value to me. I deliberately packed my favourite clothes because I wanted to look nice on the trip, and several of those are nigh impossible for me to replace...

Thankfully, neither computer, phone, money nor passport were in it. Nor Flodhäst. I would've been heartbroken if I lost her...

EDIT:
I was planning to do a bunch of booking and similar administrative stuff tomorrow, but now I don't know if I'll find the energy. I should post an updated schedule with train times included, but yeah. I think I'll post my phone number though so people can message me when I'm away from Internet (because countries which don't provide Eduroam access are stupid), and people may call me if they want, but I don't want them to be too long. I'll let everyone else figure out how to solve this anti-spam meassure...

27780422764+ :enohP

For anyone who want to iron out any details through Skype (or just be friendly), my name is on my profile.

[Serpentine]

Yikes :S If it makes you feel any better, I ended up having to spend several days in Scotland in the middle of winter with just a handful of clothes I could snatch out of my suitcase before it got left behind in London I knew where it was the whole time, though... I hope it gets found and sent back to you! Stay on the back of the train company about it.

[Skeppio]

Good! I'll try to book the in-Australia flights in two or three days, then I can tell you the exact times (I'll probably aim for the evening, though, since I'll want to spend as much time as possible with Skep in our one night-surroundings). I probably won't be able to make up my mind now (busy days), but I am a good swimmer, yes (yay for mandatory swimming education! ). What are the temperatures where you live at that time of the year (air and water)?

It'll be fun! I'll think of something to do, I'm not very good at pointing out tourist stuff in Melbourne.
And I hope you can find your missing stuff!

[Teddy]

Okay, bad news. If my bag is found (the woman on the phone stressed that a little more than I'm entirely happy with), I will get to know it in seven days. I should have asked what they can do with the bag, because, well, I'm not even supposed to be in this country anymore by then, but...

GAH!!!
I hate myself so much right now! I'm worn thin already, and now half of my life is in Penzance and don't know what to do and I just want to go home and never having had any of this happened to me why why why!
*untypeable frustration*

[Serpentine]

In some travel guides I've read, it's been stressed that you should never pack anything you can't live with losing. I really, really hope you end up not having to learn that the really hard way
In the meantime, I suggest hitting up some op shops (or thrift shops, or charity shops or whatever they call them over there) and stocking up on some cheap disposable stuff. If (heaven forbid!) you're still in need when you get here I can take you round to some I know of and get something to keep you at least decently clothed 'til you head home.

[Teddy]

In some travel guides I've read, it's been stressed that you should never pack anything you can't live with losing. I really, really hope you end up not having to learn that the really hard way
In the meantime, I suggest hitting up some op shops (or thrift shops, or charity shops or whatever they call them over there) and stocking up on some cheap disposable stuff. If (heaven forbid!) you're still in need when you get here I can take you round to some I know of and get something to keep you at least decently clothed 'til you head home.

Yeah, I feel like a major idiot right now.

To make things worse, there are only two ways I can get my bag from Bristol (where it will be sent): 1. collect it myself, or 2. have it sent by a courier I must provide. To phrase this in other words, I must either delay my entire trip by 1 week, more or less, or I must go some burocratic proceedures I know nothing about to send my bags somewhere where I can collect it which I don't know where it'll be because GAH!!!

The planes should be rebookable before they take off, although I may have to jump through a few hoops to get there. Pushing everything exactly one week ahead should work in this regard, because most companies generally fly on a weekly routine. Is there anyone for whom pushing it one week ahead (same times, just add 7 to the date) wouldn't work? I could accept it as lost forever or keep up hope and try to work it out, but, well, the first will make me very sad, and the second very worried (and to be honest, I've dealt with way too much uncertainity this spring to handle very much more of it. Perhaps this is one of those things I'll have to force out of myself no matter the casualties, but I'm the sort of person who want everthing planned out ahead, or at least have a plan on when the planning should happen. I don't like having to improvise like this, it makes everything more complicated, and I don't have time for processing it...

[Serpentine]

For me, it depends. I'm hoping to be able to get down to NSW for a friend's birthday the weekend after (9/10th). Depending on how I end up getting down there, you can probably come with me if you want, but it'll make things more awkward. Of course, it's just as likely that I won't be able to get down there anyway - won't be able to find anyone to give me a lift, or won't afford the bus or train.
Have you talked to your contacts in England about it? Someone might be able to help you out, to receive your suitcase and pass it on to wherever you are or something like that.

[Teddy]

For me, it depends. I'm hoping to be able to get down to NSW for a friend's birthday the weekend after (9/10th). Depending on how I end up getting down there, you can probably come with me if you want, but it'll make things more awkward. Of course, it's just as likely that I won't be able to get down there anyway - won't be able to find anyone to give me a lift, or won't afford the bus or train.
Have you talked to your contacts in England about it? Someone might be able to help you out, to receive your suitcase and pass it on to wherever you are or something like that.

No, not yet. In part because most of them are at work, in part because, well, these forums are my main venue of contact, so, well, this is how I contact people.

[Serpentine]

Actually, btw, if you did end up coming down to Armidale with me that could be okay. I haven't been particularly impressed with most of the bushwalks up around Brisbane compared with the ones near Armidale, and I've got a few friends down there whose arms I'm sure I could twist to take us out.