There’s something about the smell of Jet-A1 fuel that sets the senses on fire and sparks the imagination. Now before getting carried away don’t for a moment think I’m espousing the virtues of fuel-sniffing. The sense of smell is perhaps on of the most primal of the five senses….and it is a powerful thing. Through association, the mere hint of scent can evoke a memory or an experience before we’ve even consciously acknowledged the presence of a smell.
Bleary-eyed and still half asleep in the cab to the airport, the scent of Jet-A1 transformed me from grunting sloth to elated and hyperactive meerkat at the sudden anticipation of an impending flight.
Sometimes I think that often the travel part of a trip is almost more interesting than the destination. Especially when that destination involves sitting in meetings for an entire day.
Today was no exception – partially due to the fact I had not slept overnight (why pack the day before when you can leave it to absolutely positively the last minute). I was already feeling slightly ready for bed by the time I arrived in Melbourne on the first flight of the morning. Alas there was no sleep to be had.
A day of meetings dragged on. I was amused at how inefficient the discussions were – which is to say, if I was chairing the meeting, it would have finished much sooner.
Dinner went a long way to consoling my fatigue. Melbourne’s “The Wine Room” on Fitzroy St St Kilda was the venue of our junket dinner and certainly provided a the taste buds with an epicurean adventure….
Note to self….carpacio == raw meat
Finally the long day ended, some 30 hours after it started when I made it to my hotel room. I was amused to note that the hotel in question actually has a “pillow menu” offering a selection of different types of pillow for the discerning pillow connoisseur. I was too tired to care….if only I’d booked a wake up call…