Have set this up so I'll have somewhere to post my pics from the Armageddon con in Melbourne & the Farscape con in Burbank in November '08. Figure I might as well add the odd thought along the way to keep people up to date with all the trials, tribulations and revelations of planning my very first overseas trip, from herein known as the good, the bad, and the downright ugly. Hopefully, there will be plenty of the first, only a few of the second and none of the third but I know I ain't that lucky.
A little bit of history:
Back in late February '08, I got the crazy idea that I could afford to take 2 weeks off work, save all my cents and dollars and fly to Los Angeles for a 3 day Farscape convention known either as Burbank or (my fav) the 2nd Frelling Farewell. Get to meet the cast, catch up with some friends from the East coast of Oz and the US I first met at TaScape '04 and Ozscape '05 and spend 3 wild days and nights hanging out with a heap of 'scapers from all over the world.
The idea was all Mark's fault. He's also going to Burbank and I don't know whether to kiss him or kill him when I see him in LA. Will probably do both. <g> He issued an invite to all Aussie scapers to join a pilgrimage to LA and invade the Burbank Farscape con, saying the Perthies (of which I'm one) had gotten ourselves all organised. By the time I found out that in fact only 2 other Perthies were making the trip, I was too hyped up to even consider not going and so here I am on the verge of spending an obscene amount of money.
And just when I thought it couldn't get any better, I got a Google alert that Michael Shanks is appearing at Armaggedon '08 in Melbourne on Nov 1 & 2, the same weekend I'm flying to LA, so what was originally a few hours stopover on Sunday in Melbourne turns into a Fri night red-eye from Perth, a 2 day con experience and more pain for my already abused credit card.
The good:
Booked my Perth to Melbourne red-eye flight last night as I was worried that the cheap early morning seats would sell out and I would arrive too late Sat morning in Melbourne. I'll get into Melbourne at 5am. Figure I'll hit the Curves gym for a 45 minute workout on the way to my hotel as it's likely to be my only bit of spare time for the following 2 weeks.
Visited the travel agent tonight and got a really good price on the Melbourne-LA-Perth legs, so will be booking them on Saturday morning. Prices are set to rise come Monday, so looks like I got in just in time to save a few hundred bucks, which is always a good thing, especially considering how much I've already spent on the Burbank con tickets so far. Let's see: 1 gold ticket package (which includes a Friday night cabaret and Saturday evening dessert party with some of the cast), Sat afternoon cocktails with Claudia Black, Sunday morning breakfast with Ben Browder, Autographs and photo ops with Ben and Claudia.
And what I'm planning on spending to see Michael Shanks and David Hewlett at Armaggedon in Melbourne Nov 1 & 2: 2 day pass, autos and photos with Michael and David, dinner with Michael.
The bad:
Only just realised tonight that 1 & 2 November is the weekend before the Melbourne Cup ( a horse race for those not in the know, also known as the race that stops a nation) and therefore hotel prices skyrocket and become rarer than hen's teeth, which means I'll have to book somewhere sooner rather than later.
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