Well, my story is not as disastrous as the one reported today, where an airline lost a suitcase that contained $900,000 cash. Why would you carry this amount of cash in luggage???
In all my travels, there have only been two occasions where my luggage was lost – and I shall explain the stories.
Way back in 1972, we flew from Sydney to Brisbane – a flight of just on one hour. We were moving because my husband was transferred. We had two little children, one was nearly three and the other about 4 years old. The young one was still in nappies – we had moved around a lot and he was not yet “potty-trained”, but we knew he would be ok on the plane without spare nappies – so they were in the suitcases – which we booked in.
When we arrived at Brisbane airport, the luggage was nowhere to be seen. All our luggage was lost. Everything else we owned was on a truck travelling from Sydney to Brisbane, and, in fact, would remain in storage until we found a house. It was a Saturday and in those days there were no shops open.
Luckily we knew our little man could hold on – and when we reached the motel on a stinking hot October day – in fact late in the morning, we had no choice but to sit in the motel room and try to keep cool. Air conditioners were not as efficient, but we had no choice but to sit around, in as little clothing as possible and wait. As it turned out, the airline found our luggage and it was delivered to us at around 7 pm. Apart from the inconvenience, all was well. Little young man had not wet his nappy, and in fact had learned to use the loo.
The second occasion I was on a business trip from Brisbane to Alice Springs via Sydney. When my friend and I arrived in Alice Springs – again on a Saturday – our luggage was nowher to be seen. Now this was a major disaster, as we could not imagine that they could find it – and we were only staying for three days. I was dressed in very smart business gear – including a silk shirt, skirt and high heels, as we had a meeting on arrival. I thought it would be smart to dress this way.
The airline told us to go and buy what we needed and they would re imburse us (here was a limit, but I don’t recall it.) We managed toothbrushes and toothpaste, but I found it difficult to buy anything on a Saturday afternoon. My friend, then a size 10 managed to get a few things, but I left empty handed, wondering how I could cope.
In the afternoon we set out for the Ross River Resort, the next part of our conference. We went on a ride on a cart pulled by a horse, and then wer taught how to crack a whip. All the other ladies were able to change into something more suitable – but there was me in my high heels cracking the whip!!
That night, without any night attire, my friend and I slipped into bed in the nude. At around 10 pm there was knocking on our cabin door, and with a sheet wrapped around our naked bodies we peered out the door to find a courier from the airline, with our luggage.
Weren’t we lucky!!
The following night we went to the Casino, but they would not let me in, for my good clothes were someone “soiled” from our outdoor adctivities, and my “casual” clothes were not suitable for a Casino.
I will post more of the story of Alice Springs later.
