Countering Objections

I have spent the last week or so countering objections being raised by the beloved.  

The beloved is a sheep and cattle farmer, but so much more.  He is keenly curious and engaged and a very well traveled man, quite the exception for a boy from the bush... or maybe I am poorly informed about those who chose to live in a rural area.  Anyway, he is also 6 foot three inches tall.  On his varied travels he once traveled on Emirates and, apparently, this was the pinnacle of travel experiences.  So the idea of travelling Tiger has not held much appeal at all.  I have had to use all my powers of persuasion including counting on my beloved believing that everything I do is perfection.  

I understand, intellectually only, that when you are very tall that you hit your head on things and that can hurt.  So some of the objections have centered around concerns that the Tiger planes have low ceilings and that he will hit his head.  Now I am pretty sure that all planes would have a set height for their insides, but hey that is another thing I am happy to stand corrected on.  

But in all this talk I realise that I have gotten ahead ahead of myself.  This challenge for 2013 is all about being openly fair and give all local airlines the opportunity to woo me with deals and value for money packages.  So I made the following inquiries:

Qantas - $130 each way - luggage included
Virgin  - $109 each way - I think luggage included
Jetstar - $75 each way (although there is a $55 flight leaving at 6.55 am on Sunday) and an additional luggage charge
Tiger $65 each way - with taxes and a luggage charge and booking fee a grand total of $329 

So once again Tiger has won through with their normal pricing,  As an added bonus we are flying mid morning on Friday and mid afternoon on Sunday so there should be no need to be at the airport at stupid o'clock - woo hoo.

I now have to spend between now and next month to prepare my beloved for his first Tiger experience.  He may wear his hat on the plane, he is totes worried about his hairdo (bald takes a while get just right).

Hobart or Sydney

I have some deep pleasures in life - the kind of activities that restore the soul and provide the kind of contentment that the dalai lama talks about.  One of these is talking to my amazing bestie, who lives life so totally glamorously, is generous and beautiful and loving and supporting.  Another and more recent pleasure in my life is reveling in lazy Saturday mornings with my beloved, cups of tea in hand, talking about all manner of things.  Usually there are dogs on the bed, sadly I am never organised enough to have ginger biscuits which would make the picture beyond perfect.  As luck would have it the birthdays of these two amazing people are six days apart and in June, I smell a trip brewing.

A couple of months ago the idea was floated that the bestie and I would meet in Hobart, as a born and bred Tasmanian the bestie is an amazing tour guide in her home state.  With May knocking on the door I thought the conversation should progress, seeing as I left ticket purchase to the last minute last trip I thought I should be more organised this trip.

An early morning chat and comparison of diaries (mine far less busy than hers) and a decision was made that rather than meeting in Hobart I would take my beloved to Sydney for a weekend of birthday fun.

Now here is where the conversation got interesting...... the beloved is not keen to fly Tiger, not one bit.  At 6 ft 3 inches he is much taller than I am, I literally could fit in the overhead locker if I needed to.  So the conversation went like this:
Beloved: "But why Tiger"
Me: "Because it is my 2013 challenge darling"
Beloved: "Challenge, what are you talking about?"
Me: "Darling you haven't read my blog have you"
Beloved: "Blog?  Tiger have been bought out by Virgin, let's fly them"
Me: "Trust me, this trip will make great blogging"

So, he is now on board, will be in Melbourne this weekend and flights will be booked, let the birthday festival planning begin!!