0625: The station is starting to thaw. I have two red coats on. It is not quite light yet. I have had just over five hours sleep on top of the just over five hours sleep I had yesterday. I am beginning to doubt my commitment to Sparkle Motion.
0631: A senior lady trundles from the lift and comments on my red coat; "I saw your red coat and thought 'I hope that isn't some wild boy who might be trouble' but it wasn't." I want to ask how she knows I'm not a wild boy who might be trouble but instead I feel pleasantly offended. She is going to Melbourne for a night. Can't be any more ridiculous than going to Canberra for a day.
0636: Train arrives on time. YES!
0704: I pace the bread section of Coles Kings Cross. They do not have any bagels. In my current mood, at this time of morning, this constitutes a tragedy. I purchase a packet of pide instead.
0711: Ness warns me that they are running late and are due to arrive at Kings Cross at 0730 instead of 0715. I wait outside Avis, which seems to be populated with employees despite their official opening time being 0730. One of them sees me grow icicles and lets me inside. I manage to do all the paperwork and 'inspect the vehicle'. The van already has a couple of scratches on it but that's rental cars for you.
0723: The Avis lady tells me there are no toilet facilities on the premises, which seems silly to me; 1) how do the employees go to the bathroom? 2) what is one of the things you do before a road trip? - wouldn't you expect a car rental place to cater for that? Anyway. I mosey on up the street and into the Crest Hotel. As I come out of the hotel, I spot the other four legging it along Darlinghurst Road. "Oi! Fanbase!" I call. They turn from curiosity more than recognition. They really have to get use to the group name because I'm not quick enough to call out to them individually.
Above: Ness, Mike, Adeline and Pia0749: We shall not speak of the handbrake/footbrake incident, nor the near miss navigating out of the narrow passageway that was the Avis car park.
0755: On our way. Mike has placed himself as shotgun and he begins our aural education with Dragonforce.
0915: An obligatory stop at the McDonald's. THE McDonald's, the one everyone stops at (it seems). I believe it is in Benalla, but don't quote me on that. You'll know it if you've ever travelled by road between Sydney and Canberra. We're doing quite well for time. The crew procure provisions and I settle for a chocolate thickshake, even though I haven't eaten any breakfast. Ness says it's "just like a chocolate milkshake, only pig fat." Which is a common misconception.
1039: We enter Australian Capital Territory. Mike is napping and misses the shot. Ness calls my sister and we turn up at her doorstep only to steal her Canberra street map and bugger off to see Simon, our first interviewee.
1122: We arrive at Reconciliation Place, where Simon greets us holding a skateboard and a laptop. We shall not speak of the lack of signage to Reconciliation Place nor Mike's inability to read a map. I manage to circumnavigate Lake Burley-Griffin in the process.We park and meander towards the 'shore'. Pia offers me a Pocky rip-off. She thinks it's funny when I say I prefer my own version, "long and hard and dipped in Nutella" even though I was clearly talking about grissini.
The interview goes well. Not only is the weather perfect, Canberra has a distinct autumnal feel about it that makes the setting interesting. The photo is of Simon and Ness chatting and Mike filming. Simon is a photographer and is well known around these parts so his understanding of Canberrian NIN fans is fairly comprehensive.
1225: We leave Reconciliation Place and head back along Northbourne Avenue to the unfortunately named suburb of Downer, where Dan, our next interviewee, lives. Unlike Simon, Dan is not actually Canberrian, but a Kiwi lost in transit. He serves me tea, a mild and very welcome caffeine hit for a flagging driver. He and Ness chat for a bit while Jess falls in love with Dan's cat and Pia, who is allergic to cats, does the opposite. Jess remarks, "This cat's breath smells like cat food." All hail the new Ralph Wiggum.Dan has plenty of cool anecdotes and has seen NIN play in different parts of the world, so has a different spin on the gig-hopping. Of course you'll have to wait for our doco to come out to hear his reviews.
1405: We shall not speak of the horrible sound a shrub makes against the side of a van.
1415: That's it. Easy, yeah? We head down to Dickson Shops where I neglect to pay for parking. There's KFC followed by Rubees Frozen Custard, apparently 'better than ice cream'. It isn't, but my passionfruit one went down a treat. Except for the fact that they ran out of fudge just to piss Jess off and that Ness has had too much sugar, the crew consume the frozen custard without complaint. We stop for petrol, then drop in at my sister's place to return the street map before heading on our merry way at 1530.Another McDonald's pitstop, followed by an essential detour for booze and dinner before we come to rest at Ness' pad. Ness plays Ben Folds Five's 'Underground' for the third time and does a little dance. I make an attempt to enjoy the moment but beer floods my mental faculties. The rest of the crew are too tired to join her. They hit the road for their respective homes at 2030. I only last an hour longer before I commandeer Ness' swish Ikea sofa.
All in a day's work - zzz.
