Well, here I am on the other side of the world.

The flight from London to Melbourne is interestingly managed. You leave Heathrow late in the evening and spend much of the trip to Singapore asleep. (Or at least you do if you have my amazing “fall asleep in moving vehicles” superpower.) There is then a very short “day” that comprises breakfast on the plane, a short walk around Changi and supper on the plane. After that there is a short “night”, and you get dumped out in Melbourne at around 5:00am. I’m surprisingly awake.

For the benefit of those of you planning a trip next year, there is an ANZ bank ATM right opposite the customs exit at Melbourne airport. I put my US card in it and got AU$, no problem at all, though obviously there will be a fee.

One thing I hope people won’t have to cope with next year is flu panics. Australia is still deep in medical paranoia and there is an extra form you have to fill out. Like most such forms, it is stupid. You are supposed to tick “yes” if you have had any cold-like symptoms recently, including a headache or sniffles or a cough. I talked to the cabin crew in case this was like the stupid question on the immigration form about “animal products” (why yes, I am wearing a leather jacket and a woolen sweater, but those don’t count). Their advice was to confess to “symptoms” even though they were due to pollen allergies and recycled air, and I took their advice because I figured I had no chance of making it through immigration without coughing or sneezing.

So I spent 10 minutes or so talking to the nice doctor and nurse on duty. They were fine, and very sympathetic. I suspect I probably made their morning because I actually gave them something to do, which made it seem less bad having to be up and about for a 5:00am arrival.

A cab from the airport to the convention center is AU$51. You have been warned. There are no trains or trams.

The new Hilton is gorgeous. I admit to being biased as they gave me a room and a free upgrade to the executive floor despite the fact that I was arriving at 6:00am, but it is a very nice hotel. I’m not entirely happy with the AU$30/day for Internet access, but as I got a free breakfast I’m not going to complain.

My job for today is to explore the convention facilities. Hopefully that won’t take too long as I also want to visit my bank and go shopping. After that I’ll be having dinner with Terry.

If you have any questions about Melbourne as a Worldcon venue, please ask in the comments. I’ll do my best to answer them.