I am typing this blog post from my room in the Melbourne airport Hilton, looking out at the International Terminal. I spent a little time this morning wandering around checking things out. Here are some things you may find useful.

The Arrivals area on the ground floor is fairly sparse. However, if you need to buy things, take the travelator (one at either end of the building) to Departures where there are plenty of shops and restaurants. There’s a luggage store that sells plug adapters, and a duty free store that has unlocked Nokia 5030 handsets on sale for AU$50 (+tax as you are not on your way out, so around $AU56 in total).

In the Arrivals area, where the Vodafone rental store used to be, there is now an Optus store. You can buy a SIM for your phone. I have put one in my iPhone, so I hope to be able to tweet freely throughout the convention.

The transport services now include a shared shuttle direct to hotels “from AU$15”. I saw CHip Hitchock & Davey Snyder catching one.

There is a Left Luggage service located on the Arrivals level at the end closest to the QANTAS Domestic terminal (T1).

And finally, there is a coffee shop chain in Australia called Gloria Jean’s. (There’s one in T1.) They donate a lot of money to a right-wing fundamentalist Christian group. Please bear that in mind when deciding where to get a drink.

If you have any questions, ask them in comments and I’ll try to find answers. I’ll be here until mid-day tomorrow.