Parcel Pete's Australian Adventure by Heather Playdon

Chapter 1- Onwards and Upwards

After his disastrous date with Penny left her with food poisoning Parcel Pete decided it was time to get away from it all.

Soon after recovering to full health, Penny had embarked on her botanical travels to the Brazilian Rainforest, hoping to discover a new bloom for the RHS to consider. This had left Pete wondering about his own dreams. Ever since hearing Men at Work’s ‘Down Under’ when he was a child he vowed to visit Australia. Was this the right time? Leaving his loved one the other side of the other side of the world. If not now, when?

He’d already agreed with his employer, ipostparcels.com, to take three weeks off so he set upon preparing to embark on his first big adventure in a long time - the last one being an ill-fated trip to Calais. He doesn’t like to talk about it but it involved a bumpy ferry crossing and a piano player.

Packing would be a bit of a challenge, having only been wearing his uniform and wellies for the past few months, due to the terrible weather.

So on Thursday evening, and scratching his head, he asked himself “Now where did I put my Bermuda shorts?” The ginger cat weaving around his ankles meowed in a bored fashion. “Cat!” Pete exclaimed. “Best call Aunty Patricia; she’ll love looking after you Percy. Now don’t look at me like that!”

Cat-sitter hastily arranged, Pete got his one and only suitcase down from the loft, blew the layers of dust off and dumped it on the bed. Scratching his head once more at the thought of having to work out outfits for the other side of the world. It’s the end of their summer over there so he needed to ensure he wore the right clothes - something he often found hard to do.

After what seemed like forever, he’d finished packing. He reached for his work-pass and held it against his chest fondly. He loved his job - they had been so supportive with his burgeoning relationship with client Penny and then agreeing to him taking 3 weeks off for his trip of a lifetime.

Daydream finished, he remembered he needed his passport and tickets. Items found, he went to bed early and dreamt of all things Australia.

Friday morning came and so too, an impatient cab driver, “Bibbbb-bibbb”. “Alright, alright, I’m coming” Pete called out. An hour later, Pete arrived at a busy and bustling Heathrow Airport. Grinning from ear to ear he approached a rather harassed-looking check-in attendant. “Did you pack your suitcase yourself?” she asked, without looking up from her computer screen. This part always made Pete nervous. “Yes” he said. He placed the case on the conveyor in front. The attendant tutted, “Overweight” she almost growled. Pete blushed, “I know, but I love my food”. She pointed at the suitcase and gave a withering look. “Oh, erm ok sorry” Pete blustered and took the case off. The queue behind him shuffled impatiently forward. 

Pete rejoined the queue having ‘donated’ to the airport staff fund: a tea caddy, various packets of biscuits, a large jar of Vegemite (really?) and rolls and rolls of parcel tape (again, really?).

Once checked in, and feeling more relaxed he sent an email to his beloved Penny whilst finishing off his ever-so naughty doughnut and full milk mochafrappacappalatte. He excitedly boarded flight number ‘QF003 to Sydney, stopping at Dubai’. Found his window seat (he loved looking at the clouds) and settled down to the first of many inflight movies, “You’ve Got Mail”.