A little travel tip, just between you and me: when flying to a wedding, make sure you know what city it's in before you book your plane ticket.

My good friend Amy is getting married in June. As one of the, oh, two people I know in Sydney, I just assumed it was being held there. I'm sure she told me it was in Brisbane more than once, but do I ever listen? No. I do not.

Needless to say my blood ran a bit cold when I found out I was stuck with two return tickets to Sydney of the "changes will cost you one limb apiece" variety, and no particular reason to be there. Don't get me wrong: Sydney's a perfectly nice place, but with Amy away getting married in Brisbane and all, Jess and I were headed for a rather awkward visit with my only other friend in town.

Thankfully, the nice man at Qantas was willing to waive the amputation fee because I had "fouled up so completely" (his words) in my attempt at booking a flight online. I couldn't convince him to let me cancel the booking completely, however, which is a shame because Virgin Blue's prices to Brisbane are a lot cheaper at the moment, and wouldn't have forced us to leave Brisbane at 6:50AM the day after the reception.

Photo by Joel Barhamand.