So yesterday saw the start of the iPad road trip with Nic and Hanas.
The basis of the trip was to go pick up my much anticipated iPad from the Robina Apple store.
This was due to the fact I have no Australian credit card, and annoyingly couldn’t pre order my device and get it delivered. So instead I decided to roadtrip it up the coast with the boys and get out of byron for a while!
It didn’t start quite to plan though – a rather epic night out on Wednesday saw oversleeping and hangovers taking up much of the morning! But after packing the van in the drizzek we setnoff up the coast.
Taking the Gold Coast Highway the plan was to break the flat sŵell and score some surf on the way up.
This part of the plan went a bit more swimmingly!
Whilst taking a bend I noticed some lush swell Lines peeling off a right hand point break. The van was promptly parked and we scouted the spot after some much needed coffee and scones!
The waves were good fun and there was only 4 others in the water with us – good times.
After a couple of hours we hit the road once again, stopping off in Cooly along the way. We gave D’Bah a miss due to the crowds and opted to spectate over a snack instead.
As the sun began to set we ploughed on to our final destination – Robina shopping mall.
After locating the Apple store and grabbing some munch we were informed that if we started a line before 11pm then we could stay in the shopping centre overnight!
So at 7pm…a full 13 hours before the launch…a Devonian, Liverpudlian and Swede started camping outside the Apple store – duvets and all!
The next 12 hours were rather amusing:
Banter with strangers
Drinking games
Muchos goon
Hummous and crisps
Too much sugar
Building works
And a distinct lack of sleep!
Before we knew it there was only an hour to go and the hundred or so people who waited outside in the early hours were let in alongside the awaiting media. As first in line I spent the next hour doing an interview with Channel 9 News, a live radio interview (where I shamelessly plugged this blog!) and photos for the local papers – it was weird being on the other side of the camera for a change!
At 8am around 100 Apple employees launched into a explosion of applause and cheering as the store opened and the iPad finally went on sale. If there’s something Apple outdoes other stores on it’s definitely product launches!
By 8:30 I finally had my shiny new 16GB Wifi iPad bought, synced and ready to go.
Stoked!
After a final interview and shoot for Goldcoast Bulletin We headed back to Byron via a tasty session at Burleigh Heads.
Needless to say I spent most of the journey fiddling with my new toy like a kid at Xmas! :)
And so far I’m happy to report that i’m muchos satisfied with what I’ve experience and it’s living up to what I hoped for and wanted.
Tommorow will see a review of my first 24 hours of iPadage…so watch this space.
And yes this post was done via my iPad, typed on the virtual keyboard using the WordPress iPad app, and the following photos were uploaded via the camera attachment and edited using the Photogene app!
:)
Geekery over.
Well maybe not for the next few hours!
