They all caught a bus up there from Sydney - don't think any of them had cars with them.(If all the news about drugs and the dealer is correct)
Figtree, I'm guessing he was 'out of it' anyway and might not have had a lot of awareness of time, perhaps the dealers arrival seemed like a distant and improbable dream and perhaps he was in a kind of 'low' and wanted a drug to counter that quickly.
Had he been in a conscious and 'with it' frame of mind, I doubt he would have RUN out of the resort anyway. After all, he had a mobile phone that was working and probably had the dealers number on his phone and could have explained to him that he was on his way and asked him to wait. Why fly out the door? That action in itself draws attention.
If he was going to buy for others, could not one other have driven him to meet the dealer.... why was Gary alone undertaking the task of procurement in a wasted state, potentially jeopardizing the crew?
Were others 'out of it' enough not to want to drive a car or did they all get to the Fairmont by bus/train?
Maybe Gary and the dealer had a misunderstanding about the meeting place.
Yes, very little is known of the colleagues and their role in this, or their state of mind.
It does kind of seem that Gary was the 'gopher' for the group. Not sure, the others may have known (of) Pambos too - Pambos is from Earlwood in Sydney, so could have been known to the others too.
It may well be that there was a misunderstanding re the meeting place.
As today's msm report says, the 'friends' would have had absolutely no idea what kind of a tragedy was set to unfold on the back of this drug errand. Probably in no form to contemplate the seriousness of the situation even during the 17 min phone call...
JMO.