May 1
We finally got the all clear to leave from the doctor at 4pm Monday afternoon. From then on it was rush, rush, rush! On Tuesday morning I threw all my clothes into my case and zipped it up. I was convinced that both our cases were overwieght, but when weighed at Albury we discovered we were both well under the limit. "Oh you're travelling light," the customs people said. Light! I'd hate to lift a heavy case!
No time for cuppas in Albury, we raced off to Sydney where
chaos reigns supreme. After asking directions from several staff, we
eventually found our way to the International Terminal. From then on it
was an endless wait in a line for booking, an endless wait in line
through customs, an endless wait in line... Yeah, you get the drift.
Our view from the plane.
When we got our boarding passes we discovered we weren't even sitting in the same sectin of the plane. Jeez! Thanks to a very nice young man who changed seats with Geoff, we finally got to sit together.
And sit we did... for nearly 3 hours. 3 hours!! Our plane couldn't take off without a new cargo door strap.
Eventually we lifted off.
Some iconic views of Sydney harbour as we flew over it and away from Australia at last.
Evening over the
Pacific Ocean.
This is over Suva. We could see the islands clearly. But having already spent about 5 hours in the air, my sense of humour evaporated.
The flight was interminable. Unbearable. Excruciating. Indescribable. Why do people actually do this to themselves? Why subject themselves to this unique kind of torture?
The next day dawned eventually - or the same day dawned again. We finally caught a glimpse of mountains through the clouds.
My first glimpse of L.A. as we descended through the clouds.
L.A. International Airport - where the big jet engines roar... I was so happy to touch down I could have burst into song!
Now there's a familiar sight!
Oh my God! I could have kissed the ground! Only there was no ground, just a very long walkway, around a corner, down some stairs and then a 2 hour wait to get through Immigration.
We got through Immigration and Customs with no problems, then we had to wait outside for a transit bus. We were told the wrong information and waited for another 2 hours only to discover that we were waiting in the wrong spot. We could have been on our bus and at our hotel at least an hour or more earlier.
Grrrr! Humour evaporating again.
Add to that the enormous May Day protest about something which will forever remain a mystery to me even though I watched it on several TV channels, and it all added up to us not getting to our hotel until about 4pm.
The whole highlight of the day and the same day again, was that we rang Maia Berens and she and her husband, Bart, came to the hotel to meet us.
We went to a lovely little shopping centre to a health food smorgasbord type shop and selected ourselves a wonderful meal which we all sat and shared as we chatted and laughed.
After years of talking to Maia via Skype, Messenger and anything else that would work, it was wonderful to finally meet in person.
Before we met, we both thought we'd be awkward and not know what to say. No fear of that! I don't think either of us drew breath!
Geoff chatting with the Valet at our hotel.
Geoff, Maia and Bart walking in to buy some healthy take away food.
Our first real meal in America. It was really delicious too.
Geoff and Bart discuss the finer points of what really is where in Australia.
Maia and I chatting away as though we get together often.
It really felt like we were two old friends getting together after a long time away.
Another of those, "Geoff, just take the bloody picture," moments.
Bart, Maia and I in L.A.
Right now it is 8.37pm Tuesday evening here and 1.37am Wednesday morning at home. Geoff is already in bed fast asleep while I sit here and blog on. I'm not happy that the shuttle bus is picking us up at 6.45am tomorrow. Breakfast isn't until 7am here, so I guess we'll miss out on that. Jeeez!
Anyway, despite the insanely slow plane flight, the painfully slow waiting in lines, and the delays and mistakes, we've had a really exciting start to our trip.
