My, my, my....let me tell you - an overseas trip is not for the faint of heart, no sirree bob! Yesterday, or, two days ago, I guess...we got to Charlotte International and the friendly US Airways ticketing agent ~~ can you really call her a ticketing agent when she doesn't even issue you your ticket or boarding pass, I wonder. Anyway, she was friendly, but her English was almost impossible to understand. I wanted to know why we didn't have our boarding passes for Qantas and what would we have to do in LAX to get them...she told me but I walked away asking Mark, "did you understand what she just said?" He claimed he did...on we went. We were SUPER early, which I don't mind, traveling stressing me out so if I can be at my gate nice and early I am all the more calm. Mark, however, does not want to sit on his laurels any longer than he must...again, our travel personalities do not mesh all that well. We were one of the last to board the plane, Zone 5, it's a bitch, and they told me I had to check my carry-on at the door as there was no more overhead compartment space. I was not happy. My carry-on had my camera, lenses, a friend's lens and the boys dvd player. I grabbed out my camera backpack and handed the suitcase over to the handler. Now, ordinarily what happens with something that gets checked at the door is that it gets put pack at the door upon landing at your destination. Ordinarily. That didn't happen this time. I stood waiting...and waiting...and waiting. We had less than 1 1/2 hours to figure out where we were supposed to go to get our Qantas boarding passes and I didn't want to dilly-dally waiting for this luggage, HOWEVER, I NEEDED it because all of our confirmations were in the pocket. Confirmations for our hotels, our car rentals, our flights...I NEEDED it. They told me to go down to baggage and talk to the agent there and they could pull it off for me.
No they couldn't.
She told me that she could take my information and they could send it on to me, and then she lectured me saying that I should already be checked in for my flight on Qantas. "How," I asked her, "when US Airways said they couldn't check us through and we only just landed?" She told me that the carosel could take up to 20 minutes to begin...I am not going to lie, I started panicking. I don't like rushing. I don't like sqeaking by. I know. It's lame. I feel lame as I am doing - but I can't seem to help myself. Luckily the carousel started not too long after my failed encounter with the baggage attendant. Interestingly enough, and I think, not surprising, my bag was NOT one of the first ones down....nope, of course it wasn't. But it did come down and we ran, I am not kidding, Mark, the boys and I hauled ASS outside to hunt down Bus "A". As soon as we got to the Tom Bradley terminal, I think it is called, we hauled ass inside and guess what? What do I hear as we are racing towards the Qantas ticketing agents....our names being called over the P.A.! Yea, our names. Saying we are needed "garbble,garbble, garbble...." WTF, did they just say!? Where are we supposed to go!?!? My stress level seriously hit the roof. It was after 9pm and they were boarding at 9:45, we didn't have our boarding passes, we hadn't gone through security...I was about to hit the roof. I tell Mark, yes, I TOLD him, to get up to the ticket agent and tell her that our names were just called -- holy hell, you should have seen the look he gave me! If looks could kill, I would be re-telling this from my spot in Hell right now, instead of the lovely apartment I am currently sitting in in downtown Sydney, Australia :-) If you are wondering why I wasn't going up to the ticket agent myself, it is because I was looking for someone to ask that was near me...thinking we could double up and conquer. He wasn't aware of my thought process. It turns out we were being paged because we WERE checked through we just didn't have our boarding passes and our passports hadn't been scanned. Whatever, it got dealt with and we headed to security. We got through security and while the boys were busy putting back on belts and shoes, I told Mark that I was going to the currency exchange to get our money switched over. I walked about 15 steps when all of a sudden the TSA agents let out a REALLY loud shout and several took of running in different directions. We all had to stand still and everything shut down. Are you freaking kidding me!?!?!? It was a drill, but dammit, it was cutting in to my available time to get things accomplished before taking off!!
We arrived at our gate right on time. Yes, yes, yes, all that worry, stress and overreacting for nothing...but let's face it, I am my Momma's daughter at times like these :-) Fun thing, though, as we were waiting for Mark outside a little cafe, Lionel Ritchie walked passed me!!! LIONEL!!!! I never see famous people - EVER, so it was a hoot to see him. Plus, I had been listening to some of his music on the flight to LAX. Good times.
We boarded for Sydney at 1:30am NC time. Almost as soon as we got to cruising altitude, John was out like a light. I struggled to sleep. It was so hard to get comfortable, there just isn't enough leg room, and let's face it, sleeping upright isn't too comfortable in and of itself. Mark and Matt were seating in front of John and I and it looked as if they were settled in quite nice. John and I slept through dinner service, which really upset John when he awoke, lol, he cracked me up with his dramatics about being left out of dinner. We had the window and middle seat and I have to say, I started to feel sorry for our aisle Aussie seat mate. We tried our best to not disturb him too much, but damn me, 15hrs on a plane is a LONG time and even though our bathroom breaks were not all that often, I still felt bad. Oh, but my goodness, my legs got so swollen!!! They still are, as a matter of fact. I hate to be an alarmist, but I dare say I may have to watch out for DVT ~~ and let me tell you, feeling your legs swelling only adds to the discomfort of coach seating on a LONG plane trip. I am going to have to figure something out to do about the swelling - we are going to be flying quite a bit in the next two months....and I don't think this is good. I may google it after I am done here.
We landed at 6am, Friday, June 11th (HAPPY BIRTHDAY, Momma), though it is Thursday for ya'll. It was nice to be on the ground. Matter of fact, quite the cheer went up when those wheels touched down, lol. I don't think we were the only ones feeling the relief of the end of the long trip. Immigration and Customs were a walk in the park, thank the good Lord! However, for all my preparing and setting up shuttle service ahead of time, we waited over an HOUR for our shuttle to get us to our hotel. Mark tells me in the shuttle that there is no way in hell we are going to take the shuttle back to the airport on the 17th when we leave for Alice Springs, lol, can't say that I blame him. I think it will be a taxi getting that privilege, ha!
Our hotel is AWESOME!!! We are staying at the Meriton Serviced Apartments on Kent St. near Darling Harbour. We are on the 41st floor and have a kitchen, washer/dryer, and two bedrooms with king beds, as well as a separate living room area. We have a lovely balcony (that is making Mark and Matt get a touch of verdigo) that has outdoor seating/eating area. LOVELY! And the weather. OMG, the weather is fantastic! So nice and cool, beautiful blue sky and a nice breeze. Gorgeous!
We haven't done any exploring as of yet. We got in and settled. Mark is feeling the effects of the traveling, I think. He is feeling pretty hazy. I am too, I can't deny it, but I am itching to get out and see what is to be seen....plus, I don't want to sleep until closer to Australia night time -- Amy and I did that in Ireland and I think that is why we were able to function so well so quickly. I don't know if there is any proof or fact in what I am saying, but I believe it and so will do it, lol!
I can't wait to get some pictures and share them with you all :-)
Oh! So cute. A must share. When we were walking out of the airport to our shuttle, John saw a pigeon walking on the sidewalk. This is our conversation:
John: "Mom, did you see that pigeon!"
Me: "I did, John. I sure did...he was cute."
John: "I mean, Mom, it's like, even the pigeons are different here, you know. I mean, most pigeons when you walk by them they will fly away, but this pigeon here in Australia, just kept walking on the sidwalk. It's like it didn't even notice us, Mom!"
*note* all this time, John is walking with his suitcase trailing behind him in one hand and gesticulating wildly with the other. And his face is alive with the possibility of an Australian pigeon being so very different than an American pigeon.
Mom: "Well, John, the Aussies are known for their friendliness, it only stands to reason that their pigeons would be, too."
John: "Yea, I bet you're right, Mom."
Gawd, I love that boy!!
Until later ~~~~~~~~
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