Journey to Oz

Well… I started off pretty rocky. Cindy visited from Colorado and was tooling around L.A. I offered her my cell phone to make her get-togethers more efficient. It was a bad decision on my part because I need to make so many calls while I was at LAX. When I checked in, the folks at the counter informed me that I didn’t have a visa. I almost fainted and started to panic. They offered to apply online for me. It’s a new service that was just started a few months ago. I told Anna about this when I got to Sydney and she laughed and forgot to tell me I needed a visa.

Anyway, like I said, it was off to a bad start. Since the LAX to Sydney flight was sold out for award tickets, I was forced to go through SFO. I missed my flight to SFO. It’s just to embarrassing to put down what for, email me and I’ll tell you. I made it on the next flight, thanks to a 3-hour layover at SFO.

I liked 747s and upgraded to on Economy plus seat. I shared a row with an Aussie returning home from his sister’s wedding in Florida. Poor guy, this was flight #3 of 4 to get back to his home town. We chatted for a while and he when he’d smile and say “Cheers!” it was the cutest thing! There was no one in the middle seat which made the flight that much better. Since I was recovering form bronchitis right before this trip, I had some extra cough syrup with Codine which helped me sleep through most of this 14-hour flight.

Sydney from the air looked a like a combination of L.A., Seattle and Florida. It was flat with a lot of waterways. The Opera House, so white against a gray landscape stood out, even from 20,000 feet. We landed safe and sound, got through Security with a stern warning that I should have marked the “food” checkbox with all the goodies and chocolates I was brining for Anna and Eduaord.

I was early and saw them running through the crowd at the terminal. It was good to see happy and familiar faces. It was easy getting out of the airport and passed the big Krispee Kreme store with drive through on the way. I had to laugh because among all the Starbucks and KFCs along the way, it felt like I never left home. Their apartment was in a small town called Mosman, a few miles north of Sydney, across the famous Sydney bridge. It really did look like L.A., but felt like England. Everyone drove on the left side of the street and all the signs reminded me of London.

It was a long travel day and was happy to get some rest my first night there. Anna and Eduaord’s secret shame is all the American reality TV they watched. I myself have never seen Top Model, but sat through my first one. Quite shameful and entertaining at the same time… TO BE CONTINUED. (Dang it.. I unpacked and misplaced my journal... I'll keep looking...)