Highlights from Australia (Part 1)

I can hardly believe that a month ago today I got on a plane bound for Sydney. I don't know how successful I will be at writing posts detailing every moment of my trip, and I don't assume that you have much of an interest in reading them. But, since I don't ever write in a journal, I figure this is my best shot at recording the experience. True to the nature of this little blog, I'm just going to give you random bits and highlights. Perhaps a few pictures, too. And since I am rarely capable of keeping it brief, expect a lengthy post (or two).

Getting There

My Sunday night flight from Chicago to LA was packed. I sat next to two sleepy, harmless women on their way back from a trip to Paris. I was traveling with just a carry-on suitcase, my purse, and a little pillow. Everyone on the flight had a carry-on suitcase, and I was one of the last people on the plane to get my bag in the overhead compartment before they started checking luggage. I was in such a rush to get my bag up and get into my seat that I forgot to get my book out of the front pocket of my suitcase. After all the passengers had boarded, but before the safety information video started, I jumped up to get my book. I had stowed my bag a few rows back, and as I went to open the compartment door I realized that I was too short to reach the pocket at the top of my bag where the book was stored. Being short is really inconvenient. So I looked around, found a nearby handsome aisle-dweller, and casually said, "Excuse me, sir? Do you happen to be taller than 5'2"?" He laughed and said that he was (thank goodness or that would have been embarrassing). I asked him to get my book, he smiled and willingly obliged, I returned to my seat and spent the next four hours buried deep in The Death Cure.

I waited a couple of hours in LAX before boarding my 10:40pm flight to Sydney. Miraculously, my prayers were answered when, on an almost entirely full flight, I somehow managed to have an empty middle seat next to me. The guy on the other side of the empty seat was a 20-something dreadlocked Australian. He was headed home after a week of surfing all day and hitting up "pubs" all night along the California coast. He was very friendly, as I soon learned most Aussies are. I would later be quite jealous of him, since he managed to sleep almost the entire flight. Another Aussie gentleman seated in the row in front of us received a round of applause from everyone in our cabin when he finally managed, after much effort, to cram a very large stuffed animal (like the ones you win at amusement parks) into the overhead bin. Despite the 15 hours of travel that was ahead of us, we were all in a good mood.

Transcontinental overnight flights are like one big awkward slumber party with 350 total strangers. Everyone is dressed in comfy clothes or even pajamas. Passengers kick off their shoes, cuddle up under blankets, use travel pillows, noise-reducing headphones and sleep masks. Once you take off, there's a dinner service then the lights are dimmed and people start to fall asleep. I wanted to wait awhile to fall asleep because I knew I wouldn't sleep long (plane-snoozing isn't easy for me) and I wanted to get my sleep in closer to when we would land, since I would be arriving at 7:20am Sydney time. I read for a bit (this time about a teenage girl in love with a fallen angel), then pulled out my iPad and watched 4 episodes of Downton Abbey, which, due to my love of period dramas, made the time pass quickly.

Mary doesn't deserve you, Matthew.

Eventually, I attempted to sleep. There's something really uncomfortable about sleeping on a plane, and not just because the seats are narrow and upright. It just makes me feel vulnerable and exposed. I think I managed to sleep for about 4-5 hours. Between the showings of inflight entertainment (which I didn't watch because I had no desire to see Mr. Popper's Penguins, Cars 2, or Something Borrowed), the path and current location of the plane is displayed. There really isn't anything but ocean and a few islands between LA and Sydney, so each time that display came up all that could be seen was a plane against a large blue ocean backdrop. Sometime mid-flight they handed out the snack, a sandwich, which was actually the yummiest plane meal I had the whole trip. I watched the last three Downton Abbey episodes, read a little, and was pleased when they started serving breakfast because it meant we had about an hour before we were scheduled to land. It was weird eating what was essentially dinner, lunch, then breakfast all during a time when my body was used to sleeping. I opted for a diet coke instead of juice with breakfast, since I knew I would need to stay awake for another day before I could sleep again.

Sydney

Once I landed in Sydney, I had to get through customs. I was unfortunate to get stuck just ahead of a couple in line who spent the whole time ranting and raving about the flight we'd just taken. Apparently the guy was some big-shot million mile club member, and he hadn't been treated as special as he expected to be. I wanted to turn around and say "Dude, look around. You're in Australia! Get over it!" Getting through customs was no big deal, but passing through the quarantine area is a bit intense. The Australians are rightfully protective of the types of foreign pests/substances/produce allowed into their country. I had to get my bags sniffed by a trained dog, which was nerve-racking even though I wasn't trying to smuggle in anything. Once I passed through quarantine, I was ready to leave the airport, hop in a cab, and head to the hotel.

I arrived at the Four Seasons feeling tired and gross. I knew Scott was somewhere in the hotel participating in the conference that brought us there in the first place. The plan was for me to arrive, get settled, shower (hooray!) and go exploring while Scott was busy working. I picked up a room key from the front desk and went to our room. I had decided before I left for Sydney that I wanted to hit up the hotel fitness center first thing in order to wake up a bit and get my blood flowing after sitting for so long. Scott showed up unexpectedly when he took a quick break from his meetings to come up to the room and dial in to a conference call. It was really nice to see him since we'd been apart for a few days. Arriving on his birthday made it extra special. Soon I headed off to the fitness center and planned to meet up with him again for dinner.

Despite the fact that I was exhausted and smelly, it was really nice to get a run in. I hopped on the treadmill and discovered soon after I began that it was displaying everything in some other language, Italian I think. I fudged my way through programming the settings I wanted. I thought I was having the run of my life until my groggy, jet-lagged mind clued in to the fact that the treadmill was showing my distance and pace in kilometers, not miles. Still, I managed to run 5k before heading back to my room to take a much-needed shower. Clean, mildly tired, but very refreshed, I decided to head out and explore downtown Sydney.

By this time it was midday and the city was bustling. Our hotel was perfectly located right by Circular Quay, close to transportation, shopping, and many popular tourist spots. I walked past the shops and through the business district, and soon noticed something remarkable: Australians are extremely attractive. Like, seriously a good-looking group of people as a whole, and I'm not just saying that because of the accent. There were hordes of well dressed, clean cut Sydneysiders (that what they call themselves -- fun, right?) out on their lunch break. Also surprising was how many people were out jogging through the city in the middle of the day. In summary, Australians are fit and attractive and their accents are really cool.

I knew within my first hour of Sydney exploration that I was destined to love that city. The fact that the sun was shining and the weather was perfect certainly didn't hurt either. I walked and walked, over to Darling Harbor and along the water back to Circular Quay. It was the ideal way to begin my time in there.

That evening, Scott and I went out to dinner with his boss, James. We stopped at a pub with rooftop seating and enjoyed a nice dinner together. Somehow I managed to stay awake, despite having only slept for 5 of the previous 48 hours. After we ate, we walked over to the Sydney Harbor Bridge and had a great view of the Opera House all lit up at night.

I was thrilled when it was finally time to go to sleep! I found that adjusting to the time difference was easier than I expected. All I really had to do was force myself to stay awake during that first day and the rest of the trip was easy. In fact, I was almost too adjusted by the time we headed home.

That's all the recapping I can manage for now. Stay tuned... next time I'll post about some of the fun stuff we did once Scott was free from his work obligations, and I'll tell you observations I had about Australia. There will probably be more pictures too.