D and I had a rough time getting on the plane in LAX. The international terminal is under construction (through 2010) and it's crazy in there. We found our way to the Qantas line with the help of a guide and when I say line, I mean LINE. One thing in life that causes me concern and anxiety is getting on planes. The process of checking in, checking bags, scanning bags, going through security checkpoints, etc, freaks me out. Our flight was scheduled to depart at 12 midnight. If Denise missed this flight, she'd miss an entire day of the conference. We left the Brewery around 9 pm, but soon remembered that we'd forgotten my fleece jacket (which I'd need in Tasmania). After stopping back at Jess's to get it, we got to the airport by 9:45, over 2 hours before our departure time. We stood in the check-in line for almost 2 hours before we were escorted to the front of the security line by the ticketing agent so that we could get through security and RUN to our plane. During that time, we met and chatted with a bunch of other passengers in the same situation. One was a younger man around my age who was a cityline photographer from Melbourne returning from a shoot in LA. We got on the plane, only to find that they held up the plane for some passengers that had been told to stand at a different gate and had to navigate their way back to the correct one. So after we were freaking out, running around, waiting in line after line, we sat on the plane for close to an hour before actually taking off at around 1 am.
The flight itself was great and easy and, dare I say, easier than a 5 hour flight from Newark to LA. They have individual entertainment in each seatback with the choice of like 50 movies, a number of TV shows, documentaries, video games, and countless CDs to listen to. I slept the first 8 hours of the flight, watched a movie, slept another 2 hours, then watched two more movies before I realized we were landing.
We left LA at 1 am on Tuesday morning to arrive in Melbourne at 8:45 am on Wednesday (crossed the international date line). Upon arriving, getting through customs, getting our bags, being sniffed by quarantine dogs (checking for undeclared food items), we met the gentleman we had spoken with in line at LAX and decided to share a cab ride to our hotel since he lived nearby. That turned out great because he gave us some great pointers and things to see and do. It was like our own personal tour guide.
We got to the hotel at around 9:30 and our room was not yet available, so we left our bags, freshened up a bit, and stepped out to get D to the Exhibition center. After leaving, we quickly realized that we had no idea where we were going so we went back to registration and got some maps. Out we went again, but quickly realized that D wanted her sunglasses, so back into registration we went. As luck would have it, our room was now ready so we gathered up our things and went to our room on the second floor. We settled in for a couple minutes and ventured over to the Exhibition center about 5 blocks away.
I find travelling very interesting because although life is the same everywhere you go, there are minor differences that you have no choice but to adjust to. Driving for example is on the other side of the street here and even though we're not doing any driving here, you have to get used to looking right THEN left when you cross the street. There are also the food differences. Lemonade is carbonated like Sprite. Iced Tea and non-carbonated lemonade don't seem to exist here.
D went to her conference (loved it) and I walked ALL over the area. I went into countless shops, but didn't buy anything besides some power adapters and a cell phone to use while we're here. I definitely got the lay of the land so that today, I feel much better walking around and knowing where I am and where I'm going.
D got home around 5:30pm and we were both exhausted from jet lag. So we ordered from a restaraunt that delivered (pretty poor italian food) and crashed at 8.
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