Airplanes… can’t live with but most certainly can’t live without them. On May 28th, we boarded what was supposed to be a 5-hr flight but instead turned into a 7-hr flight because of a mini-thunderstorm and poor timing. Of the many times I have flown out of Dulles, I think I have left on time just once. Therefore, it was no shock to be leaving late. My only concern was arriving to LAX in time to board my flight to Sydney. Fortunately, my concerns were unwarranted and we arrived to LAX just in time to be the last people in line to board the flight. I had a 13 hour and 26 minute journey ahead of me and I was not at all looking forward to it.
To my surprise, the plane was comfortable, the food was decent, and the movies were interesting. So 3 meals and roughly 14 hours later, we arrived in Australia at 7 a.m. on May 30th. (Yes, May 30th, when flying to Australia you lose a day and then when you fly back to the States, you gain a day.)
Apparently, Australia has a number of vacationers this time of year; the customs line weaved through the “retractable maze” and then continued on out the doors. It was interesting to see that the line was a clear representation of the diversity that is present in Sydney. After a while, we made it through customs, got our bags, met our CAPA representative, and headed outside to board the shuttle that would be taking us to our apartments.
Our apartments are just 15 minutes from the airport. Unfortunately, when we arrived we could not check in right away. However, that gave us time to take a tour around town. When we returned to the apartment complex, we were given a brief lecture on the rules and safety before checking into our rooms.
In the courtyard of our apartment complex
The rooms are extremely nice. I am in a 4 person bi-level apartment with 2 bedrooms, 2 baths, a full kitchen, living room, and four balconies. I think the front desk accidently gave us the presidential suite. Lucky us!!
After getting unpacked and realizing it was only 1PM, Alexie, Sonia, and I went out to find a place to exchange our money and buy a broadband internet connection for our rooms. Coming to Sydney, I knew that I would be without my cell phone and high-speed internet; however, when I got here and realized that I had no way to contact my family or friends I knew something would have to be done about that. Getting a phone was too expensive so a broadband modem was the next best alternative. Thus, the search for internet began.
Downtown Sydney
A cool way to see the downtown Sydney
We stumbled across a fountain and a park
We followed the roads that our guide, Zara, took us on earlier today during our tour and with a bit of improvisation and luck we wound up at a mall. The mall was huge; it had a number of stores I have never heard of before and a lot of great sales but I fought temptation and found a place to purchase a modem. SUCCESS, we had internet!!
We thought we had spent a great deal of time at the mall because when we left it was dark outside; but it was only 6PM. I had no idea it gets dark here at 5PM. With the darkness and the onsets of jetlag, by the time we got back to our apartment we were really tired. However, we all decided that we were going to stay awake until 10PM so that we wouldn’t be terribly jetlagged tomorrow. We watched a movie then played UNO for two hours as we counted down until our 10PM bedtime. When 10PM rolled around everyone darted to their respective rooms and turned in for the night. I am pretty sure I fell asleep the moment my head hit the pillow. Tomorrow is another day and I am more than excited to see what it brings.
Hooroo!!
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