Tuesday, 1 November 2016

Day 1 Melbourne to LA

Up at 4:45 am to do all those last minute things, before Heather picked me up at 6 am. Leaving on Melbourne Cup Day had one bonus and that was a lack of traffic on all the roads. We made it to the airport in record time. The sunrise was behind us, illuminating the buildings, as we drove along deserted freeways.
The Eastern Freeway 7 am Tuesday!
Heather dropped me off. I was able to check-in my bag immediately. (They didn’t mention the delayed flight time) Then it was through security and immigration. My photo must have been removed from the wall- no stops this time!
Slight issue seeing the board “on the other side” which noted the delayed flight time. The arrival time/ departure time was adjusted several times, so I ended up sitting at the gate for four hours. Next issue was the building/ improvements at that end of the terminal = no food shops. So I had to walk back along the corridor to get any hot drinks. Finally after watching the very impressive unloading/ loading process, (or bags being dropped off the trolleys) it was time to board,but because they were running so late it was just a free for all “bun fight”. Not the usual call for children/ those requiring assistance first. Just get in line as fast as you can and get on the plane. Consequently when I got on, there was no room above my seat in the overhead locker. This is one thing that causes my BP to rise. If everyone had one bag for up up there, it would work. Consequently I had to take another passenger’s spot directly opposite.  Five movies, one documentary, many bottles of water, trips to the toilet, cups of tea and very ordinary GF food we landed in LA to another sunrise on the “same day”. While we couldn’t listen to the Cup, the pilot broadcast the results after the event.
 Once again I was glad I had taken along some food. The first meal consisted of rice, spinach and a spicy chicken dish, a bread roll and a cake. While the cake was nice, the roll was so stale it was difficult to break open. The hot tea was super strong. Next food was a Weiss bar, for supper a toasted spicy chicken roll, then an apple and breakfast. The breakfast was the worst one I’ve had for quite a while. Baked beans (nice) awful pretend sausage, mushroom sauce/ mash inside an “omelette”, hard to chew cooked tomatoes plus a container of diced fruit. More bad tea. Sorry Qantas, but the GF meals were very ordinary. The staff were lovely, happy to give me hot water to make my own tea.
Sunrise again- same day.
We landed just after 7am after being whisked along with a strong tail wind.. I was processed quickly using my e-passport, despite a slight issue I had when I went to put my fingers on the machine and realised I had a bandage on one finger. Hmm surprisingly enough the machine had problems reading that hand? Finally it is now set up so that if you successfully use the machines you just need a stamp at the end and not the third degree.
I had to wait at the baggage carrousel for half an hour- almost common for me, with idiots who insist on standing so close to the conveyor belt that no one else can see. Bag in tow, off I went through customs- nothing to declare and up the ramp.
Hmmm… no Susan? Waited for a while, then I rang. She had thought I was coming in this afternoon and was luckily at a meeting at Burbank. So I caught a Flyaway bus (Late arriving because of a traffic problem. It took him an hour and a half to drive the half hour route) No such delays for us, before long I departed the bus at the Van Nuys terminal, where I knitted while I waited for Susan. Fortunately it was overcast so I didn’t melt in my vest and jacket. It might have rained last week, but it is still incredibly dry everywhere on the way home.

Susan settled down to work at home, while I had a shower, lunch, followed by a walk around the block with Churro. It was Halloween here last night, but there didn’t seem to be the same amount of house/ garden decoration that I had seen in the past?
After my walk, time on the computer before the kids came home. Then I crashed and fell asleep for about 20 minutes. Susan, kids, Churro and I went for another walk to the shops after homework was fulfilled and bought some frozen yoghurts (GF and LF for me). Home again to cook and eat dinner. I was greeted with a bear hug when Oscar arrived home and continued knitting on the couch- trying to stay awake before succumbing at 9:30 new time. It had been a VERY long day.

1 comment:

  1. Wondered whether you were on flight where pilot proposed to passenger but obviously not.Hope you continue to enjoy catch up with family

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