The adventure has begun! After a protein packed brekkie thanks to Mrs. Clore, our 37 hour journey commenced. Silly me, I just assumed that the flight to LA, from LA to Sydney, from Sydney to Cairns etc. etc. would be uneventful. Boring even! But as would happen many times later, I was proved wrong. The first few hours of our flight to L.A. was in fact, pretty uneventful! We basically did some serious girl talk…until the morning coffee, water bottle, and in-flight ginger ale kicked in. Crawling over our neighbor, Sabrina and I made our way back to the airport potty. Before there had been a long line, so I was quite thankful that there was no one ahead of us, and in fact a Vacant sign! I opened the door but oops! Lo and behold there was a Chinese man peeing, oblivious to the draft. After a quick gasp/laugh to Sabrina, I went to close the door quietly, but it didn’t shut all the way! It flung open on the poor guy as the stewardess bellowed, “Sir, be careful with the door!” All I could do was smile and shrug as the man exited the bathroom and walked down the aisle past me.
After a couple more hours of girl talk, we landed in the happenin city of Los Angeles, baby! The mountains, city buildings, and the majestic mist settling in the valleys made for an ethereal site, and naturally Sabrina and I were pretty giddy! Now to you naysayers and pessimists out there, you may say, “Now girls, that was not an ethereal mist adorning the city of LA, but rather SMOG.” That is false. We optimists decided it was, in fact, a majestic mist welcoming our arrival! The plane landed smoothly and we gathered up our belongings, eager to get off and use our legs again. Walking through the boppin LAX (our eyes peeled for Britney Spears and her entourage), we caught a glimpse of a Best Buy Express. Really, people? Who is walking through the airport and thinks, “Oh, snap! I’ve got to get a new IPOD pronto?” Ludicrous I tell you. So naturally, severe mocking of that machine ensued. But as would become the theme of our trip, everything comes full circle. About 7 minutes into our 15 minute walk to the terminal where we would catch our connection, a thought came to mind that stopped me in my tracks. Literally. “How terrible would it be if I didn’t have my camera for this epic adventure??” Just to clear my mind, I looked through my bag, and looked….and didn’t have it!
After a couple more hours of girl talk, we landed in the happenin city of Los Angeles, baby! The mountains, city buildings, and the majestic mist settling in the valleys made for an ethereal site, and naturally Sabrina and I were pretty giddy! Now to you naysayers and pessimists out there, you may say, “Now girls, that was not an ethereal mist adorning the city of LA, but rather SMOG.” That is false. We optimists decided it was, in fact, a majestic mist welcoming our arrival! The plane landed smoothly and we gathered up our belongings, eager to get off and use our legs again. Walking through the boppin LAX (our eyes peeled for Britney Spears and her entourage), we caught a glimpse of a Best Buy Express. Really, people? Who is walking through the airport and thinks, “Oh, snap! I’ve got to get a new IPOD pronto?” Ludicrous I tell you. So naturally, severe mocking of that machine ensued. But as would become the theme of our trip, everything comes full circle. About 7 minutes into our 15 minute walk to the terminal where we would catch our connection, a thought came to mind that stopped me in my tracks. Literally. “How terrible would it be if I didn’t have my camera for this epic adventure??” Just to clear my mind, I looked through my bag, and looked….and didn’t have it!
There could have been hysteria since that camera is like a child to me, but there were so many times I got lost when I was little (okay, rather wandered off…) and my mom always found me! So we went up to the American desk, and the first lady we came to quickly directed us to the two supervisors in the gray suits. Unfortunately, time was of the essence because we knew the camera had to be on the plane, and that plane was getting cleaned and ready to head back to Dulles! And the supervisors decked out in the gray suits were occupied with a man whose 16 year old daughter was admitted to fly stand by without him (yeah, I know!). And then it happened. Brenda, the wonderful flight attendant, locked eyes with me and said those magical words: “Can I help you?” I quickly explained to her and she glanced over, seeing that the supervisors were occupied. Then wonderful, wonderful Brenda made a few phone calls, they checked the plane and found my camera, and she went up to retrieve it for me! It was not her job to do so at all, and we were so thankful that she was so helpful making sure to file an official compliment. I told her I would have to send her the link to the MOUNTAIN of photos that’ll be taken on this epic adventure, that she single-handedly saved! But the lesson was learned: Don’t mock the Best Buy Express!
After that, we got around to looking at our flight itinerary and realized it was not 2, but 6 hours we had for a layover! Ben and Stefan happened to be somewhat close to the airport, and came over to meet up with us. Another one of those convenient awesome happenings! We ducked over to this fantastic pub, McKaden’s (sp??) to catch the last bit of happy hour. After the long day and nothing to eat since breakfast, we sank into those couches and got started on some beer and appetizers. It really was an awesome couple of hours- surprise visits with friends can’t be beat! Sabrina enlightened us with her beer choice: a Black Moon. Half Guinness: Half Blue Moon. It’s a little sample of each, but pretty tasty. I stuck to my Smithesesmieseisecfnsiofn though (The name of the beer was lost on all of us). So the night was pretty spectacular catching up and we were treated to a few “hypothetical but true….but hypothetical” stories.
After that, we got around to looking at our flight itinerary and realized it was not 2, but 6 hours we had for a layover! Ben and Stefan happened to be somewhat close to the airport, and came over to meet up with us. Another one of those convenient awesome happenings! We ducked over to this fantastic pub, McKaden’s (sp??) to catch the last bit of happy hour. After the long day and nothing to eat since breakfast, we sank into those couches and got started on some beer and appetizers. It really was an awesome couple of hours- surprise visits with friends can’t be beat! Sabrina enlightened us with her beer choice: a Black Moon. Half Guinness: Half Blue Moon. It’s a little sample of each, but pretty tasty. I stuck to my Smithesesmieseisecfnsiofn though (The name of the beer was lost on all of us). So the night was pretty spectacular catching up and we were treated to a few “hypothetical but true….but hypothetical” stories.
Then came the 14 hour flight to Sydney… which actually was surprising uneventful! We dozed in and out of consciousness for the first 7 hours, and then just talked and jammed to a little Elton John the rest of the way. By this time, we were wiped but determined to plug on. We caught our connection in Sydney over to Cairns, and then the sleep-deprived, sore tukkuses, glee to be using our legs again that was produced by our 37 hours of travelling kicked in. Looking out at the breathtaking mixture of mountains, city and sea that is Cairns, there was nothing but giddy shrieks of “Look at this!! Are you serious? Look at this!!!!! (jump, jump, jump, high five) Wooooooo!” And repeat. The view from our room…it just can’t be expressed! Absolutely gorgeous!
We forced ourselves to stay awake today, which actually wasn’t too hard. We aimlessly wandered through Port Douglas, the town where the Great Barrier Reef tours are outside of Cairns. It’s amazing how laid back this beach town is, with this pervasive easygoing, stress-free vibe. There are lush trees everywhere, a HUGE pool in the middle of town that goes into the Coral Sea…just unbelievable, and the best part: everyone is incredibly active outside and eats fresh veggies and fish! We’re big fans
Thank you Kobe Bryant for the title to this blog: Live the Dream….that’s so L.A.
But reality?? WE’RE IN AUSTRALIA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
G’day Mates!
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