Australian Holiday - More LA to Sydney - 21 & 22 Oct 2006

Our flight from LA to Sydney was surprisingly enjoyable. It took 14.5 hours, which is a long time to be cooped up in an airplane, but we did okay. The seat next to Rhonda was empty, with the next one occupied by a young lady who slept nearly the entire trip. She ate nothing and had only a bit to drink. We suspect she used sleeping aids to accomplish this feat.

The seats were a bit roomier than the usual coach crunch – each had its own LCD screen on the back of the seat ahead with an entertainment system providing music, news, movies, TV shows and games. The controller could be removed from the seat arm for playing games. The Qantas flight attendants were amazing – like having your own British butlers on board. They served two very nice meals with a bag of snacks between and numerous rounds of drinks.

We spent most of our time reading, relaxing, wandering and looking out a rear window at the peaceful Pacific with puffy clouds and an occasional island surrounded by bright blue shallow waters and coral reefs. We left LA a little after 1:00 PM Pacific time Saturday, crossed the Equator and international date line on the way, and landed Sunday at 8:40 PM Sydney time. Neither of us slept a wink on the plane, so we were pretty tired on arrival. We went through customs, picked up our checked bag, and headed for the long luggage inspection line. We expected a long wait, but when we got in line, a customs agent looked at our declaration cards and asked if we had any food. Rhonda said, “No, but we do have a pack of chewing gum.” (Rhonda is impeccably honest.) The customs agent said, “Okay, then you go that way,” pointing to a doorway that said, “The Way Out.” We thought they would inspect our pack of gum in a separate line, but it was truly the way out! We were quite pleased.

We made our way to the subway station right under the international terminal and tried to get some Australian cash out of an ATM, but it was out of cash so we charged our tickets on Visa. It was a short wait and a short ride to Mascot Station. When we got off the train and took the escalators up to street level, we found ourselves in a sort of commercial district, deserted and dark, with no sign of the Holiday Inn where we had a room reserved. Dan spotted Coward Street (odd name), which he recalled from a map, so we headed in that direction. Cresting a hill, we joyfully spotted the hotel. Dan looked left, saw no traffic, started across the street, and nearly got run over by a bus! It was turning right from the left oncoming lanes – utterly wrong from our American perspective, but the way it is in British-based Australia!
We checked in at the Holiday Inn and proceeded to Room 505, a lovely corner room with full-wall windows facing south and west over the airport and Botany Bay. The hotel was kind of oval shaped, so our room was trapezoidal; the bed at the wide end and a table with two chairs at the narrow end; like being on a ship. The bathroom was pretty amazing, with fixtures and amenities looking quite foreign. Toilets in Australia are equipped with two buttons on top of the tank that provide minor and major flushes. There was a sticker on the mirror encouraging water conservation, which is especially important in the current drought.