On Sunday I left the house with bags all packed and ready to go. My luggage weighed 50.9 lbs but they let it slide which was good since my carry on was probably near the limit and was stuffed with mostly gifts. After a goodbye to my parents I waited near the gate for my plane. The sunny skies were deceiving and the plane was delayed on arriving. Finally, around 3:00 pm we were boarded and taking off for the short flight...Those of you who knew my flight schedule knew that my plane from Chicago was at 4:00 so I was cutting it close. We landed at 3:30 giving me just enough time to rush to my next gate. However, they required all carry-ons to be put in cargo and let me tell you, they took their sweet time getting those bags off. Then I had to cross the airport by shuttle and it just seemed that everyone was moving at a snail's pace. I ran to my gate and arrived six minutes late. I had missed it...the only flight that left on time. After waiting in customer service (United sucks) for an hour, a very nice gentleman helped me to rebook my flights completely on United from Chicago to LA straight on to Sydney. I actually was scheduled to arrive in Sydney earlier than expected so I was pretty excited. Plus he gave me $21 in meal vouchers (just in case you didn't know, when my family and I went to Mexico we were issued $14 of meal vouchers each for our two day delay in Houston!) I ate an expensive salad and waited for my flight to LA. It was unbelievable that this flight ended up being on a 45 minute delay because the cleaning crew took so long! Needless to say, I was pretty frustrated by the time we took off. I nestled my nose in my book for the 4.5 hour flight and rushed off the plane. I ended up being near the front of the plane and only had to walk a couple gates down so I had time to change into yoga pants (thanks to Mary Schepp!) and get a snack. My original flight across the ocean was on Air New Zealand which offered complimentary wine, special meals, comfy seats (first thing I checked!), and personal TVs...So I was a little bummed upon seeing my seat was basically a typical sardine can style seat with no personal TV and no complimentary wine! However, since the flight was over night I slept quite a bit of it and strained my neck to see the movies they showed on the limited TV screens (Frozen and Last Vegas). The ladies next to me knew very limited English so I had a quiet flight with three meals and lots of beverage services.
Upon arriving in Sydney we were herded into customs and sent to pick up our bags. It was here that I met Kevin, a retired Aussie who told me that he was coming from Wyoming where he was "chasing tail". He was my first real Aussie encounter in his cowboy hat and croc-leather boots. We both waited and waited for our bags, turns out his was on another carousel and mine was lost. While waiting at the help desk they told me they weren't sure where my bag was and since I didn't know my phone number or address here it seemed slim that my bag would be located and delivered in a timely manner. I cruised through customs with no huge bag and had a great reunion with Andrew, who waited with a rose for me just outside customs.
My bag was returned only the next night (Wednesday) which was great because I didn't have clothes except jeans, yoga pants, a tee shirt, two dresses (one sun, one dressy) and gifts. Now the real adventure can begin!
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