I know that it has been several days since my last post, but
with going straight back to work after our long day of flying, and the 16 hour time difference to adjust back
to, I am just now getting my ‘sea legs” back. Anyway, the day after our
Featherdale trip, we woke up early and ate a big breakfast before heading to
the train station to get to the airport. We found out the day before that the
line that would take us to the downtown connector (Wynward Station) would be
closed for repairs and would be replace with a bus service. So we headed over
to the station around 7:30 AM. We left extremely early as our flight was not
until 11:40, but we were not sure what we were going to encounter in getting
there. After a couple of minor miscues, we were safely on our way to the
station to take the train to the International Airport. Upon arriving at the
our final stop we discovered that our weekly train passes didn’t work there and
we were told that to exit at the airport stations, we had to pay an additional
$11 each (kids were free). OK, still much less than the $90 we paid to get from
the airport to our hotel! We spent the next several hours working our way
through customs and security, but with about 1.5 hours to spare we were waiting
at our gate to board the plane. We ran into Jay & Blake (Neal & Sandy’s
sons) and finally boarded our plane for the 13 hr. flight to L.A. We tried to
sleep, but it never came (except for Erin!), so I spent the time watching 4
movies and listening to music. Upon arriving at LAX, we spent the next 2.5
hours getting back through customs and security. Good thing for us we had a 6
hour layover before catching our final flight to Atlanta. The boys were not so
lucky! Their planned 3 hour layover combined with the 2+ hours slugging their
way through the lines, meant they missed their connecting flight. As the next
flight (our flight) was full, they would have to wait 9 hours until the next
available flight! So we bade them goodbye and boarded our plane for the last
leg of the trip. We arrived in Atlanta to 40 degree temperature, which having
been in 90+ temperatures for the last several weeks, felt pretty good. We
finally arrived home around 9:30 PM, ending our 26 hour journey. What a trip,
more than I had hoped for, and another “trip of a lifetime”!
The Good
- The Scenery was spectacular!
- Great Barrier Reef - picture do not do it justice, just WOW!
- Great Ocean Road – best road I have ever driven a motorcycle on
- Bridge Climb – A wonderful way to see Sydney from above and currently the only bridge in the world that you’re allowed to climb to the top of
- Getting a chance to ride motorcycles on another continent with my family and one of my best friends
- The people we extremely helpful and very welcoming. They were very inquisitive about our American culture and quick to tell us theirs.
- Getting the chance to share Christmas with friends in a foreign country
- Erin did wonderful for a 9 year old considering all of the walking, trains, buses, and constantly busy schedule. She is now a seasoned world traveler!
- Although it took a lot of effort as this was logistically the most complex trip we have taken, every detail of our plan worked!
The Bad
- Costs of goods & Services most times were usually twice what they were in the U.S ($7 Big Mac sandwich only!).
- Train repair work on our final day in Sydney – threw us a late curve ball, but our transportation coordinator (Jenn) did a superb job of adapting and overcoming!
- Australia Airport Security – seemed really lax by U.S. standards (not asking for ID a lot of times, no need to take off shoes, belts, or things out of your pockets. However, we traveled safe, so I guess it was OK.
The Ugly
- LAX – Extremely inefficient and poorly managed. What should have taken ½ hour if properly organized, turned into 2 ½ hours because of terrible process design. You know that drove Jenn Crazy. For those of you in Atlanta, you should be aware that you have one of the best organized and efficient airports in the world.
- Customs in Sydney – It took us 2+ hours to jump through all the hoops in order to get out of the International Airport. Again poorly organized, but not as bad as LAX!
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