Here, I am... it's totally the middle of the night, Joel and Mere are sound asleep...and I'm just wide awake. I've already been in bed awake for an hour or so, trying to will myself back to sleep- but it wasn't working, so I thought I would get up and post a few pictures and tell you the lovely story (not) of how we came to Australia.
So, let me begin by telling you about the airport in Luanda. Of course, we had only been there once, at our arrival, and only seen a small part of it. Well, turns out there wasn't much more to see. It's a small airport, but well, so badly managed, that one has to arrive hours and hours before a departure time to make it. We arrived at 8am, for a 2pm flight. The morning began with us standing in a line, for about two hours. Eventually I found out, we were waiting in line, to get in line. Blah. After the two hours there, we made it to the check in line, where we did come across one person who tried to tell us that he had been waiting for hours in the middle of that line (mind you, we were on big group of teachers from school that made up the whole beginning of that line, so we KNEW there was no one else there!). We told him to go wait for his friends, who would allegedly be back in a minute, elsewhere.
After check in, Joel and I followed the lead of most of the other teachers and headed for the VIP lounge. For USD$20 a person, you get to sit in an air-conditioned nice(r) lounge, and you get either two drinks or a drink and a toasty sandwich. We all went the drink and the toasty sandwich, because a lot of us had not had breakfast that morning. Of course, turns out, more drinks can be purchased for rather small prices- and so it came to be, that most of us had a few cocktails before we even boarded the plane. Now, mind you, I have not been drinking much at all for the last two months (I have only consumed alcohol twice in the last two months) so after having two gin and tonics in the lounge, I was ready for the plane and a good sleep. Ah yes, and the reason I felt I needed the two drinks was because as our departure time approached, we all started to realize that, there was no plane!!!
Our time between planes in Johannesburg was tight- we only had about an hour, so, the later it got, the more nervous I got. As I slowly drank my first cocktail, I tried to relax about it- but then, our departure time came and went and I got more and more nervous and self-medicated with a second drink. It didn't help anything other than keeping me in a pretty good mood- optimistic even, as we finally boarded the plane an hour and a half late. I kept saying that all would be ok, and that we would make up the time in the air.
Alas, we did not make up any time. We landed in Joburg exactly at the same time as our originally planned flight to Perth, Australia was taking off. Joel and I even made a dramatic exit off the plane- jumping up before others, and running up the aisle to be the first ones off and then running to the connection desk- but to no avail. It was too late.
So, our biggest concern then, was that we would definitely be on Sunday's flight, which happened to be a direct flight to Sydney. The guy at the connection desk wrote us a new ticket voucher as well as a voucher for a hotel, transportation and meals included. Fair enough, if we couldn't make it on our scheduled flight, at least we were getting free stuff in the meantime. :) The only bad thing was that we were also not able to get our bags that night in Joburg, because they were locked away in some transit cage. So we headed to the hotel in the stinky clothes we had been in all day, without a change of clothing, without toothbrushes, basically just with our books and neck pillows- important flight accessories.
That night we had our free dinner and went to bed.
The next morning we got up, had our free breakfast, checked out, and took the shuttle bus to the local shopping center. I was desperate for a clean shirt and clean underwear. So we walked around for a few hours, finally picked something out, and then caught the shuttle back to the hotel, to catch the shuttle to the airport again.
We made it to the airport, and found another line for the line- people were already lining up for check in- including many of our friends from school. We stood in that line for hours too. I think it took about an hour to reach the front. And then this is where the fun began.
First, of course we were nervous to be told that we were actually listed as flying stand-by or something. I was already prepared to pitch a fit, and make sure that not matter what, even if it meant being thrown up into first class, we would be on this flight! Well, when we got to the check in, the guy says to us, "Um, Joel, you're booked for this flight to Sydney, but Mara, this new ticket number here is actually a booking for a flight to Durban." Huh? So, there came the first heart attack. So the guy says, you have to go over to the other counter (where of course, there is another long and equally slow moving line) to have a new ticket number issued. Ok.
So we did it. We lined up over there, got the new number very easily once we actually got to the counter, and headed back to the check in line, where luckily, we were allowed to jump right back to the check in counter, instead of lining up again.
So the guy tries to check us in again. I also ask him to make sure that my meals are listed as vegetarian, which I am sure they will not be, because that is always the way it goes. At this point we got a mean lady into the mix who was all, "It's not my fault we don't have your meal, if you didn't pre-order it for THIS flight." Bullshit. I fought that one, and I won. I got my meal.
But the guy is trying to check us in, and even though the ticket number is good now, it's still not working. Grr. There happened to be a manager standing by talking to us at the same time, and our check in guy then turned to him and was like, "I don't understand why this isn't working..." Never a good sign... The guy knew I was American, because he had asked to look at my passport before, because it was the first new American passport he'd ever seen. So then he puts forth the question, "Do you have a visa?" My jaw dropped. Ummm....no. Heart attack number 2. He adds, "Everyone who is not an Australian citizen needs a visa to go to Australia!" Groan. Why hasn't anyone mentioned this? Not when we booked our flights, not when we checked in for the first leg of our flight- no one ever mentioned it. And honestly, we just figured, since Aussies don't need a visa to get into the States, surely we don't need a visa to get into Oz. Wrong. Well anyway, we were lucky, I was lucky- and it was possible, because I was American, to purchase a visa at the airport through the airline. But of course, it meant having to go back to that other counter, line up there again, pay, and come back. So we did it. And finally, finally, finally we got our boarding passes, assurance that our bags had been entered into the system, and would be on the flight, and that I would have my veg meal. We got through security quickly, and went straight to the first restaurant we saw, where we happened to find people from school again. It was about 4pm now, we'd spent just about three hours jumping back and forth between those two lines, and hadn't eaten since 9am. So we ate.
Finally our flight was called to board, and we went and did that. We got on board, and proceeded to sit there for quite a long time as well, as the flight was again more than an hour late, maybe two, departing. The good news is that the flight itself was not exciting. We got seats right behind all the babies, who were well behaved, and when they weren't had parents who were at least actively doing something about it. But, mostly, everyone, babies included, slept.
We finally arrived to Sydney around 4pm on Monday (instead of 10:30pm Sunday). We caught a cab, and came to Mere's house. After a warm welcome, hot showers, finally a totally clean change of clothes and being able to brush our teeth, we headed out for dinner. We had Thai, which was fabulous. :) Then we bar hopped, met celebrities :), and finally came home again. Joel, who had slept much less on the plane, was exhausted, and went to bed. Mere and I, girls with lots to talk about, stayed up until 2, drinking wine and chatting. :)
Then came yesterday- first things first, we were off to the hair salon. I have been desperate for a cut and color for a while now. Final product came out ok- as long as I wear my hair down, and not pulled back, when it looks stripey, because of the poor way the lady did the highlights. Oh well. Then, we shopped a bit. Joel had bought some Phantom comics while we were getting our hair done, and just trailed us, reading his comics. Finally, after I made a few purchases, we headed into the city, to Sydney Harbour. We walked around, had lunch, and then headed for the classic tourist pics. And, cue pictures.
Me, new hair, and famous Opera
Mara and Joel, Sydney skyline
Mara and Mere, Harbour Bridge, Opera
And me again.
And us again.
After walking around Sydney for a while, we got ice creams, and then got a ferry, to to see everything from a different perspective. Nice ride. We ended up coming home, and crashing on the couches (not just us jet-lagged ones, but Mere as well- we'd had a long day of lots of walking!). Eventually we walked up the road to get take-away for dinner- Joel got a pizza, I got Thai again. Oh it's lovely to have restaurants to choose from. :)
Today, we leave Sydney, and head for Melbourne. It's just a short domestic flight, but believe you me, we're getting to the airport with time to spare, just in case. In any case, we should be in Melbourne with Joel's parents by late afternoon. :)
After we went to the beach we had a walk around main street and had a late lunch. Then we set out to find some animals. We didn't find the place we meant to find (a koala sanctuary) but we found a wildlife park instead- and we think we lucked out. The Koala sanctuary would surely have had, well, koalas, but this place had it all! Check out the pics!
Joel was all, "Stand there, look at me." And I stood and looked, but didn't know what the emus were doing, or how close they were getting. Then he was all, 'The one is coming around your other side, really close." And I was like, "Eek!" And inched away...
Then we got to feed the kangaroos! Witness the first kangaroo I saw in Australia!
Then that dang emu kept following me, and trying to eat all the food- notice my scowl meant for the bird.
Then the nice kangaroos ate out of my hand!
I'm amused!
There were lots of em!
This one had a joey in it's pouch that we could see moving through the skin, but it didn't stick its head out.
Here was another group of them. They were more aggressive than the other group.
Down the end of this post should be a video of me feeding these guys. You can see that the one is actually holding my hands as I feed him. He was hungry!
Koalas!
