I made it to OZ!

G'day!
After a year and a half of planning and talking, countless going away parties, emotional farewells, and a few hiccups along the way I finally have landed in Sydney! I may be without 58 lbs of precious cargo but I'm here nonetheless! Mom, Dad, and Brogan brought be to the airport Friday afternoon after a good lunch and I was off to a good start--wasn't even charged for the heavy baggage! That's where the good luck ended for me, and all the rich "blog material"--as I've started thinking of it--began!

My first flight was from New Orleans to Dallas--I always tease about how without fail I end up with the worst candidates for seatmates!  I can practically pick them out as they're walking down the aisle--but my apologies to all those I've judged in the past--never in a million years would I have dreamed of the neighbors I had on this flight! At first glance I really thought I had gotten lucky with a couple in their sixties that would not fall into my catalog of bad seeds, but they topped the cake! The lady's "carry on" was her feline friend--a fat gray long haired cat that I happen to be highly allergic to! I'm just glad they were on the shortest flight of my three.  She bided her time by talking about her homemade crystal balls, and flipping through a magazine admiring Harry Potter & Lord of the Rings jewelry and other paraphernalia.  The man couldn't keep his hands off of her and then to really make my jaw drop he began discussing the best way of getting out of the seat once the plane landed would be to remove his prosthetic leg! Who does that?! These two were too much to handle in a 2 hour time frame!

Happy to report that my neighbors for the next two flights were normal as normal goes!:)

The flight from Dallas to San Francisco was a stressful one because there were a number of high traffic and bad weather delays.  I had finally succomed to the the idea of spending the night in San Francisco and catching a flight out the next morning when I stepped off the plane (thinking of nothing but getting to the bathroom first and then finding some dinner a close second) when I met Keisha a.k.a. the airline nazi! She was hollering for all Qantas people "QANTAS! QANTAS!" I told her I was supposed to be flying them and she pointed for me to stand behind her with a few other unknowing souls, then barked "there are still 3 more of you! Where are the others?!" --I was just glad I wasn't the last one she had to wait for!  Once she had the nine of us in tow, we were off! We had 15 minutes until the flight left from across the entire airport.  She was RUNNING down the corridors, up the escalators, across large empty spaces that I'm not sure we were supposed to go through, then had us cut the line in customs for which we were cussed at, we eventually made it to the gate where we were shuffled to our seats.  I was grateful to have made it but was not greeted with the same grateful faces of the two neighbors thinking they had a nice roomy empty seat between them for the next 15 hours! I'm really making friends everywhere y'all--no need to worry about me! haha

They actually turned out to be very nice people and Qantas was excellent! I was able to sleep for most of the flight and they kept me well fed!

YHA Sydney Central

I arrived to find that my checked baggage was unable to run as quickly as we were so I'll have to wait until tomorrow afternoon sometime.  I caught my ride to the youth hostel where I'm staying and am now waiting to be able to check in.  I've been exploring and it's really nice.  I'm told today is chilly as most of their winter days go but it feels wonderful to not sweat just by standing in the doorway!

I'm going to try and keep you posted on all that is happening. I can't upload pictures yet b/c my camera cord is in my checked luggage.  Also, I haven't taken any pictures yet! :)

All in all, everyone I've met has been very friendly and helpful! I know some of you were asking about food--so far I haven't experienced anything out of the ordinary but I have a feeling Sydney may break my caffeine addiction b/c I've yet to taste a really good cup of coffee....ah well, PJ's awaits me in just a short year's time!
Take care! :)
xoxo