Just smile and go with the flow.
My trip seemed to be off to a great start! Do you hear the sarcasm in my voice!? I thought you might.
Goodbye Pdx and goodbye to the fire season causing all the haze.
Boarding virgin Australia from LA to Brisbane.
I really enjoy how they show a map and we can watch our progress in flight.
Good morning Australia!
Flying into Brisbane.
2 sleepy girls re entering Australia.
I managed to find some original PDX carpet!
I was in line at service desk for Delta airlines and the lady behind me in line was talking to herself but totally on purpose, wanting others to hear her. She was just being rude and SO negative! Clearly she was upset that the flight wasn't going to run as scheduled because the plane wasn't here yet but there was no one around us who had any control over that situation. I really despise people like her! It's not right to take your bad attitude out on people working in the service industry. I mean who knows, maybe there was a medical emergency on the plane and that's what delayed it from getting to Portland in time. It could have been any kind of reason! That lady needs some serious chill pills!
I was called up to the counter and the attendant who called me up had a little bit of fear in her eyes when she asked me if the negative (that's what I'm calling her) lady was with me. I assured her she wasn't and apologized for her craziness and she thanked me for being so easy going. The service lady re arranged my flights for me, adding an extra stop in Brisbane Australia before arriving into Sydney. My final arrival time was now at 10:30am instead of 6am. It was either this or fly out another day. My friend Sam who lives in Sydney was celebrating his birthday the day after I arrived so I wanted to keep my plans as close to the same as I could! I wondered off towards security and eventually the Pdx burgerville location because if I couldn't have salt and straw them I was going to have something else local and delicious! An in season sweet walla walls onion burger and a fresh blackberry smoothie! Delicious! I indulged in this while talking to a cousin on the phone who had some exciting news to share with me.
Delicious locally sourced food made fast! Burgerville.
At the Delta terminal when I went to check in and get a seat assigned I was greeted by another woman who thanked me for being so kind and understanding. Then she suggested a flight on Alaska into LA that would be leaving sooner then the delta flight. She called them and said she saw seats available and asked if I could have one and they said no. So she hung up and told me to hurry over there and ask myself. She said they would likely let me on if I asked and not her. She was right. It took a little bit of work and me being very nice and with a big smile but they let me on at the very last minute!
The famous Pdx carpet photo opp.!
I get on the Alaska flight and lots of people are looking at me as Im trying to stuff my backpack in an overheard compartment. Of course they're all full because Im the last one on the plane.
As I pull my pack back down a guy squeezes my bicep and says very loudly, "you've got some nice Guns!" If everyone on the plane wasn't looking at me before they sure were now! I realized shortly after that this guy had to have been drink or at least had a good buzz. How did I guess this? Well after the guns comment he sang in a childish tone,
"My bags smaller than yours... and I responded, "Yeah well I'm headed to Australia on a one way ticket" that shut him up for a good few minutes. Then he told me I could sit on his lap! (WTF!) when I was stuck in the aisle and someone was trying to get around me. Ha! Like that was EVER going to happen! And then I watched him slap some random guys butt from his seat as the random guy walked by. The random guy was very uncomfortable with that.
Anyways. Enough about Mr. Tipsy. My backpack ended up getting gate checked which was okay.
I got seated and made friends with a very sweet older man behind me and the young girl next to him. They both had Montana connections and interests in art. She was a musician and he had a son who was. They had both done a lot of traviling themselves (they weren't together) but were asking me about my trip. Once we landed and the older man connected with his girlfriend, he told her a little about me and "What a spirit for adventure!" She has. I liked it! What a sweet couple.
Hello LA! How did I ever forget how insane and spread out this airport was? The sweet older man and his girlfriend had me walk with them tell they could point me in the right direction for international flights.
This is when I found out that my visa wasn't showing up in the system! Yikes! Virgin Australia made a phone call to Australia immigration and they discovered that I missed a letter in the spelling of my name. They cleared it, thankfully! Then I had to weigh my pack and it was over by a bit. I wasn't really surprised since I had a few gifts for my Aussie friends in there. They were really nice and let me unpack the backpack and load it into my personal bag but it was just to much. So I checked the backpack. International flights are usually free to check a bag and this one was just that, a free check. I headed straight to security and to catch my plane. None of my flights had a delay of more then 45min. which I knew would mean Id miss my flight from Brisbane to Sydney, and I did.
LA international terminal.
Leaving LA to Brisbane and I had already made 4 friends and connected with them thru either FB, email or my blog.
2 from Montana (the older guy and his girlfriend) 1 LA (the young girl sitting next next to the older guy on the plane to LA) and 1 from the Gold Coast, originally from South Africa. Her name is Rene.
Rene was my seat partner on the 15hr flight to Australia. She had the window and I had the aisle with no one in between us. It was pretty nice with that set up. We slept the first portion and got to know eachother for the last part. I now have an invitation to visit her on the Gold Coast and she's got one to visit me Oregon.
Man I love international flights!
The planes are always big and open and It all feels like first class seating. Everyone's got a pillow, blanket, and water bottle waiting for them. There's at least one free baggage check and full meals with snacks and beverages, covered. There's a screen on the back of everyone's chairs so unlimited movies, television shows and music/music videos are at your finger tips! Oh and electronic plug ins for your phone or laptop. Some of you already know this about these flights but for those (you know who are! Jake Hendr.... (wink wink)) who are to feel to safe and comfy to leave your homes, you'd being for a real treat! It's a real party in your seat! Ha!
Rene offered for me to switch seats with her so I could have the window as we landed. Super cool of her to offer and I accepted! She also told me something pretty interesting about Australia. The population of all of the country is the population of Los Angeles, California! That really puts things into perspective doesn't it!? There's just a lot of land that can't really be occupied there.
Rene and I.
Also she told me of a service I have yet to look into. It's called, free tours by foot and apparently its all over the world. Rene did one in New Orleans that was a ghost tour and cemetery tour. You should just tip at the end. $10 is even sufficient, just base it on how good the guide is.
Now off to reschedule my flight to Sydney since it flew out as I was getting off the plane that just landed in Brisbsne.