I'm here!!!

Finally, after 3 days of recovering from jetlag and searching in vain for a free Wifi connection (you'd think a large city like Sydney would have them!!!), I'm here, sitting in my little apartment-slash-hotel room in Sydney, Australia. What a long, strange trip it's been, let me tell you.

I have a lot to say, a great deal to tell already, and it's only been 4 days, but I'll try to make it somewhat briefish so that this post won't be longer than the entire blog itself, hah. What I actually might need to do is experience the entire trip, and then break it down into smaller parts, because ... well, I've had a lot of impressions in my short time here. Being the ignorant American that I am, I'm in awe at some of the things I've experienced, the plane rides just being one of many.

I guess that I could start with that.

Day 1 – 7/22
Mainly a day of rest, as I had a very long, hard trip here. I spent close to 36 hours on planes and running in and out of airports, virtually with little sleep. I am not looking forward to the return journey, as it’s going to be just as long. I stunk to high heaven by the time I did get here, mainly from the fact that some woman’s baby decided that my lap was a toilet on the way from LAX to Auckland. Bleh.

Baltimore to Houston was easy. Two college students from Colorado shared my row and they were very gracious. The seats were cramped as hell – very uncomfortable. Breakfast was cereal, milk and a banana. The movie was ‘Drillbit Taylor’. It sucked.

Houston to LAX was one of the easier flights. The seat next to me was empty, so it was just me and a businessman from California who was also very gracious. A repeat of breakfast – it was the exact same thing. A repeat of the movie – again, the exact same movie. I guess that Continental doesn’t bother to have different offerings. The staff on the Continental flights were very gracious, however.

LAX to Auckland was the longest flight, and also the worst one. I felt sick for the first two hours on the plane, probably because I had no choice but to wait out the long layover. The aforementioned stupid woman and her baby were the seatmates. Afterward, some stupid bitch had the nerve to complain about the “odor from behind her”. Well, hey, lady, talk to the dumb bitch who decided her kid could use my lap as a toilet. It’s not my fault it smells – complain to her.

I had the headache from hell. The flight attendant gave me some “Panadol” (which is more or less aspirin over here in Australia and NZ) and I was out like a light once I DID start feeling better. I more or less slept the rest of the way over. It’s funny, this is the flight that I was so nervous about because of going over the Pacific Ocean… but I slept most of the way. I guess that after all I’d been through, a plane crash seemed the least of my worries, heh.

The New Zealand airport is very tiny – all of ten gates. I was surprised. I tend to think of Auckland as a major city, but its airport doesn’t put it across as if it is. Very odd, indeed.

The flight from Auckland to Sydney was very light and there weren’t a lot of people on it – so little, in fact, that I could and did move my seat at will. After the hellish journey from LAX, I was very happy to see that.

I had jetlag very, very, very badly and it continued into Day 2, and even for a portion of Day 3. Seriously, folks – Australia is a long-assed haul from ANYWHERE. You’re going to be tired. I don’t care how energetic you are. You’re going to be tired.

And that's only part of my notes, but that more or less covers most of day 1 here. Those are really shorthand notes - after all, I didn't think that I was even going to get an Internet connection to use in the first place. I'll probably expound more upon said thoughts when I get home and know that I'm not going to be cut off unexpectedly, ad nauseum. It's already saying, hey guess what, you're on borrowed time, hahaha.

Anyhow. I do have pictures, but seeing that I'm limited here, it'll probably have to wait until I get back to the States to share. But I'll try to get in here, I'll work something out.

I'm having a blast. :D

P.S. I will get into my impressions of Australian culture, pastimes and food later on, but I DID want to share this with my American friends - today I ate... that's right... kangaroo.

So, what did I think of it?

At first it tasted quite odd, but the more I ate of it, the more I enjoyed it. I’m not sure that I’d eat it all of the time, but it made quite a nice change from what I’m used to. It’s very gamey – sort of how I’d imagine venison to taste (not that I’ve ever had any). Definitely no fat on roo meat whatsoever. I couldn’t get it out of my head that I was eating one of the characters from the Pooh novels, though. -_-