Does Anyone Really Know What Time It Is???

4/17/14

The roll continues...

1. aisle exit row seat with enormous amounts of leg room for the TPA/LAX leg of the trip (YAY) - check!
2. smooth shuttle transition to Virgin Australia terminal - check!
3. what's this?? Actual free wireless at both the Tampa & LAX airports??? – double check!

Another roomy aisle seat with 2 young, female Aussie seatmates - one who fell asleep in her window seat & never budged the entire 15 hour flight (not even for a single bathroom visit!), and the middle seat occupant - another young, female Aussie who also immediately slept & only visited the bathroom twice in the 15 hours we were on board. Now these are the sort of seatmates everyone wishes for.

We arrived in Brisbane 30 minutes early, but that small achievement was quickly negated by the hour it took about 500 people to clear a customs area that only contained a measly 5 officers.  In fact all the luggage was unloaded onto carousel 7 in its entirety before a very small minority of our passengers made it through customs. I think it was the first time in all my travels that the bags followed their slow, meandering, circular course without spectators pushing forward to gain position nearest to the belt so they could take out a small army with their humongous suitcases.

So, here it is, 7:30 AM Friday, April 18^th. I can barely walk since I’ve been sitting so long during the 15-hour flight. I’ve got furry teeth that haven’t seen toothpaste or a toothbrush in almost 24 hours. I’ve got swollen ankles (cankles) that could rival any serious gout sufferer. I will need surgery to remove my bra, and I will need several days before the indentations left from it disappear. But I am in Brisbane, and my friend Loretta is front & center in the waiting area, and her son Stuart is getting us coffees, and it is sunny & in the mid 70s. It has been almost 20 years since I last arrived Down Under, and it will be almost 40 years since I have seen most of the friends that I will reconnect with along this journey, so I embrace my friends, savor my coffee and happily limp away to begin our new adventure.