Leaving to the Southern Hemisphere....from Boston to Melbourne

11/17/2010 to 11/19/2010

I have to say this whole voyage almost got off to a bad start.  I arrived splendidly on time for my flight to San Francisco (SFO), only to find out at check-in that I had been rerouted to go through Los Angeles because the flight to SFO had been delayed so much I would never had made the SFO to Sydney flight.  The flight to LA however also left a good 30-40 minutes earlier and with that went my margin of safety. 

I think the key to making the massive 8 hour time shift was attempting to eat as if I was right on Melbourne time.  That started right on my flight to LA (of course the plane also ran out of food).  I met some interesting people on the flight, including one trying to make an interview in SFO, and another person who was from South Australia but had the strongest of Gaelic accents.  I also finally saw an I-Pad up close.  For the third time in three round trip flights, the sound system on my seat failed. 

I decided after going through the gate at LAX, to run down the boarding ramp to the plane.  I figured that would be the last time I would get a chance to stretch my legs in such manner.... I think however, people looked at me as if I was a nerd rushing along to be early. 

The flight from LAX to SYD was a long 14 hrs.  Though on an overnight flight it doesn't seem long until morning breaks when naturally there is a significant change happening in the day, you come to naturally want to have a significant change in what you are doing (i.e. you want to land). 

At SYD, there is a bizarre procedure where even though you are going directly onto another flight (to MEL), they make you go through security again!  Note to self: if you place your luggage on a table to rearrange things, make sure it isn't the table that is used to do random explosives checks.  The officials might decided to do a conveniently random check on you and your luggage. 

A little secret about SYD: there are showers tucked away near the duty free shops... take advantage of them if you want to arrive in Melbourne smelling fresh and clean as opposed to having the smell of travelling for 26+ hrs. in temperatures that make you sweat!