Auckland? Check. Brisbane? Check.

I just finished 20+ hours of pure hell.

Well, not really. Although my travels did have quite the rocky start while I was still in Canada. First off, I’m in Calgary, clear through security and get directed to my gate (B20) only to find myself in this holding area which I can’t get through. There is only me, locked glass doors and a security camera in the ceiling. I swear the guards were laughing at me on the other end of that camera because I was seriously confused as to where I had to go!! None of the doors leading to the gates were open, and I spent about 5 minutes trying to open them, or get someone's attention. Turns out, that area doesn’t open until 3pm, and I was there about 2:45pm….so I had to stand awkwardly in this weird area until the commissionaire came by to let me into the gate area.

Apart from a sketchy Tim Horton’s tea (they ran out of hot water so used tap water??), nothing went wrong per say until I arrived into Vancouver. I’ve never been to the airport, and I knew that I was arriving into the domestic terminal, but had to transfer to the international terminal. Upon arriving, I immediately went to ask the nearest Air Canada agent for directions, and I got a nice, cold glare and was told to “look at the screen for info.” Thanks. It wasn’t that bad once I found a nice fellow passenger who was headed in the same direction to catch a flight to Heathrow – he was this old man who’s done this a couple times so he walked with me to the international area. Here’s where the fun begins.

It’s 5:50pm, and we are supposed to have started boarding around 5:45pm for a 6:45pm depatrue. As the clock slowly ticks by, there is no indication that we are near boarding, and people are starting to get antsy. By the time out departure slot has rolled around, no announcement has been made and we are all waiting in the gate area. Finally, one of the ground crew comes on the PA and announces that the crew is “late due to bad weather.” Of course, Vancouver is clear as glass and a guy next to me jokingly says, “ that’s air talk for the crew is sitting in a bar, drinking.” Lovely. Anyways, we had to wait an extra hour and 30 minutes before boarding, and 2 hours later before taking off. I wasn’t complaining about the wait since I knew that I had a 14 hour leg ahead of me, although I was getting hungry….

Finally, the crew arrives, and we board. I'm near the front of the plane, which is where (I find out later) they place all the babies. Reason? They have hooks to hang make-shift Air New Zealand bassinets to let the babies sleep in, and all these hooks are located on the front wall separating business class from economy. So, I'm enjoying my plasticy-chicken airplane meal when it hits me - these babies are not going to make the 14 hour flight without crying. And I'm sitting behind all of them. Brilliant!!!! NOT. True to form, when one baby would quiet down, another would wake up and cry. As much as my heart went out to them, I seriously contemplated going over and covering the bassinet with a blanket or something to muffle the sound.

I did try to sleep, although mistake number one was forgetting to take gravol, which was conveniently tucked away into my backpack, which was stored in the overhead bins. I did manage to get some on and off sleep in, but I have to say that when we pulled into NZ, I was really struggling. So much so that I tried to get a 1L bottle of water through security!!! The kiwi's are great though, instead of reprimanding me about it, the fellow at security told me that if I finished the water, I could keep the bottle! I told him no thanks, and I was sorry about trying to get it through. We definitely had a good chuckle about it!!

The flight from NZ to Brisbane was no problem - again, slept most of the way and only was awake to enjoy more airplane cuisine....(this time, pancakes, bacon and yogurt). Upon arrival into Australia though, it was INTENSE. I've never seen a customs area SO strictly guarded. There were beagle dogs everywhere sniffing luggage, everyone had to go through a second round of x-ray screening and if you didn't pass this screening, you had your luggage rooted through by security members. I was slightly freaking out since I didn't declare that I had prescription medications with me, but luckily I was not one of the ones pulled aside to do a manual search. I made it through customs, met up with our family friend Marilyn and she drove me to see my rental place.

My landlord, John, is about the coolest Aussie I've met so far. He's this 60 yr old hippie, with a long ponytail and tattoos and the craziest fellow. He took me on a quick tour of the place (we have a sweet lounge/deck as well as cable TV!) and gave me my new keys! I didn't move any of my stuff in yet, since Marilyn and I were headed back to her hometown of Noosa, but I'll be making my room my own next week sometime! I also met one of my flat mates - Carol. She seemed really excited to have another female in the place, and said she would show me around when I got back from Noosa! Yay for one friend already!!

After meeting with John, Marilyn and I left for Noosa. It's a small surf town located about 2 hours away from Brisbane by car. We took the scenic route and I was blown away by the coastline - and the heat. Even with the air conditioning, I was sweating balls. Seriously - it is SO freaking hot over here I think I may die. It could have been my hoodie and sweatpants....but now that I've arrived into Noosa, had a cold shower and changed into shorts and a tank, I'm no cooler than before. Something to get used to, I guess!

Anyways, I should run since I have to organize a bit of my suitcases before heading out to dinner tonight. We're having fish and chips with old friends that I last saw when I was 6....and I'm sure I'll have some stories (and photos - now I have my camera out!) to share with you in the next couple days. Just know that despite a long travel time, the heat and the accents, I have arrived in one piece and am loving it so far!!

xoxo Danielle