Dad and I spent New Years Eve in Los Angeles with his friends, the Sissons. It was nice to spend a day in LA to break up the long voyage to Australia, but at the same time I kind of just wanted to get there as soon as possible. We had a good time, and on New Year’s Day, we hopped on a Qantas plane and began our journey!
I honestly don’t remember most of it, because I was sleeping most of the time (which I guess is the ideal plane ride situation). The first stop was Auckland, New Zealand where we had a four hour layover (the plane was having technical difficulties). The airport was very snazzy and we got food vouchers for the inconvenience. I used mine at Burger King (yuk) where I got some chicken tenders, which accidentally came with free french fries. I didn’t eat them. I tried sleeping some more in the airport, but there were too many shrieking children to do so.
At 11:05 AM Auckland time, we got back on our plane to Melbourne. This leg of the voyage, though the shortest, was the most difficult because the plane was completely full.
Oh, something that really annoys me about airplanes: whenever I want to go to sleep, the person in the row in front of me invariably puts their seat back, blocking usage of the tray table as a headrest. It’s the only mildly comfortable way to sleep. Who designed these seats? Reclining should be forbidden. Punishable by death, actually.
And then, at about 2:00 PM, we arrived in Melbourne, city of the Australian Open! We checked into our hotel, which is called Batman’s Hill. What a great place to stay! Too bad it isn’t Spiderman’s Hill, though. I think that might have been cooler.
After much needed showers, we scouted out downtown Melbourne and all the various tennis arenas (none of which were open, unfortunately. Dad really wanted to find a way inside the Cricket Grounds, but I think the security cameras may have deterred him a bit.) It’s so cool to be in the place that I have only seen on ESPN! The Australian Open starts on the 14th, though, so we have quite a bit of time to kill.
In Australia, they drive on the left side of the road. Interestingly, the sidewalk traffic also functions in the same way. It took Dad and me a little while to adjust. I think people were a little confused when we broke the flow of things with our silly American sidewalk ways.
There are SO MANY stores in downtown Melbourne, mostly cheesy tourist shops and overpriced convenience stores. There were a lot of Australian Fire Opal galleries, but none of them were open (sorry, Mom, it will have to wait for another day).
After a lot of walking, we returned to the hotel which is where I am typing from now. They charge a ludicrous amount for internet here, so I think I’m just going to type everything up in Word and then post multiple entries to save money.
Goodbye,
A somewhat dehydrated River
2 comments:
Next time just try to trade. "I'LL STOP KICKING YOUR SEAT IF YOU PUT IT BACK UP"
I did not know what an Australian Fire Opal was. Being that I adore jewels I had to google it straight away thinking that it was another name for a common stone. RIVER! There is nothing common about them. They are amazing. True beauty. Thanks for teaching me something new today.
btw I just found out you have a blog so I hope you won't mind me tagging along on your trips.
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