Australia…Here I Come!

I am finally awake after 34 hours of travel spent either in the air or in airports.  According to the clock, it’s been 48 hrs, but there is the 14 hr time difference between home and Melbourne.  It’s difficult to write coherent sentences with the comatose feeling of jet lag.  Here are my thoughts so far…

Michael & Kaitlyn downloaded an app for me called “Timeshifter” which they used to deal with jet lag on their honeymoon to Thailand.  It tells me when to sleep, when to use caffeine, when to nap, and when to be in bright sunlight.  The science sounds good but sometimes it’s difficult to implement.  I’m suppose to be napping, but babies are crying on the plane in stereo, I lost my eye mask on the first of three flights and a replacement in Fiji was $45 US….I didn’t buy it!…and bright sunlight without using sunglasses hurts my cataract afflicted eyesight!  I’m trying though, and after 11 hrs of sleep last night…too much according to Timeshifter and maybe a personal longest for me…I’m awake, eaten breakfast, and preparing for an all day tour.  A report on my jet lag success and/or failure later.

As I snaked my way down the gangway in Washington, DC, a little boy behind me said, “I pooped my pants!”  I didn’t know if this was in the past or present but his dad said, “Just keep moving.”  And so my adventure begins!

We chased the sun from Dulles to LAX with a glow on the horizon of sunset.  As we neared our destination, a smoky smell filled the plane’s cabin which the pilot said was from the California wildfires below.  Thank goodness for that explanation! Indeed, I could see an orange glow along the mountainous ridge line from the fires.  Leaving at midnight, the California coastline was strung with jewel colored lights before the emptiness of the ocean and darkness. Not much to look at for the next 10 hours.  Next stop…Fiji!

I always like window seats on planes, but there is the difficulty of disturbing two strangers and climbing over them and/or seats when the call of nature strikes.  Not only the need to use the potty on a long flight, but my butt was sore from sitting 10 hrs from Los Angeles to Fiji!  I only got up once on each flight, and I was finally lucky enough to have an empty middle seat on my third flight leg.  

We arrived in Fiji around 8 AM, and it looked just like a tropical paradise…warm, green, palm trees, and mountains in the distance.  Maybe I should have planned to stay a few days, but I was anxious to get to my destination.  I know that my age and traveling days are inversely related..the older I get the less and perhaps more adventurously I’ll travel.  2025 will be a major birthday year for me so I thought, “Where do I want to go that I will regret never going if I never travel there?”

There are lots of places on my bucket list that I hope to go one day, but Australia and New Zealand were Numero Uno!  It’s a long ways to go, but I figure it’s like childbirth…the process is painful but the final outcome is oh so worth it!  I decided not to wait until 2025 and travel a few months early.  2024 and Australia here I come!  My trip of a lifetime, and while I’m at it, I might as well stay a while…6 wks!

Fiji to Melbourne was only a little less than 6 hrs; a breeze after the previous 10.  However, it was daylight this time instead of night so the multiple children on the plane were all awake and letting each of us know they were not happy.  God bless those little ones and also their parents!  Especially one little girl squealing…not crying but a high pitched scream!… behind me for at least 20-30 minutes.  I finally turned around just to see who was sticking pins in this little one!  And, this was during my sleep and nap time according to Timeshifter!   Like I said, I tried!

I left Dulles airport in Washington, DC on Monday, Sep 9.  Crossing the international dateline made my arrival in Fiji, Wednesday, September 11.  It’s a day people in my generation will always remember - where you were when you first heard about and saw the tragedy unfold on that day in 2001.  I hope we will always remember the brave people on those planes and in the  buildings and their families they left behind along with all the first responders.  We need to honor them, and if you haven’t been to New York City and Washington DC and Shanksville, PA to visit the memorials, I recommend you go and absorb the meaning of this tragedy and mourn.  It didn’t affect me personally, but it will always resonant in my bones.

I tried to purchase a SIMS card at the airport so I could call an Uber vs using a taxi to my hotel.  The helpful clerk told me my phone was locked.  Drats!  Verizon told me weeks ago it was unlocked.  At least my luggage arrived!

As I mentioned, I’m heading on a 10-12 hour tour today of fairie penguins and a wildlife sanctuary.  The hotel concierge said I was crazy to go after just arriving, but it’s the only time in my schedule.  I’m joining my tour group in Tasmania the next day for a week before returning to Melbourne, but we won’t be visiting these sites.  So, off I go!