So, we are finally here in Perth. The preparations to get here nearly killed me, but we made it and arrived on May 2nd after about 22 or 23 hours in the air. That doesn't count time in the airports. Camerin, Samuel and I were lucky enough to be able to fly from San Francisco to Sydney, Australia in business class on what I would call a very, very large aircraft. It was quite luxurious and we passed the time with books, magazines, gameboys, movies, maps, meals, boredom, and at times, even some sleep. The electronic image of our route was what mesmerized us for the final hour of our trip to Sydney. We looked at the map with wonder as we saw Papau New Guinea, Indonesia, Fiji and other exotic locales in our general area as we flew our pattern into Sydney over the Coral Sea. That was our first taste of "we aren't in Kansas anymore" as reality hit that we actually were half way around the world. "Wow" was about all I could think through my fuzzy headed brain.
Once in Sydney, where we adjusted our watches and lost an entire day, we flew into a whirlwind of collecting our bags, going through customs and switching terminals from international to domestic as we prepared for the final leg of our trip to Perth; a 5 hour "hop"; or so it seemed after 15 hours from San Francisco to Sydney. It was quite an introduction as we got sniffed out by one of the produce sniffing dogs in the airport. I thought the dog picked me out to pet him, not realizing he was "working", and it turned out he only liked me for the orange I had in my bag. Bringing contraband fruit into Australia is a no-no. Since I had actually claimed it on my customs form, they let me surrender the orange without incident. I didn't think the dogs in the airport were so cute after that, realizing I could have been fined more than $1000 if I had not claimed the fruit I was carrying. We finally made it into the domestic terminal and I was grateful for the two hour layover we had; we needed just about all of it.
Our trip to Perth was uneventful (my favorite kind of flight) and when we arrived in Perth we were tired, happy and excited to finally be at the end of our trip. Steve and Lucas were there, along with some friends who thought we could use a hand with our bags. As it turned out, our big trunks didn't make it from Sydney with us and they were delivered several hours later to our home in Ocean Reef. It was great to see everyone and we had a noisy, excited reunion.
Our new home is spacious and accomodating. It's not quite a lovely as our home on Brookdale, but I wasn't expecting it to be so "no worries". It is 4 bedroom, 2 1/2 baths and about 1/2 mile from the Indian Ocean. How bad could it be?
We were at the beach with wine and beach towels in under 1 hour from the time we arrived at the house. It was just in time for a swim and a beautiful sunset. Life had begun again...in Perth, Australia.
Steve and I celebrated our 1st year anniversary last weekend by staying at a highrise hotel on the 22nd floor next to the beach front. It was a bit stormy and very windy, but the view was spectacular. We awoke on Sunday morning to find hundreds of surfers in their black wet suits bobbing in the ocean looking for the next perfect wave. It was quite a sight! There were lots of other activities going on as well, including kite surfing, sea kayaking, sea rescue training, sailing. There are many kilometers of bike paths along the coastline, and they are well used by walkers, runners, cyclists, kids and dogs. Believe it or not, Aussie dogs bark with an accent; really! Enjoy these photos....
