Up and (almost) Away

It started badly. After all the planning, packing, unpacking, repacking, emails, phone calls and
correspondence the taxi did not arrive. There we were bright eyed and bushy tailed at 4.40am with our bags on the footpath and a flight departure at 6.10 but the taxi had forgotten us. Fortunately a quick call to another company produced a cab which got us to the airport in time.
Excess baggage! Damn, after all that careful weighing on the bathroom scales. Never mind, pay the money and go - but no, there is a delay because of the weather in Sydney.
Arrived in Sydney one and a half hours late but the good thing is that the hotel checks us straight
in so we can freshen up before heading off to meet Andrew for lunch.

Bun loves the view of the airport and stays behind to keep an eye on things.



Lunch at the Sydney Law Courts - great food - then back to Andrew's to see his pix of Nepal. What an amazing experience he has had.
Saturday we get to the international terminal at 8am to join our Qantas flight to New York and are amazed at the changes to the check in area. Gone are the clearly marked airline counters that we remember - instead there is a clean, clinical arrangement with crowds of people milling about and very little signage. A helpfull employee directs us to the right place where we are checked in by a long serving QF staff member who (after finding out we are ex QF staff) tells us that there is a move by Qantas to get rid of staff and employ contractors - maybe it doesn't matter any more but we remember the fierce loyalty of staff in our time and see this as a cost cutting exercise which does not auger well for the future.
Clear immigration then off to the lounge for breakfast before boarding the flight.

Slipping into seats 11a and b seems just like the old days but Bun has obviously become scared of
flying since her last trip and spends her time hiding in the corner.




Clearing customs and immigration in Los Angeles is a trial when you are jet lagged. The airport is
so utilitarian and everything is soooo far away. Finally collapse in the Qantas lounge and try to
prepare ourselves for the next leg of the journey.
Re-boarded, in our old seats but with a new crew. Elegant prawn salad for lunch and we sleep most of the way to New York.

Pre-booked transfer works well and we arrive at the hotel at 6.30pm to discover that I have left the laptop on the shuttle bus. Panic, stress levels shoot up when I realise that the only information I have about the bus company is a ticket printed out at the airport. Hotel staff contact the bus company and I am soon speaking to the controller who organises the drivers. He tells me that they will contact the driver and get back to me shortly. After waiting and hour I phone back and am advised that the driver has found the laptop under the back seat but after he got home and will return it the next day.

A little relieved but not exactly sure we head off to explore Times Square. It's Saturday night and the crowds are amazing. The lights, the noise, the touts, the hustlers, the hot food vendors - you know you've arrived in the Big Apple.









Next morning, a quick call to the bus company to check when the laptop will be delivered (around midday) so we hang around till then to reward the driver for his kindness - one of the staff at the hotel says how lucky we are because it usually takes weeks to get back lost luggage. It's only then that I realise the extent of my good fortune because my research documents and the French translation of my catalogue are also in the laptop bag.