AUSTRALIA - Getting There

I could probably write an entire post on just physically getting to Australia alone.  However, it's not all that entertaining unless you like hearing about bad luck, bad customer service and bad turbulence.  I will say this though - I was basically dreading the flight.  I am not an easy flier and I'm convinced every plane I am ever on is going to crash.  My least favorite thing to do when flying is to fly over the ocean.    Logical or not, I think that if you are flying over land and something goes wrong then you still have a chance to make an emergency landing.  If you are flying over nothing but water for hours and hours, then yeah, pretty sure you're just sh*t out of luck.  I didn't want my fear of flying to stop me though from this trip, so I booked my tickets quickly, i.e. without over-thinking it.  I learned that you can't avoid reality for ever and then spent the two weeks prior to leaving consumed with thinking about the flight.  I had visions of going mentally insane somewhere over the Pacific Ocean and having to be restrained by an Air Marshall.  I also had visions of being sucked out of the plane seat and all only to land on a strange and basically invisible island a-la LOST.  So, I talked to my doctor and begged and begged for a miracle pill.  While, she wanted to help me, she also didn't want to be the next the Dr. Conrad Murray.  So, we settled on Valium.  I take Xanax to fly to Florida so I wasn't going to let it go at that.  Mama needs a little extra help mm-kay?                                                                                                                                                                             

Landing in Sydney after flying for 13 hours

So, off we went Boston - Denver - San Francisco - Sydney - Melbourne!  I will say, for whatever reason, the flight from San Fran to Sydney was the best one.  The planes are massive, they have low lighting and friendly flight attendants who treat you like you paid to be there.  Novel concept.  Also, the pilot gave us a lot of information up front, my favorite knowledge nuggets: there were FOUR (4) pilots in the cock pit (safety in numbers) and there were storms over Hawaii and Fiji so we would experience some turbulence but they would still be landing the plane around 8:30 AM (so confident).  Also, I enjoyed when he told us we were going to miss Sunday altogether and just arrive on Monday.  It's the little things apparently, but that made me feel like a time traveler.  Finally, after a few Valiums, a few mini-bottles of wine and one too many carbs we began out descent into Sydney 13 hours after leaving CA.  Maybe I was high on my meds/drinks/lack-of-real-air but when we broke through the clouds and saw Australia I was literally in awe.  Just dumb-struck by it's beauty.  Even from the plane you could see these huge cliffs, rolling beaches and flowing inlets of water.  I've never been so sappy in my life, but it was love at first sight.

Welcome Basket from our hostess

We had one more short flight from Sydney to Melbourne but I didn't even care because we found out that Sarah Jessica Parker was on our flight to Melbourne.  Holy idol time.  It was like no one in the Sydney airport had ever seen a celebrity before, literally every employee there told us about SJP being on our plane.  These wild Aussies were winning me over quickly!  I did get to see her a couple of times - boarding, on the plane, and getting our luggage.  She was headed to Melbourne to promote her movie "I Don't Know How She Does It" and well, I can tell you... she does it with 5 Louis Vuitton suitcases and 3 assistants - hello!  She was predictable adorable though and teeny-tiny.  Like the teeniest-tiniest woman ever.  She waved and said hello and then was hurried out of the dingy airport.  SJP does not do dingy airports, don't kid yourself.  The rest of us peons waited 20 minutes of our bags, but I digress.  Thankfully our hostess for the week, the beautiful and hospitable Lauren Keibler O'Connor picked us up because I was starting to feel delirious.  She was even more adorbs than SJP and she was carrying a Coca-Cola classic.  Thanks girl.


Coming up next - our adventure in Melbourne begins with some sleep, some pints, pots and lots of laughs!


Love, Lizzie