holiday

This is the first in a series of posts about my 2007 trip to Australia. Note: All prices are in Australian dollar. This travel log is rated PG-13 for occasional strong language, crude humor and fierce creatures.
For years, Sarah and I have talked about going to Australia. The barriers of money and time, though, can be tough to overcome. We finally decided that, when she passed the bar, we’d finally go for it. And go for it, we did.
Read this, and you’ll get some idea of what it’s like Down Under. It might even be a good map for your own antipodean journey. Yes, I’ll start you off with the ride down there. Boring? Maybe … but you might get a few tips for how to stay sane while aloft for 15 hours. The really cool stuff happens outside Sidney, so stand by!
Wednesday, Aug. 15, 2007
For us, every great adventure starts with getting our collective tuchus out of Phoenix. We grabbed a 6 o’clock fight to LA. Of course, there was a 45-minute delay getting into the air. It seems the flight path was too crowded with other planes to LA. Go figure.
No matter. The flight to Sydney wasn’t scheduled to leave until 11:15. Plenty of time to get from one gate to the other. Of course, it was typical Southwest cattle-call, round ‘em up, move ‘em out fun that reminds me of just how much I dislike domestic air travel.
During the taxi, we passed a Qantas 747 at a [...]