The Journey....
I am finally here in Sydney, but my luggage unfortunately seems to have had other plans. With any luck my suitcase will arrive tonight, but the poster decided to stay in London. And, according to the American/Qantas Airlines records, it's apparently sprouted wheels. Needless to say, I'm not overly confident that they know where the poster is, let alone can get it to me in the next few days.
The Edinburgh - London flight was uneventful, albeit without any food thanks to weather related delays in London. In fact, with the new restrictions on carry-ons, flights are quite relaxing because there's no rush for the limited space in the overhead bins. Apart from an uninteresting selection of movies and a plastic fork not up to the challenge of the lunchtime chicken dish, getting to LAX was uneventful. Until I got there. For reasons unknown, the US requires that all bags going via a US airport have to be claimed, go through customs and be rechecked. Even if you're just connecting through. So my big back full of clothes quickly appeared, but no sign or information on the poster. And no way to do anything until two days later in Sydney.
Qantas had good food, a great selection of on demand movies and an excellent flight crew. But after moving to accomodate a woman who needed my aisle seat, I ended up being nearly pancaked into my new seat by the malfunctioning seat in front which tilted too far back. Thank goodness that most of the 12hr flight was given over to sleep and the wee babies near me stayed blessedly quiet. But it does make you wonder why an airlines that has just installed such hi tech entertainment systems can't afford to make sure all their seats are properly functioning and don't have gaping holes in the seat covers.
What should have been a stunning morning entry to New Zealand was dampened by low clouds, but it was still pretty darn amazing. There's water all around, acres of green grass and mountains in the distance. The clouds were still hanging around when I finally had the utter joy of stepping off my last flight and into Sydney Airport.
The joy was, of course, short-lived. After oh so carefully filling in my Customs Declaration Card, the lack of any arriving luggage robbed me of my moment of customs fame. Instead, there was the torture of watching the carousel go round and round and round, and then round and round without disgorging my faithful black duffel bound. As we lined up to pour out our stories of woe to the Baggage Assistance folks, it soon became clear that mine wasn't the only suitcase to have gotten lost between LAX and Sydney. No clear explanation was offered for the wayward bags, but we wondered if it had something to do with the last minute offloading of a bag in LAX when a passenger had to cancel his/her trip at the last minute.
As to the poster, not even the Baggage Assistance woman could make heads or tails of the information provided. Why had it gotten stuck in London? Why was it described as having wheels? A work of fiction by a particularly imaginative baggage clerk in London? Even I would be impressed if American/British Airways could transform a poster tube into a wheeled bag with a wave of their magical wand. As long as my poster was still inside.
So, it was bearing little in the way of burdens that I met my friend Elisabeth and her husband Brandon at the airport. We drove to their cozy flat which looks down to the waves lapping (or crashing) up onto the beach in Clovelly. Plans of unpacking and getting a well needed (and deserved) shower delayed by the lack of luggage, Elisabeth and I headed out to Bondi Beach for lunch.
Bondi Beach is one of the most famous in Australia. Today it was lightly attened, as the chilly winds and damp skies didn't make for ideal sunbathing. But the surfers were still out in force enjoying the big waves. The beach curves around the inner surface of a bay, providing great waves for the surfing clientele and wide, pale sands for the sunbathing clientale. We lunched a funky little cafe on one side of the curve, enjoying lunch and a great view.
So now I sit, typing and yawning, and awaiting the arrival - hopefully - of my suitcase.
(The view from Brandon & Elisabeth's flat down to the beach in Clovelly)
I am finally here in Sydney, but my luggage unfortunately seems to have had other plans. With any luck my suitcase will arrive tonight, but the poster decided to stay in London. And, according to the American/Qantas Airlines records, it's apparently sprouted wheels. Needless to say, I'm not overly confident that they know where the poster is, let alone can get it to me in the next few days.
The Edinburgh - London flight was uneventful, albeit without any food thanks to weather related delays in London. In fact, with the new restrictions on carry-ons, flights are quite relaxing because there's no rush for the limited space in the overhead bins. Apart from an uninteresting selection of movies and a plastic fork not up to the challenge of the lunchtime chicken dish, getting to LAX was uneventful. Until I got there. For reasons unknown, the US requires that all bags going via a US airport have to be claimed, go through customs and be rechecked. Even if you're just connecting through. So my big back full of clothes quickly appeared, but no sign or information on the poster. And no way to do anything until two days later in Sydney.
Qantas had good food, a great selection of on demand movies and an excellent flight crew. But after moving to accomodate a woman who needed my aisle seat, I ended up being nearly pancaked into my new seat by the malfunctioning seat in front which tilted too far back. Thank goodness that most of the 12hr flight was given over to sleep and the wee babies near me stayed blessedly quiet. But it does make you wonder why an airlines that has just installed such hi tech entertainment systems can't afford to make sure all their seats are properly functioning and don't have gaping holes in the seat covers.
What should have been a stunning morning entry to New Zealand was dampened by low clouds, but it was still pretty darn amazing. There's water all around, acres of green grass and mountains in the distance. The clouds were still hanging around when I finally had the utter joy of stepping off my last flight and into Sydney Airport.
The joy was, of course, short-lived. After oh so carefully filling in my Customs Declaration Card, the lack of any arriving luggage robbed me of my moment of customs fame. Instead, there was the torture of watching the carousel go round and round and round, and then round and round without disgorging my faithful black duffel bound. As we lined up to pour out our stories of woe to the Baggage Assistance folks, it soon became clear that mine wasn't the only suitcase to have gotten lost between LAX and Sydney. No clear explanation was offered for the wayward bags, but we wondered if it had something to do with the last minute offloading of a bag in LAX when a passenger had to cancel his/her trip at the last minute.
As to the poster, not even the Baggage Assistance woman could make heads or tails of the information provided. Why had it gotten stuck in London? Why was it described as having wheels? A work of fiction by a particularly imaginative baggage clerk in London? Even I would be impressed if American/British Airways could transform a poster tube into a wheeled bag with a wave of their magical wand. As long as my poster was still inside.
So, it was bearing little in the way of burdens that I met my friend Elisabeth and her husband Brandon at the airport. We drove to their cozy flat which looks down to the waves lapping (or crashing) up onto the beach in Clovelly. Plans of unpacking and getting a well needed (and deserved) shower delayed by the lack of luggage, Elisabeth and I headed out to Bondi Beach for lunch.
Bondi Beach is one of the most famous in Australia. Today it was lightly attened, as the chilly winds and damp skies didn't make for ideal sunbathing. But the surfers were still out in force enjoying the big waves. The beach curves around the inner surface of a bay, providing great waves for the surfing clientele and wide, pale sands for the sunbathing clientale. We lunched a funky little cafe on one side of the curve, enjoying lunch and a great view.
So now I sit, typing and yawning, and awaiting the arrival - hopefully - of my suitcase.
(The view from Brandon & Elisabeth's flat down to the beach in Clovelly)
posted by Scottish Missy at 11:45 PM
1 Comments:
It's actually a few beaches down from Bondi. Which is probably a good thing because Bondi can be VERY busy and a bit touristy. Clovelly has small, but quieter beaches.
Post a Comment
<< Home