Traveling to Australia
Sunday, January 17, 2010 by Matt Mercier
My trip began the night before my flight. I had booked an airport hotel in order to make the 5:00am check in time. I had a teary goodbye with my Brother and Father, but we got through it and once they were gone I knew things had changed. I got to logan at 5:15am on Tuesday morning and begun the familiar rigamarole for frequent fliers, which for the uninitiated is a series of hurry up and wait maneuvers.
At check-in I was given the choice of picking which side of the plane I'd like to sit one, left window or right window. Being the poncy sentimental type I thought I would enjoy a final view of the Boston Skyline as I flew out. I picked the right side, knowing that the plane flies off the runway heading south. In actuality it was the wrong side. As soon as the plane left the ground it turned a hard right, denying me my promised skyline… and the small video footage that I wanted to shoot to accompany it. I did however get to pass right over Medford. I'm certain I saw my old apartment building on Governors avenue for one last time, and might have seen the tufts campus, but couldn't be certain. As we moved higher and farther west the landscape dropped away and I settled in for the long haul.
I got into LA after enjoying free onboard wifi. I conducted business from the air, I edited a website, communicated with my previous employers and chatted with a few people. Going from several feet of snow (Grant Camp in northern NH) to palm trees in LA is such a shock to the system. It is like waking up from a dream and it forces a mental calendar reset.
Arriving in LA was smooth, you could see the heat coming off of the runway. The smog prevented the kind of views I was hoping for. I was able to book my day-stay at the Holiday Inn express on La Cienega and met the shuttle at the red sign. All went smoothly until this nice little old southern lady on the shuttle began screaming, "my purple bag.. where's my purple bag???" Poor lady. Now… I was tired, had been up since 4 am, knew I had a long day.. and not all of me was of the opinion that we should turn around and see if we can pick up her luggage. The driver decided to drop us off and bring her back around. I left the shuttle with all my massive cumbersome baggage and when I got to the lobby… I suddenly realized I left my carry on bag onboard the shuttle. Panic. Camera, toiletries, paperwork… I bolted back out the front door at sprinting speed.. yelling "WAIT". I caught up easily , grabbed the bag avoiding certain disaster and checked in and had a rather nice hotel room to relax in until my night flight. It is worth the $75 to spend your 13 hour layover in a hotel. I ate lunch, worked out, and even sat out in the sun for 10 minutes appreciating it. After a brief nap, shave and shower I left the hotel and was on the shuttle to the airport. I heard my first Australian on the shuttle. She was an older lady, from Sydney who met her husband while living in Canada. The whole family moved to OZ with their two teenage sons a few years ago. I asked the boys what that was like, because I have honest curiosity on the matter, knowing that in the future, potentially my own children will experience something similar. I bid them farewell and entered the departure area and was immediately in an hour long line to check in to my LA - Melbourne flight.
Aboard the Boeing 777 I was surrounded by Aussies, something I realized would be the norm for a while to come. I was able to watch "ZombieLand" after eating dinner, then I fell asleep for a few hours. A few more movies, TV shows, then few more, a little sleeping, more movies.. and eventually the 15 hours passed. I watched the shadow of the plane out the window get bigger until we touched down and I was now a Foreigner. Immigration was simple, although I did made the mistake of getting behind a family of people who didn't speak english, which in hindsight my better judgment would have cause me to avoid when entering a line. From immigration I passed quickly through customs and went directly to the Domestic terminal to check in for my quick flight to Launceston. It cost me $610 US to ship 1 cubic meter of property, Virgin charged me $10/Kilo for the overage on my luggage, when added to the other baggage fees I paid amounted to $420 extra for having heavy luggage. In the future, when booking a flight, do it all together, avoid doing it piecemeal like I did. I could have avoided those costs. However, I got a ridiculously cheap flight, so even with those charges the whole trip over here cost me less than $1500.
Once my bags were checked in I realized I had 4 hours before my flight so I made a call, and enjoyed a VB, (Victoria Bitter) somewhat of a tradition when it comes to traveling through Melbourne. I of course ate a meat pie (tradition) and made sure to check my email at an internet kiosk and leave a cat wearing a costume on the screen when I left.. tradition. The accents filled the air, people were noticably tanner, thinner and dressed in summer clothing. On average you notice older people are more likely to dress younger, sporting tattoos, gelled hair, and skinny jeans.
Onboard the Virgin flight to Tasmania I made the rookie mistake of getting my seat wrong.. not sure how that happened, but such a politeness by the older couple who belonged in seat 9D. I was looking forward to a window seat, but instead got the aisle and barely got comfortable before the plane touched down in Launceston. The great thing about the Lonnie airport is that it doesn't have a large suspended bridge to the plane, but a large stairway that you walk out on like a visiting dignitary. I walked out of the plane into the bright sun, put my sunglasses on and scanned the scene. I caught a furiously waving hand from the behind the terminal glass and recognized Lucy. Once inside I found her immediately, have her a huge hug and a kiss and at that moment the 36 hour, 10,000 mile journey had finally ended, and I knew that I was now home.
At check-in I was given the choice of picking which side of the plane I'd like to sit one, left window or right window. Being the poncy sentimental type I thought I would enjoy a final view of the Boston Skyline as I flew out. I picked the right side, knowing that the plane flies off the runway heading south. In actuality it was the wrong side. As soon as the plane left the ground it turned a hard right, denying me my promised skyline… and the small video footage that I wanted to shoot to accompany it. I did however get to pass right over Medford. I'm certain I saw my old apartment building on Governors avenue for one last time, and might have seen the tufts campus, but couldn't be certain. As we moved higher and farther west the landscape dropped away and I settled in for the long haul.
I got into LA after enjoying free onboard wifi. I conducted business from the air, I edited a website, communicated with my previous employers and chatted with a few people. Going from several feet of snow (Grant Camp in northern NH) to palm trees in LA is such a shock to the system. It is like waking up from a dream and it forces a mental calendar reset.
Arriving in LA was smooth, you could see the heat coming off of the runway. The smog prevented the kind of views I was hoping for. I was able to book my day-stay at the Holiday Inn express on La Cienega and met the shuttle at the red sign. All went smoothly until this nice little old southern lady on the shuttle began screaming, "my purple bag.. where's my purple bag???" Poor lady. Now… I was tired, had been up since 4 am, knew I had a long day.. and not all of me was of the opinion that we should turn around and see if we can pick up her luggage. The driver decided to drop us off and bring her back around. I left the shuttle with all my massive cumbersome baggage and when I got to the lobby… I suddenly realized I left my carry on bag onboard the shuttle. Panic. Camera, toiletries, paperwork… I bolted back out the front door at sprinting speed.. yelling "WAIT". I caught up easily , grabbed the bag avoiding certain disaster and checked in and had a rather nice hotel room to relax in until my night flight. It is worth the $75 to spend your 13 hour layover in a hotel. I ate lunch, worked out, and even sat out in the sun for 10 minutes appreciating it. After a brief nap, shave and shower I left the hotel and was on the shuttle to the airport. I heard my first Australian on the shuttle. She was an older lady, from Sydney who met her husband while living in Canada. The whole family moved to OZ with their two teenage sons a few years ago. I asked the boys what that was like, because I have honest curiosity on the matter, knowing that in the future, potentially my own children will experience something similar. I bid them farewell and entered the departure area and was immediately in an hour long line to check in to my LA - Melbourne flight.
Aboard the Boeing 777 I was surrounded by Aussies, something I realized would be the norm for a while to come. I was able to watch "ZombieLand" after eating dinner, then I fell asleep for a few hours. A few more movies, TV shows, then few more, a little sleeping, more movies.. and eventually the 15 hours passed. I watched the shadow of the plane out the window get bigger until we touched down and I was now a Foreigner. Immigration was simple, although I did made the mistake of getting behind a family of people who didn't speak english, which in hindsight my better judgment would have cause me to avoid when entering a line. From immigration I passed quickly through customs and went directly to the Domestic terminal to check in for my quick flight to Launceston. It cost me $610 US to ship 1 cubic meter of property, Virgin charged me $10/Kilo for the overage on my luggage, when added to the other baggage fees I paid amounted to $420 extra for having heavy luggage. In the future, when booking a flight, do it all together, avoid doing it piecemeal like I did. I could have avoided those costs. However, I got a ridiculously cheap flight, so even with those charges the whole trip over here cost me less than $1500.
Once my bags were checked in I realized I had 4 hours before my flight so I made a call, and enjoyed a VB, (Victoria Bitter) somewhat of a tradition when it comes to traveling through Melbourne. I of course ate a meat pie (tradition) and made sure to check my email at an internet kiosk and leave a cat wearing a costume on the screen when I left.. tradition. The accents filled the air, people were noticably tanner, thinner and dressed in summer clothing. On average you notice older people are more likely to dress younger, sporting tattoos, gelled hair, and skinny jeans.
Onboard the Virgin flight to Tasmania I made the rookie mistake of getting my seat wrong.. not sure how that happened, but such a politeness by the older couple who belonged in seat 9D. I was looking forward to a window seat, but instead got the aisle and barely got comfortable before the plane touched down in Launceston. The great thing about the Lonnie airport is that it doesn't have a large suspended bridge to the plane, but a large stairway that you walk out on like a visiting dignitary. I walked out of the plane into the bright sun, put my sunglasses on and scanned the scene. I caught a furiously waving hand from the behind the terminal glass and recognized Lucy. Once inside I found her immediately, have her a huge hug and a kiss and at that moment the 36 hour, 10,000 mile journey had finally ended, and I knew that I was now home.
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