02.19.10
Getting Down Under
My trip began by driving down to St. Louis the night before our flights. In addition to saving some money, i was also able to hang out for a night with my good friend Barb and her husband Chuck. They spoiled me a bit by making yummy soup that night (along with much photo chatting late into the night), blueberry pancakes in the morning and then sent us on our way with sandwiches and homemade cookies and snacks for the flights. Thanks again Barb!!
So I met Jess as our trip officially began on Friday morning with flights from STL to LAX, with a layover in Denver. Our flight out of STL was slightly delayed due to mechanical issues – we were assured it was preventative but ended up only being about a half hour late into Denver. We went to our departing gate and it just so happened that another flight was heading to LAX 2 hours earlier, just 40 mins from when we arrived. I suggested we try to fly standby and get to LAX earlier considering we were a little worried about the tight connection. We were in luck! we were able to catch the earlier flight giving us extra time in LAX which we were so glad to have. The airport was a bit chaotic and it didn’t help that we were completely confused about where to go (unlike ohare it seems that none of the terminals are connected which means exiting), but we eventually made our way to the correct terminal to check in for our flight to Sydney.
Our flight was with V Australia – a newer airline and apparantly part of the Virgin family. It was a bit surreal as we walk past the normal checkin desks with the bright lights to our checkin area that had black lights and popular music playing – it was like walking into a night club to check in to the flight, but instead of bouncers we had really young attendants checking us in. I actually really liked it – it was kind of nice jamming in line. Of course immediately after we were sent back into reality with a long security line. We make our way back into the terminal and end up having a nice dinner at the 1st of 2 options (burger king was the other option) which was nice after a full day of flights. As we make our way to our actual gate we quickly realize that there are about 200 more people that seats which meant it got cozy near boarding time…. and once again the check in desk seems hip.
We’d heard from a random guy on the shuttle bus who also seemed to be going on the same flight as us that VA’s planes seem to be state of the art – not quite gold plated but compared to our earlier flights a definite step up. Rumors were confirmed when on boarding we walk passed a bar, then continued on through to our seats – of course in dimmed neon lighting throughout the whole plane with popular music yet again playing. We take our seats and confirm the rumor of free movies, music, and even gaming from each seat – personal screens and a game controller for everyone allows gaming with other passengers or even charging your ipod via a USB charging port. It was a bit crazy but we weren’t complaining!
Each of us enjoyed a movie or 2 in addition to trying out some of the other features during takeoff and leading up to dinner. (I felt a bit hobbit-ish having 2 dinners) The food wasn’t half bad and after a little bit everyone calmed down a bit (and with about 400 passengers that’s saying something). We both ended up getting a decent amount of sleep – we were chasing the night so it stayed dark for our full 14 hour flight which helped a bit. And finally after one very long day (and a day lost to the ether) we arrived in Sydney, Australia Sunday morning.