FROM CINCY TO SYDNEY

I am finally here. Its crazy to go straight from winter to summary literally overnight. I had quite the experience getting into Sydney.

My first flight was the most important flight of the day. Chicago was experiencing delays because of snow. The flight before mine from Cincinnati to Chicago was cancelled. Upon me checking in they assured everything was on time and should be fine. However, as it drew nearer to time to depart I got more worried. Sure enough there ended up being a delay of twenty minutes. Then upon boarding the plane they said there was going to be another 10 minute delay. A half hour delay may not sound like much but to me it was huge. My flight departing Chicago to San Francisco was scheduled for 6:45 their time. So I ended up landing at 6:15 and had to run to my flight as it was already boarding. Luckily I made it in time, only to have another scare on my next flight.

This was the warm up flight for Sydney. It was a much bigger plane than my tiny plane to Chicago. The flight was due to land at 9:30 San Francisco time. This would give me an hour and a half to get to my next gate for my flight to Sydney, which departed at 11. Upon boarding the plane we were notified that we would be on a delay as we needed a part for the plane. This part was a simple get the part and plug it in process. However, the timeliness of getting the part was not good. This was another 30 to 40 minute delay. Good news for me was we made up the time in the air and there was an open seat between me and the guy next to me. This provided me with plenty of room. Combine that with a showing of Social Network and it was a good flight!

Since I had never traveled internationally I was unsure of how things worked which meant that the little time I had needed to be used wisely. Upon arriving I was lost as to how to get to the international terminal. I was so confused because I did not find Qantas on the list. After going back and forth and calling my dad three times I ended up asking a security guy where I needed to go. He led me in the right direction thankfully. After this I had to go pickup my boarding pass and go back through security for the international flight. I made it to my gate just as they called my seat number for boarding. So both connections I literally walked right onto the plane without sitting outside in the waiting area.

The one thing I was dreading about this journey was the 14 hour flight overnight. It was not as bad as I thought it would be. I boarded the flight and sat on there for an hour and fifteen minutes before we even took off. We needed a part for the engine which kind of scared a lot of people. Once we got on our way I managed to only get a couple hours of sleep but was running off pure energy and excitement for the first day. Qantas was an awesome airline. They had a very friendly staff and the tvs they have in each headrest are awesome. I watched 4 movies on the flight which carried me through that long night.

As I was landing at 8:50 am in Sydney I saw the harbour bridge and Sydney Opera House from the plane. It was one of the most amazing views I have ever seen in my life. After landing I had to go through customs and that all went relatively smoothly. After making my way through there I took a cab to my apartment which was the official start of my three month journey you are joining me on. Stayed tuned for updates about the first few days.

Cheers!