(no subject)
Hi to all my sweeties, I'm here and I'm safe.
Sorry it's taken a while to get back to you, but the Internet service went out the day after I arrived, and of course reinstating it took 5 (BUSINESS) days... So now I am free to email and surf the Internet and do my radio show again...Yay!
The flights out here went much better than I had anticipated, at least as far as the boys were concerned. Colin was very happy and excited to be going on a plane, and we didn't have much of a wait to board at Pearson. The takeoff and flight was uneventful, the boys were pretty well behaved for me in spite of the somewhat cramped conditions: the flight to Vancouver was almost fully booked, so we had to stay in our seats the whole way.
We arrived late to Vancouver, due to a storm, and my 1.5-hour stopover there turned into about half an hour. Which was taken up almost completely by me trying to find the right place to go. At Pearson I was told that the baggage would be transferred automatically at Vancouver, that I would NOT have to go collect it and transfer to the next plane. Yeah, right!! Leg 2 of the flight actually had a stop in Honolulu, so therefore I would have to go through US Customs as well as Canadian and Aussie, so I had to collect my luggage, transfer it to US custody and find my next flight. All while dragging the kids thru a large, unfamiliar airport which was being remodeled. I had to backtrack 3 times to find the right place for US customs, and I think I would have missed my flight completely if I had not been given a lift by a very nice lady in one of the go-karts who took pity on my plight. Unfortunately all of the food places in the airport had closed (at 7pm on a Monday evening?? Whatever...) so the airport News stand was pretty much my only choice. $5 for a Diet Coke for me and a bottle of juice for the kids, run over to the gate and I've already missed the pre-boarding for kids and people needing help. No matter. We didn't miss the flight, and that's the main part.
Leg 2 on the way: Vancouver to Honolulu, mostly spent bored out of my head and trying to change diapers in the teeny-tiny one-person bathrooms on the plane, with me and 2 squirmy kids in there... We did meet a family of 5 traveling back to Sydney after a vacation in Quebec. Mom was an Aussie native, and Dad was originally from Canada, now working out of North Queensland. They had 3 kids with them, a girl and 2 boys. They took advantage of a less-crowded plane and spread out over 3 rows, taking up 9 seats, which at first annoyed me a bit because I was stuck in 2 seats with me and the 2 boys. After the 3 of us had slept a while though, I realized that I was probably in a better position where I was: with Colin in the window seat and me in the aisle with Riley perched on my lap or sitting between us, I had them blocked in. If I had moved to one of the 3-seat middle rows, the boys could have escaped out both sides. We didn't see much of Honolulu as it was dark and raining when we got there, but the plane we got off was the one we were to get back onto, so we only had to move 10 meters down the concourse to the waiting area until we re-boarded. Getting off the plane meant we had to go through another security screening, so naturally it took me a couple of minutes to find where I had stowed our passports and boarding passes. The kids were wide awake and getting antsy by the time we boarded a freshly-cleaned and sanitized airplane, and even though it was still raining the takeoff was uneventful.
Leg 3 on our journey from Honolulu to Sydney, and we were sitting next to the same family of 5, not surprisingly. Colin quickly decided that their toys were MUCH more fun than the ones I had packed for the trip, so after sleeping for a while he spent most of the last 3 or 4 hours playing with the older boy, who was close to his age. They had a laptop with some videos on it, and some of that weird sticky modeling foam stuff that is non-toxic and looks like beads of styrofoam. We were fed 3 times (surprise me!), and the flight attendants were VERY nice, always trying to give me extra meals or offering juice, fruit or stuff for the kids. I have upset myself with the realization that I left an almost brand-new pack of 60 Sugar-free Juicyfruit gum on that plane.... LOL. The weather in Sydney was overcast and rainy, and we were told that we might have to go into a holding pattern in case it was too bad, but we had made good time over the ocean so we still landed 15 minutes early. Through Aussie customs, then we collected the bags and headed off to one last security screening, had them x-rayed one final time and out the door to the crowds waiting to pick up their loved ones. I had a moment of worry when I didn't see Paul's face right away (due to the crowds of people), but then I saw him waving and his huge smile and everything was OK.
It just so happens that April 25th is ANZAC (Australia New Zealand Army Corps) day in Australia, which marks the day of Australia's largest losses in battle during the landing at Gallipoli. That day is marked to honour the memory of all the soldiers who have perished in the service of their country, and to celebrate there was a table set up in the train station giving out free coffee, tea, ANZAC cookies and bottled water, so we had snacks and drinks for the train ride into Wollongong. They actually gave Paul extra water and cookies, so we shared with a little girl on the train. The ride from Sydney to Wollongong is about an hour and a half, traveling through beautiful lush greenery, and even though it was a bit cold and overcast, it was still beautiful. I saw the ocean, smelled the green growing stuff all around and was amazed at how it all just seemed so familiar. We got off the train and walked about 7 or 8 minutes up the street to the Wollongong hospital, cut through the driveway and down the back stairs, across the street and into our home for the next 7 weeks.
We have a ton of fun things planned, and I'll eventually get around to posting what we've already done, but noit's getting late and we need to go food shopping tomorrow, so for now I'll just say:
TO BE CONTINUED......
Sorry it's taken a while to get back to you, but the Internet service went out the day after I arrived, and of course reinstating it took 5 (BUSINESS) days... So now I am free to email and surf the Internet and do my radio show again...Yay!
The flights out here went much better than I had anticipated, at least as far as the boys were concerned. Colin was very happy and excited to be going on a plane, and we didn't have much of a wait to board at Pearson. The takeoff and flight was uneventful, the boys were pretty well behaved for me in spite of the somewhat cramped conditions: the flight to Vancouver was almost fully booked, so we had to stay in our seats the whole way.
We arrived late to Vancouver, due to a storm, and my 1.5-hour stopover there turned into about half an hour. Which was taken up almost completely by me trying to find the right place to go. At Pearson I was told that the baggage would be transferred automatically at Vancouver, that I would NOT have to go collect it and transfer to the next plane. Yeah, right!! Leg 2 of the flight actually had a stop in Honolulu, so therefore I would have to go through US Customs as well as Canadian and Aussie, so I had to collect my luggage, transfer it to US custody and find my next flight. All while dragging the kids thru a large, unfamiliar airport which was being remodeled. I had to backtrack 3 times to find the right place for US customs, and I think I would have missed my flight completely if I had not been given a lift by a very nice lady in one of the go-karts who took pity on my plight. Unfortunately all of the food places in the airport had closed (at 7pm on a Monday evening?? Whatever...) so the airport News stand was pretty much my only choice. $5 for a Diet Coke for me and a bottle of juice for the kids, run over to the gate and I've already missed the pre-boarding for kids and people needing help. No matter. We didn't miss the flight, and that's the main part.
Leg 2 on the way: Vancouver to Honolulu, mostly spent bored out of my head and trying to change diapers in the teeny-tiny one-person bathrooms on the plane, with me and 2 squirmy kids in there... We did meet a family of 5 traveling back to Sydney after a vacation in Quebec. Mom was an Aussie native, and Dad was originally from Canada, now working out of North Queensland. They had 3 kids with them, a girl and 2 boys. They took advantage of a less-crowded plane and spread out over 3 rows, taking up 9 seats, which at first annoyed me a bit because I was stuck in 2 seats with me and the 2 boys. After the 3 of us had slept a while though, I realized that I was probably in a better position where I was: with Colin in the window seat and me in the aisle with Riley perched on my lap or sitting between us, I had them blocked in. If I had moved to one of the 3-seat middle rows, the boys could have escaped out both sides. We didn't see much of Honolulu as it was dark and raining when we got there, but the plane we got off was the one we were to get back onto, so we only had to move 10 meters down the concourse to the waiting area until we re-boarded. Getting off the plane meant we had to go through another security screening, so naturally it took me a couple of minutes to find where I had stowed our passports and boarding passes. The kids were wide awake and getting antsy by the time we boarded a freshly-cleaned and sanitized airplane, and even though it was still raining the takeoff was uneventful.
Leg 3 on our journey from Honolulu to Sydney, and we were sitting next to the same family of 5, not surprisingly. Colin quickly decided that their toys were MUCH more fun than the ones I had packed for the trip, so after sleeping for a while he spent most of the last 3 or 4 hours playing with the older boy, who was close to his age. They had a laptop with some videos on it, and some of that weird sticky modeling foam stuff that is non-toxic and looks like beads of styrofoam. We were fed 3 times (surprise me!), and the flight attendants were VERY nice, always trying to give me extra meals or offering juice, fruit or stuff for the kids. I have upset myself with the realization that I left an almost brand-new pack of 60 Sugar-free Juicyfruit gum on that plane.... LOL. The weather in Sydney was overcast and rainy, and we were told that we might have to go into a holding pattern in case it was too bad, but we had made good time over the ocean so we still landed 15 minutes early. Through Aussie customs, then we collected the bags and headed off to one last security screening, had them x-rayed one final time and out the door to the crowds waiting to pick up their loved ones. I had a moment of worry when I didn't see Paul's face right away (due to the crowds of people), but then I saw him waving and his huge smile and everything was OK.
It just so happens that April 25th is ANZAC (Australia New Zealand Army Corps) day in Australia, which marks the day of Australia's largest losses in battle during the landing at Gallipoli. That day is marked to honour the memory of all the soldiers who have perished in the service of their country, and to celebrate there was a table set up in the train station giving out free coffee, tea, ANZAC cookies and bottled water, so we had snacks and drinks for the train ride into Wollongong. They actually gave Paul extra water and cookies, so we shared with a little girl on the train. The ride from Sydney to Wollongong is about an hour and a half, traveling through beautiful lush greenery, and even though it was a bit cold and overcast, it was still beautiful. I saw the ocean, smelled the green growing stuff all around and was amazed at how it all just seemed so familiar. We got off the train and walked about 7 or 8 minutes up the street to the Wollongong hospital, cut through the driveway and down the back stairs, across the street and into our home for the next 7 weeks.
We have a ton of fun things planned, and I'll eventually get around to posting what we've already done, but noit's getting late and we need to go food shopping tomorrow, so for now I'll just say:
TO BE CONTINUED......