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With all our luggage
in tow, there was nowhere we could go other than
the airport, so despite having almost six hours before our flight was
due to leave, that's where we went. We thought we would check in our
baggage and then wander around, maybe do some last minute souvenir
shopping, then have a bite to eat. Great idea, except........
LAX
airport is undergoing some kind of a facelift. We checked in,
went through security, and then... NOTHING !!! A row of empty
gate lounges confronted us, with barely even a human being in
sight, much less a shop of any kind ! We realised that we were
still on the ground level, but all those places are up on the first
floor.
All we could do was go to the first class lounge... which, I might
add, was the temporary first class lounge, accessed by shuttle
bus, via the runways... complete with signs which read...
"Give Way to Aircraft". Yikes !!!!
There was nothing to do there, other than eat, (not a great selection)
drink, (not much there either) and try to keep warm. It was about
30C (86F) outside, but the air conditioning must have been set to
freezing ! We were so cold that we had to put on the winter woollies
we'd kept in our carry-on luggage.
We'd been informed that boarding would commence at 10.40pm.
Seemed early for an 11.40 flight, but then, we did need to go
back on the bus to the gate lounge (across that runway again !)
and then on another bus out to the plane.
10.40 came, and sure enough, we were called. Back at the gate
lounge, expecting the bus would arrive any second to take us
to the plane, an announcement was made... sorry folks, there's
going to be a slight delay............
It was about 1am before we were finally buckled into our seats
for the 14 hour flight home. I don't remember how many movies
I watched this time, but I do know I didn't sleep ! In fact, it was
to be 48 hours between sleeps for me by the time my head next
hit a pillow !
It's now Sunday morning, 1st July 2007 (we lost Saturday
somewhere mid-Pacific) and we're approaching Melbourne...
I've tried so many times before to capture
that full circle
rainbow on top of the cloud bank !
The shadow of the plane is really distinct in this one...
Yeah, I know... it's just a wing !
Melbourne !!!! It
felt so good to be almost home at last.
The
red and yellow structures down there are the Melbourne
Gateway.
Here
you can see the West
Gate Bridge, of which a section collapsed
during construction in October 1970, killing 35 construction workers.
Wow... what an
adventure !!
OK... where shall we go next year.... ??!!!
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