Our trip to Australia began on January 1st.  We caught a Delta flight from Dallas, Texas to LA around 5pm on Sunday evening. We had a stop over in Salt Lake City, Utah, so we ended up getting to LA around 10:30pm.  Once in LA, we had to transfer to the International terminal and catch a Qantus flight that would depart around 11:45 pm.  LA is two hours earlier than Dallas, so 11:45pm LA time felt like 1:45 am Dallas time.  And to make things even more confusing, Brisbane, Australia was 14 hours ahead of that.  So 11:45pm on Sunday night in LA was really 3:45pm the next day in Australia.  It's all too confusing to think about.  We had one watch for US time and a second for Australia time.  Two days earlier we started living like we were on Australia time so our body clocks would be adjusted as soon as we arrived in Australia.  That worked out great.  As we stood in the terminal in LA with about 500 other passengers about to board a 747 to Australia, we were one of the few passengers that weren't about to pass out.

Michele had planned this trip out for about 6 months, putting funds aside and making sure we had enough frequent flyer miles to upgrade to 1st class along the way.  Qantus 1st class was nothing short of spectacular.  Seats that reclined fully into a bed, and a flight attendant for every 4 passengers.  Coach class was packed like sardines, while we were only 2 of 6 total people upstairs in 1st class.  I slept like a baby, which is rare for me.  After 14 hours in the air, we arrived in Brisbane (pronounced brizbin) at around 8am Tuesday morning Australia time.  So we left on a Sunday and arrived in Australia on a Tuesday morning.  Go figure that one out. 

Our trip to Australia will last 3 weeks and will cover several stops in Australia and New Zealand.  Our plan is to arrive in Brisbane and stay with Gizzy and John Price for a few days, then head to Heron Island to catch a glimpse at the sea turtles and birds that migrate there each year to lay eggs.  It's on the Great Barrier Reef and one of the world's most spectacular places to scuba dive and snorkel.  From there we head to Sydney for 4 days of sightseeing, then we'll head to Adelaide to visit Bart & Jack, owners of FootingFever.com.  After 4 days in Adelaide, we'll fly to Melbourne for a quick stopover in the airport and then catch a flight to New Zealand.  We'll stay a week in New Zealand visiting Fred Groen and his family at their home and private ski lake.  Then it's back to the USA.  We'll do our best to share our experiences with you: