the Bird of Paradise in LA

The First Step

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October 28th 2006
We've taken the first step, yes, we've actually left Longview. Today we flew from PDX to LAX and we're spending the night at the Double Tree LAX. We just had a lovely dinner at the restaurant here and are looking forward to a good night's sleep. Tomorrow we depart LAX on Quantas airlines at 8:30 pm for Aukland NZ and arrive on Tuesday morning!! It's a 12.5 hour flight but actually 21 hours of t ... read more

Oceania » Australia

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Aboriginal settlers arrived on the continent from Southeast Asia about 40,000 years before the first Europeans began exploration in the 17th century. No formal territorial claims were made until 1770, when Capt. James COOK took possession in the name... ... read more