Going Home

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Geo: 35.0841, -106.649

We had a car and driver reserved for the trip from the InterContinental to the airport in Sydney. I am glad that we did. When we went downstairs to leave, there was a long line to check out and lots of people in the lobby either waiting for transportation or waiting for their rooms. Another cruise ship had arrived and some of its passengers were ready to check into the hotel.

I had filled out the card for self-checkout, which I was glad about. Just dropped the card in the slot and sat to wait for our car. Paula Kay booked the ride for us, and the concierge there reconfirmed it for us at check in asking to move the time up by thirty minutes. After seeing traffic in Sydney, I wanted to leave the hotel a bit earlier than planned for the drive to the airport. The driver and ride were fine, and we got to the airport in plenty of time to check in and have lunch before the 1:30 p.m. flight to San Francisco.

For this flight, I again booked us in the two outside seats of a middle section row. We did luck out this time, and no one sat between us. There were a few other empty middle seats, but not too many. The pilot's wife was sitting in one of them two rows up from us. The pilot came back to check on her before the flight took off, and a couple of the flight attendants made a fuss over her, too. During the flight, the seat belt sign went on and off fairly frequently. Fortunately, it did not stay on for long periods of time. Twice during the flight, the pilot asked the flight attendants to take their jump seats expecting rough air, but that turned out to be mostly nothing, too. The 13.5 hour flight arrived on time.

When we were getting off the plane, I left from the right side of the aisle and Philip left from the left side. That put us leaving the plane through different doors. They directed the folks on my side out through the first class cabin and the front door, but Philip left through the second door near the front of coach. When I got near the end of the jetway, I could see four or five security people checking passports of everyone deplaning, but I didn't see Philip. I had his passport with me so I waited back until he caught up with me. I don't know why they had that extra level of security as we deplaned.

The Global Entry line was the longest that I have ever seen, and I think it was longer than the regular entry line. It moved fairly quickly, but it took longer than I expected it to take. They need to add more kiosks for Global Entry. We found our luggage, sailed through customs, then dropped off the luggage again for the final flight.

The second flight from San Francisco to Albuquerque was late leaving by about an hour and a half. It was rainy and dreary outside, but no explanation for the delay was offered except to say that the aircraft was late arriving from its previous airport. We spent most of the time in the United President's Club which had adequate room and okay snacks. When the last flight took off in the rain, I thought we might be in for a rough ride, but it turned out to be just fine. The seat belt sign stayed on most of that flight. We were glad to get home finally; all the luggage made it with us.

This was a great trip. We planned it at almost the last minute booking the cruise only five weeks before departure. The price was what sold us on this one. I want to do more of this type of last-minute trip when the prices are very low.

I am sure that Philip would say that seeing Hobbiton was his favorite part of the trip. I am having difficulty choosing between several things:
Great service on the cruise
Glowworms
Sommelier at Bocanariz
Wonderful upgraded suite on the cruise
Petting a panda
Seeing the moai on Easter Island
Making the goal of ten thousand steps every day except the two days when I was sick
Twenty-five hour days over and over again
Seeing La Bohème
Setting foot on our sixth continent to visit

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Photos

Royal Caribbean Ship in Sydney Harbour
Last view out the hotel window showed us that another cruise ship had arrived.