Advertisement
Published: April 25th 2010
Edit Blog Post
Footy
Getting into the mood whilst watching the footy at Fran´s place... We returned to Melbourne for a couple of days before our flight to Mexico for the last few weeks of our travels.
Our first stop was with Gran Fran for a few nights. We watched the first round of the Australian Rules Football (AFL) which had just started. Fran is an avid Brisbane Lions (formerly Fitzroy) supporter so we donned various team jumpers to support her team... only for the night though! Dan was frustrated to realised that his team, Hawthorn, was playing on the day we were departing in a rematch of the Grand Final from 2008 which was set to be a good game... we hoped for a flight delay (little did we realise...)!
Dan’s younger brother, Sam, was away for the Easter weekend so we were able to borrow his pride and joy, his Ford XR6 Turbo. We think Dan is the first person he has let drive his car so we felt honoured! Luckily there were no incidents but we did receive an email from Sam that he got a speeding fine while he was away... not sure how that happened!!
While in Melbourne we thought we would check out the local art scene. Cats
Birthday Cake
Birthday cake at Fran´s the Musical had just started showing in one of the Melbourne theatres so we purchased tickets and went along. Natalie had wanted to see it since she was about five after seeing a primary school production and never managed to see it in London. It was an amazing show, especially when the ‘cats’ came into the audience and interacted with people.
The time in Melbourne coincided with Dan’s 31st birthday meaning a few drinks were necessary. Unfortunately it also coincided with Easter, meaning a lack of people around to help celebrate. James and Tara stepped up to the plate and we enjoyed a great night out with dinner in Chinatown followed by a few drinks and some dancing in the city.
For our final night we again stayed with Dan’s aunt and uncle, Kay and Graeme, and enjoyed catching up with some of his other family over an Aussie BBQ and a few drinks. As always, their hospitality was excellent so we want to thank Kay, Graeme and Jo profusely.
The next morning we arrived at Melbourne Airport at 7am for our 10am departure to LA, we were to stay in LA for 5 hours before boarding
Cats
Buying tickets for the musical Cats our connecting flight to Mexico City. On checking in, we were advised that our plane had an issue with the windscreen on its previous flight and there was a delay of 2 hours while this was resolved. Thinking this would be insignificant, we checked in and proceeded to the lounge. Multiple delays followed after it was determined that windscreen would have to be replaced. Luckily we had lounge access with food, drink and WiFi to keep us entertained, and with the possibility that we would be able to watch the football (while drinking free beer), Dan wasn’t too fussed! However, at 2pm they finally confirmed that we would be departing at 1am the following morning!! The airline offered an airport hotel to retire to or taxi vouchers to return home. It was a no-brainer for Dan and we were first in the queue to get a taxi straight to the MCG in order to catch the big football game! After a great match we were unfortunately on the losing side but at least we managed to see a live game and with nearly 70,000 people in attendance, it was a good one at that.
We returned to Kay and
Graeme’s for one last meal before heading back to the airport for our flight. Luckily there were no further delays and we departed at 1am, 15 hours delayed, and having missed our connecting flight to Mexico City and another internal flight to Merida in the Yucatán Peninsula. Qantas had managed to rebook a connecting flight to Mexico City but we only had 20 minutes in LA before the flight Mexico City as in LA everyone has to collect luggage then re-check in despite an onward flight, plus security is huge and we spent a frustrating 20 minutes in the xray queue. Finally through to departures we blagged our way in to the lounge where in 20 minutes we managed to rebook our internal Mexico flight, eat free food, and have a Corona and large glass of red! We hope the missed flight will be covered by travel insurance (otherwise we will name and shame)!!
After leaving Melbourne at 1am on 16th, we arrived in Merida (our final destination) at 2pm on the 16th. The date line hides the fact that it was actually an epic 28 hour journey!! Let’s hope that is our last delayed flight.
Advertisement
Tot: 0.062s; Tpl: 0.013s; cc: 8; qc: 24; dbt: 0.0387s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.1mb
Lisa
non-member comment
Melbourne - the place to be!
Love the photos ... love the update! Hoping the last leg of your journey is as wonderful and adventurous as it has been! Take care xxxx