In transit

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Bernie came in from his White Night exploration at about 2.30am and crawled into bed to sleep for an hour before the alarm went off. I was only vaguely aware that he had arrived home!

Ugh, the alarm went off at 3.30am and I staggered out of bed and into the bathroom for a very quick shower. I cleaned my teeth again even though it was only about three hours since I last cleaned them!

A big THANK YOU to Kerry for driving us to Tullamarine Airport at the very unfriendly time of 4.00am! We arrived at the airport about 4.32am only to find that while check-in for our flight was open, the International Departures Lounge doesn't open until 5.30am. After checking our bags we had to wait near the check-in corrals for almost an hour before they opened the doors to the International Departures area.

At 5.30am the doors were opened and we finally felt like we were on our way! As per usual we were selected for the bomb sniff test as we waited to pass through security screening. Not just one of us, but both of us had the wand passed through our bags and over our bodies. Fortunately the test came up 'all clear' and we re-joined the security screening queue. Thank goodness we didn't set off any alarms as we went through the X-ray machines.

After short stops to change some Aussie dollars into Chilean pesos and claim back the tax on my new camera lens at the Tourist Refund Scheme counter we made our way to the Qantas Lounge for what was left of our pre-flight time. Of course we only spent about 25 minutes in the lounge before they announced that our flight to Auckland was boarding! Just enough time to scoff down a bit of fruit, a pancake and some juice.

After our very late night ... and early morning! ... we both slept through most of our smooth and uneventful flight to New Zealand. It was just as well we were awake on landing though, otherwise we would have been jolted awake by the rather heavy landing when the pilot smacked the plane down onto the Tarmac.

We followed the transit passenger signs from the gate and had ourselves and our bags screened again before being admitted to the International Departures area. As we passed a chemist we stopped in to buy a toothbrush and toothpaste and some 'Sea Legs' travel sickness tablets. I definitely needed a toothbrush as my teeth felt really furry and I couldn't imagine waiting until we reached Santiago before I cleaned them. Even though I already had ginger tablets and 'Kwells' packed I wanted to buy some 'Sea Legs' tablets because they had been highly recommended to me. I'm not actually even sure if I will need travel sickness tablets for the cruise component of our trip, but it seemed prudent to be prepared!!

Our election to fly directly from Melbourne to Auckland, rather than fly via Sydney, resulted in a four hour layover in Auckland as we waited for the LAN Air flight to arrive from Sydney. Still, better that than have to travel through Sydney airport where we would have had to muck around changing from the domestic to the international terminal. We filled in our time in the lounge starting on the travel blog and talking with our former neighbours (Robin and Sandra, now residing in Nelson, NZ) on Skype

Finally our gate number was entered on the departures screen and we made our way down to the gate to look for Meredith. We met Meredith and her daughter Alex on our trip to Turkey and Egypt where it was agreed that if/when we travelled to South America we should let her know because she might be interested in joining us. With Meredith watching out for us too we found each other in no time.

We then stood around waiting for our plane to actually commence boarding. They eventually had us start boarding about 40 minutes late and our anticipated departure time of 6.30pm blew out to about 7.15-ish. That was about when we pushed back from the airbridge, but we were still on the ground for a while before we were cleared for take-off.

Our flight across the southern Pacific Ocean was smooth and assisted by a tailwind. This meant that we were unaffected by the cyclone battering Fiji and we made up time in the air arriving in Santiago only a little behind schedule. After being misdirected by airport staff directly to the immigration queue for tourists we found our way back to the desk where we had to pay the 'Reciprocity Fee' levied on Australian tourists. Australia charges Chileans for a visa when they visit us so they return the favour by charging Aussies a fee when we visit Chile. Australians and Mexicans are the only nationalities that have to pay a fee to enter Chile!!

Back to the immigration counters where we were stamped into the country by an immigration clerk clearly not happy in her job. Beyond a very half-hearted 'hola' (hello) she managed the entire transaction without another word spoken.

And on ... to the baggage carousel where my bag appeared in no time at all. Then we waited and waited and waited for Meredith's bag and then waited some more - actually a lot more! - for Bernie's bag before it finally made an appearance. With all three bags in our possession we cleared customs and met the Bunnick's rep. He asked to wait with the other group members who had already come through ahead of us.

Then we had to wait some more because other group members had even more difficulty re-claiming their bags. It turned out that the problem was that some group members had their bags checked through to Guayaquil when they checked in in Australia ... but we don't fly to Guayaquil until tomorrow afternoon AFTER a night in Santiago!! Fortunately they (eventually) managed to track the bags down to a transit luggage area and retrieve them.

Ahhh, just a 20 minute minibus ride to our hotel saw us checked in and showering off the fugginess of our long haul flight from Melbourne to Santiago. Bliss!

We met Meredith downstairs at 6.00pm and walked around to Sky Costanera - the tallest tower in Latin America. We took the lift to 300 metres above sea level and then the escalator another two stories beyond that to look out over the coastal range to the west and the Andes to the east. Spectacular, despite the haze.

Back at the hotel we met up with the other group members for our complimentary drinks - Pisco Sours, Chile's national cocktail. Lydia suggested some word association to help remember each others names. I can't remember all the associated words, but I think I can remember all of the names: Christmas Carol, John, Lydia, Chow, Kim, Gail force, Gloria (G.L.O.R.I.A!), archangel Gabriel, Yin (yang), Cyclone Tracey, Meredith (which no-one could think of an associated word for) and - wait for it - (weekend at) Bernie's!!

The others stayed on to have dinner in the hotel restaurant, but the three of us decided to venture down the street to the Irish Pub ... as you do when you've just arrived in South America??! At least Bernie ordered the fajitas which was more authentic than my Irish Stew and Meredith's fish and chips!

With our energy flagging we decided it was time to retire. Considering it is already Monday according to our body clocks we've done pretty well. It seems like it has been Sunday for two days!

Steps for the day 10,771 (8.28km)

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Comments

[Graham]

Meredith
Quick question is Meredith's surname Wyles and does she come from Adelaide?

[Trabern]

It's a small world
Yes and yes!!