Many Things Happen in a 72 hour Day

Chapter 1

Well, after having a slight emotional collapse under the stress of packing and preparing for take-off we made it to the airport. With the help of my lovely parents the start to the journey was smooth. While we were ready for a tumultuous traveling experience we were very happily surprised when everyone was charming and pleasant.
Checking in at the airport, we were helped (and surprised) by a lovely young lady. Then, the security men who checked our bags were not only pleasant but also jolly! One of them asked if the wine in Mark’s box was pinot, which some of it was, to which he replied “Good, that’s my favourite” and “we’re not checking any merlot today”. Humor at the airport?
We proceeded to get onto our Horizon airline flight to San Francisco, which we thought would be like any other shuttle flight, and we were astonished once again! Not only were the staff polite but they too seemed to have caught the nice smiley bug! We were happily attended to, served generous amounts of complimentary wine (which never happens in America) and it was good, and the flight was astonishingly smooth and quick! We are very impressed Horizon! Thank you!
Flying into San Francisco, which was sunny, we eagerly looked out our window. There she was, bustling and beautiful (and yes I did refer to the island of Alcatraz as “cute”). After an eight-hour layover in San Francisco, we finally boarded our Quantas flight to Sydney. While our lag time was filled with multiple games of Skip-Bo, Star Trek, and food and beverage, it was nice to be on our way. By the time that the flight took off, I was on my way to dreamland. Unfortunately, Mark did not get to share in my eight-hour snooze, but nonetheless the flight was quiet and not crowded (although it was 14 hours).
We arrived in Sydney on Monday morning. After the record short time through immigration, we were picked up by the lovely Mr. Mathew Wood and beautiful little Amelie. A nice shower, walk to the fish markets and lunch with the additional pleasant company of Mr. Morgan, rejuvenated us. Then, back on the plane to the beautiful Port Macquarie.