Almost a smooth take off...G'day from Australia

G'day mates...sorry for the slow update but just getting a chance to have access to the internet. One of the families live in the burbs so no easy internet access for a week but I survived with the occassional visits to the library. I have to say the library is still a very, very resourceful place to get all your info including wi-fi.

Its been one week since I took off from SFO and finally managing to kick the last sniffle and cough out of my system. It sucks being sick while traveling, on the bright side its better that it happened in beginning of the trip versus the end.

The start of my trip was an unfortunate blah...I was thrown a curve ball and got sick on the eve of my flight with a high 101.5F fever . It was a good thing the flight over was somewhat empty for me to monopolize an entire row to sleep it off. With enough drugs, I was knocked out for the next twelve hours of the flight. No bad considering the flight time was 14 + hours. On the downside (for me at least) it meant that I missed out on all the fine airplane cuisine with the exception of breakfast (stuff pancake with sausage, danish, and fruit salad). After my somewhat restful sleep, I peered out the window to catch the first glimpse of sunrise as we approach Sydney. Not a moment to lose, I grabbed my camera to captured the sunrise which btw never really equates to the real thing.

Munching through my breakfast, I am filled with excitement towards not only the RTW trip but to the meet my families in Australia for the first time. As I filled out the Australian immigration card, I was momentarily stumped because in all the excitment I forgot to take down my family's address and/or full contact information (critically important if I'm to stay with them). All I had was a nickname, a cell number, and lots of optimism that all will work out. Thank goodness, the immigration officer was extremely friendly and allowed me to pass as I informed her that my family would be waiting for me at the exit and they were with my name placard in hand which read "Tina Arousack" (they forgot a "n"). That's all for now folks, I have plenty more to update now that I've shaken the cold. Check back soon.