The day was finally here that I had been dreading. Thank goodness we were rushed so I didn't have to think about things.
Mom and dad took Bob to clean him up and de-sand him (and to pump up flat front tire) and told us they'd meet us at the airport. Tracey followed in her car. Johnny and Em stayed behind. Emilie was so funny - "Bye Ellis"
Ellis - "Bye Emilie"
They really have no concept. In fact, I don't think I really do either.
We got to the airport and Cyp unloaded all our bags while I stood guard (I don't think Maui is a crime capital, but you never know). Fortunately mom, dad and Tracey were there to help me lug stuff into the aiport while Cyp returned the car.
Our Hawaiianair agent didn't bat an eye as we pulled up with all our bags. I thought he was really good (until we were about to get on the plane and Cyp said "what about Rowan's car seat - we were supposed to keep it with us for the long flight"
Ah yes. We had purchased a seat for Rowan, but he couldn't sit in it without his seat. Why hadn't that darn agent reminded me? He also made me check Bob, saying I couldn't gate check it - I didn't quite understand but reluctantly agreed. You can say I was a bit annoyed when we go to the gate and there were other strollers there (and they were just as big as Bob).
After checking our multitude of stuff we headed off to security. Time to say goodbye. This was no fun to say the least. I tried not to break down completely as this would not help Ellis on this long travel day.
Bye grandma, grandpa and Tracey. Tracey was good and sent Ellis off with a some "I'm going to get you hugs" I hope he remembers how much fun his aunty Tracey is.
Our flight to Oahu was uneventful other than we tried to get our carseat off it only to find out it had gone on an earlier plane. Darn.
When we got off and walked into the Honolulu airport Ellis said
"where are the kangaroos?"
We slogged our way over to the International departure gate where Cyp left us to go try to find a Hawaiianair agent to fix our seats (we had a group of 3 and 1 lone seat). I told him to threaten to put Ellis in the 1 lone seat. That is why Cyp went - I tend to get confrontational. While he was gone, some Hawaiianair agents came and told me I would have to move as an International flight was coming in and they had to secure the area. They made everyone move outside. One Aussie asked me who I thought was on the plane? No one special - it's just the crazy way Americans run their airports now.
They finally let us back in and then told us we couldn't go back out (great - I had planned to pick up a few necessary items for the plane). Ellis started to rebel and I started to think "oh no - we haven't even gotten on the plane yet" which is when they started to load the plane.
Cyp had managed to get us different seats and we discovered we were in the bulkhead row immediately behind business class. They were great - I had 3 seats to myself in the middle and Cyp and Ellis sat across the aisle in a an aisle and window seat. Unfortunately, no carseat for Rowan so he had to sit on my lap but I eventually figured out that I could put him on the floor in front of me with his bag of toys. I would alternate him between my lap and the floor as he got bored and that seemed to work well.
We rented a DVD player for Ellis and playing with that kept him pretty much entertained for the 10 hour flight. I must say - the kids were amazing - it was painful, but they did not really cry or act up at all. One woman we later saw in the Sydney airport who had been sitting beside us told us that we had amazing children.
Towards the end of the flight, I strapped Rowan into his seat and put the tray down - pounding on that provided about another hour's worth of entertainment. I was wracking my brains for things to keep them busy. Cyp may have had the more challenging task with Ellis. Both kids didn't sleep much.
We finally made it to Sydney where we sat in our seats until they had sprayed bug be gone on all the carryon luggage in the overhead bins. It sort of created this filmy haze as it drifted down on our heads. We were told not to worry - it's been approved for use on humans by the World Health Org. Great. I wonder about the carryon that was under the seat in front of travelers - it didn't get bug be gone.
We were pretty much the first off the plane and the first through customs (yay). While we were waiting for our luggage on the carousel, a customs agent came up to me (she was a close talker) and said "where you coming from?"
"Hawaii" I said
"got any shells, jewelry made with those nut things, food..."
"Cheerios and baby crackers"
"What's a Cheerio?"
Oh no! Sue was right - they don't have Cheerios!
She was happy with my answers and told me to go through the express checkout - YAY!
After being grilled by her, a man and a dog came up to me. The man said - UP! and the dog immediately pounced on me and gave me a big sniff - I guess I passed as he and the dog then moved on. Cyp missed it, but he thought it was odd that they would get the dog to jump on me. Maybe I didn't understand his Australian accent and he was actually telling the dog to get down - but then, I figure if that was the case, surely the dog had jumped on me for a reason and wouldn't they search me?
Ellis had been jumping up and down himself saying that he wanted to pull luggage off the carousel "oh no, I said - it's too heavy"
Next thing we knew, Panther was going for a ride on the carousel. Cyp had pulled everything off at this point so we had to wait for Panther to make the roundtrip.
He did - Cyp pulled him off, only to have a very distraught Ellis who had wanted to pull him off. I guess that was why he put him on - so he'd have something to pull off. Fortunately, it didn't turn into a major breakdown and we managed to get out of there.
So - 6 bags, 2 cars seat, 5 carryon and Bob. Cyp loaded two carts, I loaded one and off we went trekking through the Sydney Airport. I had said we would get a Porter in Sydney (best $20 Gaby ever spent) but somehow we managed.
And let me tell you - it is a trek. People commented on our piles of stuff - so I had to tell them we were emigrating. This led to many questions - one was "how much does it cost to ship your stuff?"
We made it to the Qantas domestic counter (basically down the hall behind the bathroom - it was very odd how tucked out of the way it was), dropped off our stuff and went through security again. I can already tell people are more friendly here. The security woman made sure to get a tray for Panther and she guessed right away what he was. Ellis was very pleased. We then hopped on a bus and drove through the airport grounds. At first I was like "this guy is a crazy driver!" but then I remembered that they drive on the other side of the road. He did seem to be going pretty fast though - maybe he was worried a plane was going to land on us.
Cyp being Cyp said - "Do you want to go to the Qantas club? Free wireless" and me being me snapped "we only have 30 minutes to our flight" but as we walked by it, Cyp said "free juice" and I said ok.
We walked in and Cyp said - "you want to email" and I snapped "no" but then I did.
three apples, a pear and some juice later we headed back out. Of course we were 10 minutes early for our next flight.
Our last flight passed in a haze. We got good snacks - olives, feta and crackers and ginger beer. Ellis started watching the ABC's and I looked over at him to ask what drink he wanted which was about the same time the woman behind me said "watch his head" He had crashed and was about to get run over by the drink cart. I propped him the other way and he slept from that point on. Our flight passed quickly and then I had to try to get him off the plane. Rowan had crashed too and was now asleep in the baby backpack. I tried to pick Ellis up with all the carryon I was also carrying. No go - I tried to wake him up - he was a limp noodle on the floor. Finally, as we were the only ones left on the plane, a flight attendant asked me if she could help carry him (Cyp was across the aisle dealing with the other carryon). "YES PLEASE"
She carried Ellis off the plane and at that point we could rearrange and Cyp could take him. We had befriended another family who were on their way back from South Carolina. They had emigrated there for 5 years with their kids and were now on their return home - relocating back to Sydney, but visiting their family in Brisbane for a week. The husband kept offering to help, but you know me.....
I told Cyp to get the stroller first and we got 1 cart ($4 each!) and then Cyp went and got our luggage. Amazingly, we managed to get all our luggage to the maxi cab. I pushed the stroller and the cart and Cyp wheeled the 4 bags that had wheels. When we got to the cab, the driver was like "you have a lot of stuff"
We explained we were moving to Brisbane. "Oh, yes? Where are you from?" "Vancouver"
"Why are you moving to Bribane? Vancouver is much nicer."
Welcome to Brisbane.
We got to our place and unloaded. Colleen the landlady was super nice and helped us in.
We crashed and woke up at 4 am (8 am Hawaii time). A long day, but things went pretty well.
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