The journey begins (part 2)

LAX was a zoo and it would take about 3 paragraphs to explain that but I'm sure the folks reading this don't really want to read anything about LAX airport and it's negative aspects.   I had an 8 hour layover so I found a TV and had dinner as I watched Boston beat St. Louis in Game 5 of the World Series.  I moseyed up to the gate about 2 hours early and found several people chatting and one of them had a red USAP ball cap on.  I figured these folks were 'Polies' and going the same place as I was so I introduced myself.  My new friends were Greg, Mick, Cheryl and Ian.

We began our 14 hour flight to Sydney about 7,500 miles on Qantas Airlines.  It was the first time that I had flown on a Boeing 747.  Basically they fed us a big meal and put us to bed.  The meals were prepared and served like airlines did in the late 1900's where the tray had little containers for each food and the wine glasses were, well, glass.  After we were all snug in our chairs with pillows and blankets, the lights were turned out and we slept.  Near the end of the flight, they again fed us again (breakfast) and after another hour or so we landed in Sydney at about 9:30 in the morning.  We left LAX on the 28th and landed in Australia on the 30th, skipping a day by flying over the international dateline.

We didn't have to go thru customs because we officially weren't entering Australia and stayed in the international area of the airport but I must say that I had added another continent to the list of ones that I had been in.  Technically, I had my feet on the ground there.  As we walked towards the next gate we met more and more people who were headed for 'The Ice'.  We boarded our Emirates Airline flight for the last leg of our trip to New Zealand.  it was a Boeing 777-300 and the stewardess said they had just moved it over here from Dubai.  Most of us 'going to the ice' folks had seats in the business class for some reason.  Our seats levitated out like Lazy Boys but electrically. the entertainment consoles were huge with so much room around them and the seats. We couldn't believe our luck.  We acted like a bunch of kids in a toy store, moving the seats, back and forth, up and down, figuring out how the remotes worked, switching back and forth between the cameras looking outside of the airplane and the entertainment channels, etc.  When it was time for the meal, we pulled out these big tables from their slots and the stewardess put linen tablecloths on them and produced fancy menus just like an upscale restaurant.  With our menu they produced a wine list.  I order the Stir-fried chicken with cashews and a glass of Sarget de Gruaud Larose 2001-  they really did serve a 13 year old wine and for desert I had Indulgent dark chocolate dome with a delicately flavored lavender vanilla cream sauce. The food came on real dishes with real silverware.  This was all free.  Not once did they ask for my credit card.  Unbelievable for an airlines - so this is how the people of Dubai live.  Eat your heart out, Alaska Airlines.They also ran their duty free store right on the airplane.  Needing a watch before I got 'on the ice' I purchased a Sturmanskie at a very reasonable price. 

Soon we were flying along the coast of New Zealand.  I have always heard how beautiful it is and it really is.  It looks a lot like Alaska to me but warmer.  Most of us were put up at the Elms Hotel in Christchurch.  I went to bed early being tired from all of the traveling.  Day by day I was getting closer 'to the ice'.