The travel was long but so worth it! Virgin Australia airline is pretty sweet and the plane was awesome. Every seat had a touch screen on the back with movies to watch and the leg room was spacious enough. We got served breakfast and dinner and adult beverages during dinner but I was so tired I fell asleep after only drinking half of a Victoria Bitter. Thank goodness they gave us earplugs because there was a screaming (and I'm not just talking a newborn wail of a scream, I'm talking blood curdling SCREAM) child about 2 rows ahead of us. That child did NOT want to be on that 15 hour flight!
We arrived around 6:00 am and made it through customs pretty quickly. We got quizzed quite a bit by the guy in customs when he saw we would be there for 4 months and wanted to know how we plan to support ourselves without illegally working. I think he was trying to catch us but Jeff offered to show him our binder of organized goodness and reservations and after flipping through the whole thing he told us we are the most organized backpackers he's ever seen! He did poke fun at me for bringing a bag of rice with me and "not supporting the local economy", haha. I figure if we will be eating it here a lot and I had some at home why not bring it? I guess I'm weird.
Hung out at central station and got a "mother" (energy drink the boys loved last time apparently). We got our train passes taken care of and confirmed and got a calling card to touch base with family. The Akhursts met us at the train station in Wollongong and took us back to their gorgeous house.
Seriously, it's kind of unreal.
They have a great view of Mount Kira and a big backyard with a built in BBQ, a pool and a big spotted gum tree.
Got to Skype briefly with my parents and Nance said "good day mate" which was pretty funny. She told me later to make sure they know she doesn't really say that ;)
I'm still just so overwhelmed with happiness being here and Nance and Hed are the most wonderful people. They made us delicious ham sandwiches for lunch and a BBQ with Toohey's beer for dinner.
We will be here for a few more days before heading north and I'm excited and feeling more energized and rested.
Cheers!
