On my way

May 28

The first part of my return to the northern hemisphere worked out mostly fine…minus the few little mishaps along the way. I had a nice few hours walking around Auckland before getting the bus out to the airport. The bus driver was a little crotchety but we got to the airport fine and safely. I went to check in which seemed to be a problem because I needed to give the check in guy an address in the US where I’d be staying. He needed to have an address in order to print out a boarding pass. Of course, I didn’t have an address. Though I was staying overnight in LA I was going to do the arrive-at-the-airport-and-find –a-hotel-near-by thing. But that wasn’t going to work here this time. So I had to go to the Qantas ticket counter desk and there as much discussion and research round my problem. In the end, they just looked for a hotel near the airport for me on the web and gave me the address. Told me I need to be sure to actually stay there because apparently sometimes the US government checks!!

Finally got myself checked in and went off to pay my departure tax and realized then that my camera was gone.  I’m pretty sure I left it on the bus. And I actually found the bus again. He’d gone on break after dropping us off and was just now going to pick up passengers again. But alas, the camera wasn’t there. I’m a little suspicious about that. I left the bus company my name and contact info and I also went to the airport’s lost and found and did the same but alas, I know that the likelihood of someone actually turning it in is extremely slim. I’m so sad. At least I had all of my pictures backed up.

The flight to LA itself went well. It was long and I didn’t get to sleep much but I had an empty seat beside me and I was sitting at the aisle so it was pretty good comfort-wise. Qantas is good for movies. Everyone has their own individual selection of movies with their own little screen. The guy sitting on the other side of the empty seat is an oceanographer and was in NZ and AUS looking for a placement to do his PhD. We didn’t talk much though.

By the time I got to LA I was very tired. I’d left Wed evening and arrived Wed morning. That was strange. And I was glad that I knew where I’d be staying. It took a while to get through customs. LA airport is under construction and it seemed terribly unwelcoming. I found the hotel shuttle and in no time I was at the Holiday Inn. It was overpriced and not as nice as the façade seemed to suggest but it was a place to stay. And though the walls didn’t all meet up with each other, at least the building didn’t fall down. I went for a walk in the neighbourhood but there really wasn’t anywhere to go. There were no grocery stores in walking distance! The US is not a place for walking. McDonald’s was in walking distance and the parking lot was packed and the next morning the line up for the drive-through was incredibly long. It was terrible, definitely a turn-off. I had dinner at the Westin hotel, it was much nicer. And went to bed early and had a great sleep.

It was good that I had that layover in LA. It allowed me to get over my initial “depression” (for lack of a better word) about being back. You know, that whole withdrawal thing you get when you’ve been away and then suddenly you’re not anymore. And I do realize that technically I am still away. But still, it was good that I had the layover. I’m fine now.