Australia

Sheila and Gnapp Take a Trip Down Under

Sheila has been exploring the land of Australia for a couple weeks now. She's been in the wild a lot - and isn't always near internet access. But she has been sending us updates when she can, and will continue to do so until she returns sometime in January. We'll keep those updates here - so keep checking back. Now onto her tales of discovery and adventure....

Dec. 12th
Up early again to finish packing and moving.
2pm time to shower and pack and leave the keys for the house boy etc. etc.
 2:30pm limo arrives to take us to the airport. Can you imagine my packing job? Really bad, but I'll live.
Miss the 3:30 flight to LA - so have to wait for the 6pm flight which I wanted to be on, but kept getting told it was fully booked.I could have had time to pack properly.
6pm flight doesn't take off until 7pm. We make it to LA for our 10pm flight which then doesn't take off until 11pm. Mechanical difficulties both times.
We make it to Melbourne for our 4 hour layover to get to Brisbane, then change planes for Mackay.

Finally we arrive in Mackay a day and a half after leaving Chicago, and I'm so exhilarated to be away. I so need to change my life somehow. This is totally awesome.


Dec. 12th to Dec. 14th (recap)
We depart Chicago and make it to Mackay, Queensland, Australia, a day and a half later, arriving on the 14th.
Getting there was an adventure in itself with several plane changes and layovers along the way. My favorite part of the journey to our first destination was on the final leg of our trip. We were seated in the small aircraft and the flight attendant made the following announcement, "Please do not fasten your seat belts until we finish refueling the plane". Okay, call me crazy, but that made me a little wary. I guess they wanted us to be able to run for the exit doors should there be a fuel leak or an explosion.
We arrived safely in Mackay, rented a car and headed out in search of accommodation. The Mackay city center is a whole 6 blocks, so we didn't have to look far. The Paradise Lodge was conveniently located and a double room was only $54AUS per night.
The woman at the front desk was so extremely helpful and friendly, so it seemed to be the right place to stay. She gave us books to read on what to do in the area and pointed us in the direction of the restaurants. It was so uplifting to be in a small town where the people were so content and willing to smile and help and welcome strangers in their town.
After freshening up, we walked around the town which took about 15 minutes, then headed to the Thai restaurant on the main road for dinner.
Gnapp's reaction to the town was, "This is funny". It was different to the city we had left a day and a half earlier.
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