Our bags are packed, and we are ready to go, we are leaving on a jet plane and won’t be back until April.
At Tampa Airport Giddy had an opportunity to meet Phoebe – the giant pink flamingo. The 21-foot, floor-to-ceiling sculpture by Mark Mazzotta sits in the center of the main terminal. Now remember Giddy is only 8 inches tall.
We caught the early flight to Phoenix and then onto to LA to break up the trip. Our travelling to Sydney was going to be > 24 hours of continuous travelling. By staying in LA, this cut 5+ hours from our trip, and we could relax time since no time pressure.
We stayed at Marriot Airport in Tampa and LAX Airports. The club at Marriot LAX has been upgraded and nice which was comfortable for drink and snack Tuesday evening (12th).
We met our goal vs being wiped out tired with three flights and wait times between flights. We left Wednesday for our 16 hours flying into Sydney. Still tired when we arrived but functional. We skipped Thursday this week due to the international date line.
The time difference between home and Sydney is 16 hours.
In flying long distances, highly recommend buying Economy Plus seating vs standard seats in economy, which allows for some comfort. I watched 6 movies and slept for approx. 1 hour and had some naps.
Arriving at Sydney airport on Friday morning at 8:30am we were bused from tarmac to terminal. This was a little challenging being tired carrying bags and walking downstairs from plane to tarmac. Going through customs was a breeze, we went to a kiosk inserted our passport and answered a few questions to obtain a “ticket”. With that ticket we were able grab our 2 checked bags and exit through customs in less 30 minutes which probably 25 minutes was waiting on our bags. Important notes need to have the Australian electronic VISA prior to landing in Australia. This allows use of the kiosk and bypass the line for entry at customs.
I forgot to mention we did have with had a little issue with customs. Giddy forgot to update his English visa since it was still signed by the queen. Giddy is from West Putford, England. Giddy called his cousin and I was amazed how quickly he was able to get King Charles to provide an update to his visa. It was like a snap of his fingers.
We had prearranged a driver who was waiting as we exited customs and off to Marriot Sydney Harbor. By 1030 am, we were in our room and Giddy was enjoying the view and watching the water taxis.
After showers and relaxing a little, we are off for some food and drinks in the Emerald City.