I have arrived!



Paul and I, before leaving Perth

 After leaving Perth last Sunday morning, I flew to Melbourne for two days and stayed with my friends Em and Mitch. It was very kind of them to let to stay, however the Melbourne weather was less welcoming with freezing temperatures (compared to Perth). But I suppose that is typical of Melbourne weather. On Tuesday morning Em dropped me at Melbourne International airport, where I began my 14 and a half hour flight!! Never having been on a long haul flight before, I was expecting the worst...and it lived up to every bit of my expectations. I suppose it could have been worse, I was flying with Qantas, so all food and entertainment was provided, and I was sitting next to two girls in their twenties from Melbourne who were nice. So after sitting on a plane for nearly 15 hours we arrived at Los Angeles airport ( LAX), where I had a six hour lay over before my flight to Vancouver. I was tired and hungry and ate something from the very limited food options then tried to get some sleep on the floor of the departure lounge. Finally it was time to board my flight to Vancouver which at 2 hrs and 30 minutes was a very short flight compared to the one I had just been on. At 5pm Vancouver time yesterday I arrived in Vancouver after over 23 hours of travelling. Feeling exhausted, overwhelmed and relieved our family friend Siobhan picked me up and drove me to their house. After showering and eating some dinner, I tucked myself in for a good night's sleep. I was expecting to sleep for a while, but was surprised when I woke up 17 hrs later!! Woah! However I feel much better for it and am pretty much back to normal. I am currently sitting in our friend's backyard (which is beautiful, full of flowers, bees and birds) overlooking the golf course which is a couple of metres away. It is summer here, about 4pm and I am in t-shirt and shorts. It makes the horrendous 23 hrs of travel to get here worth it!!


The backyard of the house I am staying at.  Literally 2 metres to the right of this photo is the golf course.
Absolutely gorgeous!!