In the Land of Oz

We made it. Of course Katie's flight was delayed into LA so Brady waits patiently while Katie cuts into the required check-in time for international flights. It's 10:30 when Katie gets her bag for an 11:20 international departure. Waiting at the Qantas desk, Brady curiously asks why there's no line for the Brisbane flight. Politely, the woman responds--because everyone else checked in 2 hours ago. Ha. So our bags got a special delivery to the plane by a nice man Brady befriended; She called him CALOP...he laughed...then she realized it was an acronym for California something or other and not a nametag. Smooth. We then proceed to run what seemed like a mile to Gate 103 (so maybe it was) to catch boarding in time. Katie bought a $4 Gatorade (so much for being on a budget) because she was out of breath. Upon boarding the 8 seat deep, two story monster of a plane, we sat at the gate for an hour while the crew took their time preparing for take-off. 15 hours later we land in Cairns, our re-routed destination because Brisbane is experiencing heavy rain for the first time in months. BJ, Brady's better half, kindly picked us up from the airport...after of course, Katie got searched for her 6 months worth of prescription medication. (thanks, mom) The momentous occasion of the day came when Brady was reunited with her Kiwi delight, meat pies, and Katie tried her first. Divine indeed...won't be missing American food too much with these around. "It's like an amazing foreign cheeseburger" -Katie
Rick, Diet Coke...no Coke Light. crucial.
We're taking it easy today, enjoying the rain on their tin roof and the open windows and no humidity. planning a road trip for this weekend...cheers from down under