It all started with our drive to the airport. Todd had arranged for a town car to transfer us to the Phoenix airport – because of the economic advantage (much less expensive than gas and leaving one of our cars at the airport at 20 something crazy dollars per day). But, of course, there is no denying that the arrangement was just cool – I mean, who doesn’t want to feel like celebrities at the start of their honeymoon (or anytime really) – all we needed to really top it off were some paparazzi blinding us with flashes as we pushed our way to the car!
Although the driver was a bit later than scheduled due to the ongoing construction of nothing along the highway, he really was great when he arrived. He put our very heavy and very many suitcases, bags and hard cases in the trunk (probably wondering if we were skipping town for a crime) and we piled in the backseat with our sunglasses on – looking cool!
Off we go but not before our driver places a cooler on the center console that has waters and the prearranged Dos Equixs Amber that Todd arranged. What a great start of our trip! Of course, I delayed only half a second (mostly so I wouldn’t look like a lush) before I pulled out the first (yes first) ice cold beer. Our attentive driver wasted no time to reach back the bottle opener! Now this is riding in style!
Our driver was great! What was his name? I will have to ask Todd. We all started talking about video games and our kids. He has a 4 year old and 6 year old daughter so we talked about all of the kids shows that we have watched, our favorites, the movies that the kids watch a million times (usually in one sitting) and the shows that have those irritating songs that stick in your head for days (he still has to endure the Wiggles – ugh).
As for video games, we found another rocker like us. We were comparing notes between Guitar Hero for Wii and the new Rock Band 2 for Wii – not to mention Guitar Hero World Tour which sounds pretty cool. Anyway, this conversation led to driver talking about these online video games that he plays. It was too funny! Very hard to put it in an entry because you almost had to be there. But trust me, it was so funny.
When we got to the airport, our check in process went smoothly. Todd was really concerned about the weight of our bags. I am not kidding when I say that we packed heavy. He had been worried about it the entire day. And, just like fate would have it, there was a scale right inside the door of the airport! We weighed and we were good!! Barely but it would work! Just under 50 lbs on all four bags (we also had 2 carry on backpacks).
As I said, check in went well. The security line was almost nonexistent (but still had your rookie travelers in front of us) but we did encounter a security checkpoint fella that wanted to add a little humor into our day. He was pretty cheesy but I gave him a courtesy laugh and we moved on. Hey, at least he doesn’t hate his job and the rest of the world!
Since the whole process went so smooth so fast, we were able to go to a little bar/lounge to have some beer as well as chips and salsa. Can you believe that the lounge was immediately across from our gate?
That flight to San Francisco was a little uneventful – I guess that’s because it was short and was a long time ago in my brain. But uneventful usually equates to good!
When we got to San Fran, we had to claim our bags and check in with Qantas. Once we found the Qantas gate, we were first class all the way BABY!! We checked in and showed our passports. They lugged our heavy baggage onto the conveyor belt and invited us to enjoy the first class lounge.
So off we went, heads held high, to the first class lounge. It was beautiful and contemporary but, best of all, the Steelers Monday Night Football game was on the flat screen plasma in the same room as the open bar and leather loungers. Hmm, I could get used to this. And I did quickly! A couple of beers as well as cheese and crackers later, I had my feet up on the ottoman and remote in hand! Not to mention the Steelers took it home! This is the life!
While sitting there, we saw our plane rolling into position. How does that huge multi-ton, multilevel bird really get into – and stay into – the sky? Well, I suppose it will and I am banking on it.
After lounging another hour, we were told by the lady in the lounge that they are now boarding the flight. We had our own walkway to go through to board the plane. I mean, you really think we are going to mingle with the commoners?
Our walkway took us right into the first class cabin. Immediately we were welcomed and chauffered to our first class seats. The configuration was one on each outside and two in the center. There were a total of 14 seats in all. We were positioned in the nose of the plane on the first level – right under the flight deck. Todd even wondered at one point, if he knocked “a shave and a haircut” on the ceiling, if they would tap back. We didn’t try.
We were in the back two seats closest to the restrooms (Dad would appreciate that) as well as where the meals come out! There was so much room in that cabin, it was crazy. And the seats maneuver to any angle for individual comfort (even has a lumbar support) and it does lay down to a bed. There are two pillows in your seat to do as you’d like, a large soft blanket (not the little toilet paper square ones you get in the commoner class), and a flat screen TV that you can pull out when needed.
Colleen, our first class attendant, came around and introduced herself to us (there was only one other person in first class!). She is based out of Sydney but lives in Bisbayne, My first taste of Australian accent! She brought us our pajamas for the trip which also included slippers, socks with grippies, a comb, a toothbrush and toothpaste. She also gave us each an amenity kit. Mine had creams and lotions to make me look younger, mineral water spritzer, a mirror, a comb, ear plugs and other things. Todd’s had shaving supplies and some other manly things.
She took our drink orders – which was water at that point and handed us menus for dinner. I ordered the pea soup and potato, feta and rosemary piazza and Todd ordered a salad and French onion soup. Because Colleen knew that this was our honeymoon (we had asked her to take one of those cheesy tourist pics of us when we got on the plane), she asked us if we would like some champagne. We both declined but I decided to try their “dark” rum that was listed on the menu with some diet coke. Going to another country, I felt that I better get used to the fare ahead.
So we settled in, chose our individual movies on our individual screens and decided to change into our provided jimmies. Other than looking like convicts (they were army green from head to toe), they were quite comfortable and a welcome change from our clothes. Because first class was pretty empty, the flight attendants made us beds in the seats in front of us so we could sit in our seats while we were up and then transfer to our beds when we were ready. There was a down mattress thing and a down comforter type thing as well as a sheet.
The lighting in the cabin was very cool. It started as any other lighting in a plane. However, as the evening progressed, the edge under the lockers (overhead bins – the Australians call them lockers) gradually changed to a purple color. Then, as the evening progressed, the lighting above the lockers turned a nice blue color. It was perfect for a good night’s sleep – and for clubbing in first class if the music was right!
The food was awesome and the rum was sweet but good. We headed to bed at…well, I think at that point I was losing track of where I was, but it was like 2:30 AM Tucson time I think. Other than the one time the turbulence almost knocked me out of bed (you still wear a seatbelt, just looser so that you can sleep), I slept fairly well. When I got up, I actually felt refreshed and ready for the day.
We had breakfast – scrambled eggs, roasted tomatoes and toast (Todd had bacon too). Todd and I actually tried Vegemite which is a yeast type spread that many Australians love. I wasn’t a big fan – too salty. But Todd was ok with it. I doubt that either of us will be ordering that while here…there was a fantastic energy smoothie that we had that was very tasty. Some sort of peach/honey smoothie. It was so delicious.
Colleen kept trying to push champagne on us the entire trip. We continuously refused. She asked us if we liked champagne and we both said no. She asked if we liked wine. I looked at Todd and he nodded yes. She went back to the service area. She came back in and asked what kind of wine we liked…this went on for a bit. Then we figured it out that we were probably about to receive a care package. And we did. Two bottles of wine – a red and a white. Add that to the two bottles Todd brought with him from home and I think we can fairly say that he is in good shape with wine on this trip.
Upon arrival, we were able to switch seats so that we could see Sydney from the air (we didn’t have window seats originally). It was beautiful. The water is what you would imagine in the tropics, light blue and beautiful. The city is magnificent! Todd was able to see the opera house (I was yacking with the other flight attendant about good places to check out in Sydney while we are there) but I did get to see the rest of the city and it is just awesome. Including the bridge that I may agree to climb with Todd. We will see.
The landing was perfect – I felt like applauding the pilot and copilot for a job well done. And, as much as I enjoyed our first class experience, I was ready to get off the plane and walk around!
We got off the plane and headed to customs. We had to go through customs, grab our checked luggage and then proceed to the domestic airline terminal. To do this, you had to catch a train much like a subway train. This was quite a feat with four large bags and two carry on backpacks…oh, and a bag with two bottles of wine. Good times. But we made it.
While were sitting waiting for our flight, the monitor in the terminal was on the local Australian news. Todd and I couldn’t believe that the main news here in Australia is the US elections! And everyone seemed very interested – including us! It is amazing to us that Australians are so in tune to our election and government. What do we know about theirs? How often do we hear about Australians in the news? Part of their news segment was past and present president faux pas and bloopers. Of course, George Bush was portrayed the most – including a doll that they had of him saying something stupid. Wow, how bad at that moment I wished I could take on that Australian accent!
Our Jet Star flight to Hamilton Island was uneventful – we were with the commoner again (pfft). I must say that I was ready to NOT be on a plane anymore at this point. I slept most of the way just to give myself something to do. But, whenever I was awake, I was literally aching to get off the plane. We had been traveling (including layover) for about 27 hours at this point and I was ready to be at our destination – NOW!
And, then we were. Hamilton Island is in the Whitsunday Islands in Queensland. The North East area of Australia. We flew in to the island and all you could see was water and other islands. It almost felt like you were going to land in the ocean. The airport is small – reminded me of the Key West airport and reminded Todd of the Cona Island airport. They pulled the plane up to a lot and unloaded us via steps. They ushered us over to a grassy area where we had to wait to get our bags. There were two other flights that came in the same as us so there were a lot of people and a lack of organization.
Todd had requested a transfer where Sunsail (the ones we booked our boat through) would come pick us up but I guess they never received the email request. So we were wondering how we were going to get a ride from the airport to the marina. Todd talked with a guy who was trying to get to the same location and he told us about someone who was giving rides but the guy with the shuttle van said that he had two or three trips before us so it would probably be about 30 or so minutes.
Once we were able to get our luggage (which is outdoors under a overhang), we made our way to where we thought we needed to be to catch the shuttle. While I went to the restroom, Todd was able to get a hold of the Sunsail folks and they were more than hospitable and came immediately to pick us up. Turns out, the email must have gone to their corporate office and didn’t get to the folks here.
The drive into the marina was very cool. The island is beautiful – very tropical. Very green, palm trees, tropical birds, warm and humid! The marina area is small and quaint but has everything anyone would need; a general store, a nightclub, a tavern, a spirits shop, and a marina shower area. I absolutely love it here.
We checked in with Sunsail and met our boat – Dreamer. She is very pretty – she has definitely sailed many adventures but she grew on us immediately. She is 40’ with a nice cabin, three berths and two heads. The galley is nice and was well provisioned as had requested. Troy with Sunsail gave us a briefing of the islands – where to go, where not to go, where the best places are to anchor, where the perfect snorkeling areas where located, etc. He also had to tell us about some of the dangers out there. I guess he has to but I guess I would have rather not known. Especially the strange little jelly fish the size of your thumb that can sting you and cause respiratory problems. He said that if it happens, just call them and they will come out with a medic, inject us with morphine and take us to the hospital. Whew. Glad he let us know the plan. I feel MUCH better now! He did say, however, that if we saw a shark we would be the luckiest people around. They aren’t spotted as often as we had thought.
Then another Sunsail deckman came on board our boat to show us the ropes – so to speak. It was a bit overwhelming and, since we hadn’t had food since around 7 am (it was around 3), I was losing my concentration. But the run through went well, we received our snorkeling equipment (that I actually asked about – go figure) and, after a quick handshake, the boat was ours for 10 days.
Todd and I were starving and needed showers. Priorities became food, shopping for spirits and showers. We started at the Marina Tavern right up at the end of the walkway to our boat. It was really cool on the second level of a building. We sat outside on the deck and discovered that cockatoos are a local wild bird here! It was so cool! And we also saw someone at the marina gut a huge fish he must have caught. Such a great visual before lunch/dinner.
Todd had the Hawaiian Chicken Parmigian while I had the regular Chicken Parm. The food was nothing to write home about but tasted amazing due to our hunger. We did try three Australian beers – Carlton, Beez Neez and another I can’t recall. I liked them all but ended up buying a 6 pack of Beez Neez. Todd picked up a couple of bottles of Baileys and I picked up a bottle of a local dark rum that supposed to be the bomb according to Troy. I think we may go back today to pick up a few more things, get ice and a couple more coolers.
After our shopping trip, we each headed to the marina showers to blow the travel skank off of us. Even though the showers are, well, marina showers, it felt incredible!!! We came back to the boat, organized our stuff a bit, and made our bed in the V Berth. After walking aimlessly around for a few, we decided to call it a night. It was only around 9 pm local time but we were both whooped.
The night went ok. Trust me when I say, this isn’t the Four Seasons. The bed is pretty hard and it gets hot in the cabin. We did keep the fan on which helped a lot and we had the window flaps popped open which also helped. I slept ok, I think Todd did too, but I woke up a lot. At one point it was drizzling on me which actually felt nice!
I finally got up around 5 am and just couldn’t lay there anymore. I got up, went to the restroom and headed on deck. It was nice out, the tropical birds were everywhere talking and chirping. It was overcast and still sprinkling a bit. Todd got up about 45 minutes later and took a shower at the marina. I decided against it – I figure I will test the onboard shower tonight when we anchor.
Yes, that’s right. We had originally planned on this day being a “get to know your boat” day. However, after our briefing yesterday, we are stoked to get out there! The awesome thing?? This isn’t sailing school, folks. They actually will come on board and drive your boat out of the marina. Then, whenever you come back to the marina, you can call them and they will come out and take your boat in for you!!! I mean, hell yeah!!! Docking is truly the most challenging part of a voyage!!
So, that’s where we are now. Todd is scoping the charts and we are going to find our first anchor of our trip! I am really excited and nervous. Just hoping we remember how to do all this. More to come…
