It is a Long Way Mate

The aircraft was fixed and we left two hours late. There was no mention by United about the reason or that they were sorry. 

The flight was smooth and we were in a 747. They seemed to have upgrade the business and first class sections but the only upgrade in the back was a plasma TV on the wall for the cabin to watch. Yes that is correct we had no individual TVs and we could not select our own entertainment. Very old fashion. 

The seat of course were close together so it was very difficult for me to sleep. Beth did sleep a lot but looked very uncomfortable.

The other bad news about the flight was you had to purchase beer and wine. Needless to say we did not.

However the meals were OK and the crew were fine. I would have to place United near the bottom of the list of all the airlines we have used to get to Australia. Of course Singapore is the best by a very large margin.

Since we left 2 hours late we were two hours late arriving. Good thing I have an excellent travel agent who predicted this and left us lots of time to make our Virgin Blue flight to Brisbane. We are travelling on a Virgin Blue Air pass and that got us to a line called International Passengers. No waiting.

When entering Australia in Sydney you have to change terminals from the International to the Domestic. This is done by bus and costs $5.50. Since we arrived late there was no line up for Customs and Immigration. 

VB flight was short and we were in a brand new plane, very nice. I did break down and purchase a beer, Victorian Bitter. They to charge for all drinks including soda, and juice.

In Brisbane we transferred to a coach for the trip up to the Sunshine Coast. Oh by the way it is 30 degrees. Does it ever feel nice.

Coach trip was fine and we arrived on time after 6 hrs wait in LAX, 14 hour flight, 2 hours in Sydney, 1 hour in Brisbane and 1.5 hrs driving. This I think totals 24.5 hrs from arriving at LAX to setting foot in our house.

Next post will be about our accommodations for the month of January and our trip to the Gold Coast to do some last minute work and pick up our rental clubs.