Starting out 2003

29th March 2003

We flew out of Perth on Monday 31st March, 2003.

One the Saturday prior Rayls, Ryan Scott and I all attended the Kenwick Cricket Club end of season gathering.  Ryan helped out as the barman.  Scott and I were there as players and Rayls was a wife and mother of players.

I remember the night where our good friend Jim McKenna attended his last windup.  The following October he passed away.

It was very exciting to be at the night knowing that in around 36 hours we would be on our way.

31st March 2003

I have no real memories of the flight from Perth to Sydney.  We must have got to the airport early as the flight took off at 6:10am and I have a reputation of wanting to be at airports early.  It is aways a bit sad leaving our dog Hunter behind.  Hunter was 2 years old and was kept company by our youngest son Scott who would turn 20 whilst we were away, we would miss Scott as well.

Once you arrive in Sydney you have to take a shuttle bus from the domestic to the international terminal.  A bus leaves every 10 minutes or so and once you arrive at the international terminal you have to go through immigration before going into the departure area.  I remember that as we were going through security Ryan lost his pen - that was a pain.

In the departure area we went through the shopping area - always an expensive option.

There was random searches for those boarding the flight and I remember that Ryan and Michelle were not searched but mature age Rayls and Gaz were - I was a bit miffed by that.

Ryan and Michelle sat 3 or 4 rows ahead of us - we were towards the rear of the plane but not in the area where there is just an aisle and window seat.  That meant a person sitting on the aisle that we could bother when we needed to use the facilities.

The take off seemed to be very long - I was a bit worried we were going to run out of runway but the plane lifted and we were on our way.  I guess a 747 fully loaded with people, luggage and enough fuel to cross the Pacific does need a fair amount of runway space.

We headed east and it was daylight for a few hours and then 8 or so hours of darkness before daylight again as we approached LAX.  There was a few bumps along the way but all in all it was an OK flight.