i made it. got home in one piece.

17 hours on a plane, checked the luggage 4 times, very little sleep on the plane.

max was happy to see me. meowing is getting OLD!

welcomed with a sewage back-up in my bathroom…joyous.

blessed to have had such a lovely experience.

but very glad to have my bed, my car, the sun, and most importantly to hear the voice of the people i love.

So much to tell and it’s only been 24 hours (technically – even though I lost a whole day) since I left Provo.

My colleague Rae Jeanne picked me up shortly before 3pm MST on Thursday, April 30th.

Here’s all my stuff piled up and ready to go and Max watching me go…

We got to SLC International Airport and met all the girls.

We made it through checking our luggage and I just barely went over the weight limit. I know I’m a terrible packer but what the heck do you do when you’re going to be gone for almost 6 weeks and you have to bring work equipment with you as well (printer and LCD projector!)???

We made it to LAX and I was highly entertained by the sheer number for people wearing surgical masks. You’d think we had a possible pandemic on our hands or something…

We boarded the plane for Auckland and it was great.

I normally dislike flying and the last time I flew over seas I was puking the whole way but this time we got yummy food…

Erin showing off the pretty butter.

…watched the latest movies and I actually slept comfortably for all of 4 hours.

In total we were in the air for 18 hours that doesn’t include the check-in time, lay-over’s, baggage checks, and customs…oh and how could I forget the temperature scanners when we got to Melbourne.

Yet the pretty signs welcoming us were to help lessen the “worry” of being scanned. ha ha!

However, the two most entertaining parts of the multiple flights we took were when we landed in Auckland, New Zealand, we were not allowed to leave the plane because there was a passenger who they suspected had H1N1, so the Public Health Officials boarded the plane, checked him out and escorted him off the plane.

Being the dedicated public health professional, I took a few shots with my camera phone. he he. But we all then had to fill out these forms so they can hunt us down if anything happens.

We then boarded another plane to take our final leg to Melbourne – by the time we landed I had watched 6 movies.

Needless to say the entertaining part was this sign that greeted us when we got off the plane. I nearly jumped for joy just to take the picture. I told my students that when they saw it in class in the Fall not to be surprised.

We made it through customs and walked out into the fresh air of Melbourne! It is beautiful here. It reminds me of San Diego. It’s nice and warm – not hot. The scenery is beautiful except for the 7 McDonalds or “Mackers” that we saw in the first 20 minutes of being in the country.

We traveled from Melbourne to Geelong where we’re staying. Along the way, it was like old home week – we passed two Caterpillar plants, a huge John Deere Plant, a K-Mart factory, Mattel, and a Ford Plant.

I was so busy taking everything in and trying to count the zillion of sheep I saw, that I didn’t even realize we were driving on the opposite side of the road.

Also, for those of you who think we have “big brother” in the US, they have no highway patrol as they solely use cameras to catch speeders and such.

The best part which I have to say, I wish the girls were with me to witness was the billboard sign as we entered Geelong. It was huge and said “Welcome to Geelong…the best place to live” with a full blow picture of a hot Aussie man holding a surfboard. I had to keep from laughing out loud. This is the point at which I thought, hey maybe I won’t come home – wink, wink.

We arrived at The Gatehouse – see the amazing pictures of this beautiful bed and breakfast and unpacked.

Then walked about 10 blocks to and from the grocery store and train station. The way back, I had to carry a 5L crock-pot. Oh and they had the funkiest Target I’ve ever seen.

I realized that though my insomnia has come in rather handy in this case of jet leg, I was starving and to be honest, I just did not have it in me too “explore” Geelong just yet so I caved in and went to “Mackers” (yuck, I know) which is right across the street. The funniest part was the upscale food they served. Not like any McDonald’s I’ve ever seen.

So that’s all for today…I’m tired and there are 12, 20-something girls all trying to connect to the internet to talk to their boyfriends/fiancés and get on face book.

Oh, and Corinne, you could have picked me out a mile away as I had my heels on the whole time!

I also posted a few more pictures on face book if you’re interested.

leaving on a jet plane, don’t know when i’ll be back again…

because of H1N1, a.ka. North American Flu or Swine flu

ok…kidding…but seriously, i’ll be on my way to LAX in less than 24 hours and then on to new zealand and australia.

it’s a bit strange because we leave on the 30th but technically don’t get to australia until may 2nd. we loose a whole day.

can you imagine what that will do to my sleep habits? think they are bad now…wow, just wait.

on the way back home we leave new zealand on june 4th and get back to SLC on june 4th. i will gain a whole extra day in my life…

what should i do with that day? oh wait, sleep!

while i’m there, i’ll be posting daily about our adventures so stay tuned.

i’ve already scouted out a cupcake shop or two…and the UUG store where I can get my shoes!!!

and yes, the excitement is starting to set in along with the panic of my procrastination…good thing i work best under pressure!

Australia here I come…

ready or NOT!

So much to do, so little time left before I’ll be leaving on a jet plane.

For a long, long, long flight…for a long 6 weeks.

This week at least 4 people thought I was leaving or had already left for Australia.

Nope…I don’t leave until April 30th.

A few more weeks to get everything all set up and in order. And believe me I need all the time I can get!

Oh and today I verified that I will be able to still use my phone to get on the internet and get my email (thank goodness for a crack berry!).

But…I won’t be able to get text messages or make calls unless I want to pay a small fortune. I think this will be the first time in my life I’ll go without talking on the phone for more then a day or two. Ha ha! I figure I’ll splurge on my 33rd but that will be about it. Good thing there is Skype too!

My trip to Australia and New Zealand is only a month away!

The preparations are in full swing and I’m getting super excited. I’ll be keeping an update of the schedule and then a running account of the trip.

To keep up, the current time in Melbourne will be posted on the right side of my blog.