Well, I have been back in Tas for almost 3 weeks now and it is almost time to go. It has been a good trip.
The Wedding was beautiful and I am really glad that I was able to get the time off to see it.
My flight out is on Tuesday @ 6AM (i will have to get up early!). My flight details are as follows:
Virgin DJ361 Hobart – Melbourne
Qantas QF93 Melbourne – Los Angeles
American Airlines AA144 Los Angeles – Washington (Dulles)
United Airlines UA7209 Washington – Harrisburg
Thats it for now 
Catch u on the flipside
Well I’m back from Melbourne and the trip went really well. After getting all stressed out about the visa interview, it went really smoothly.
After checking out and walking to Swanston St to catch the No16 tram, I arrived 1 hour and 45 minutes early at the consulate…ooops..
After grabbing some brekky and trying to kill time, I ended up going in around 9:45am (my appointment was @ 11)… After being told “geez mate, your early.. did you fly in from interstate or something?”, I went through security and started playing the waiting game.
After sitting for a while and watching the fabulous 5 minute looping video about entering the US, I was called to submit my forms and supporting documentation. Once that was done it was time to return to the waiting game.
After a while, I was called up to the second window where I was asked around 2-3 questions, he said it all looks good, you have the qualifications etc he said it will be in the mail in around 4-5 days 
The relief was fantastic
That afternoon i was walking around Melbourne and I came across a flight center. I intended to go in and just ask about prices etc and some of the first prices he came up with were what I expected. After I enquired about “how about the prices into Baltimore/Washington [BWI])”, he came up with a Qantas / AA combination for a killer price. I walked out for a 1 year return ticket to BWI for $1754 (all taxes inc) leaving on Feb 28th. There are change fees on this ticket so I booked it as far into the future as possible with the intention of setting a date later.
Anyways, thats it for now, Tata!
I have been back for around a week and now it is time to hop a plane to Melbourne for my Visa Interview. The interview is not until Wednesday but I am going tomorrow to make sure I make it and it also gives me a chance to catch up with Kristy who I worked with @ DSE.
I am pretty nervous about the interview. Everything is sort of hinging on this so fingers crossed it all goes well. FYI I am on Virgin Blue flights DJ367 and DJ376 on the 14th and 15th respectively.
Wish me luck
I am back and it is great to be here After my initial flight problems, I must say that the remainder of my flights were pretty good.
The international leg was as good as it could be. The plane was pretty much booked out but somehow 1out of the 3 free seats, there was one spare between me and the guy next to me. After dosing up on Benadryl, it was off to the land of nod. I got a fair bit of sleep on the plane.
Brisbane was good. I caught up with the people from Gap as well as Kev and Emma. Geni and the kids were also well. I can’t believe how much they have grown up!!!(!!)
The flight into Tassie was lumpy with the pilot all over the place on final approach. It was obvious why after we landed with the menacing storm clouds and associated winds.
Anyways, hope to catch up with everyone while I am down tata
When did air travel get so stressful? As you are more than likely aware, I am commencing my Trip home from Harrisburg Airport. My original booking was:
United Airlines – Harrisburg to Chicago
United Airlines – Chicago to San Francisco
United Airlines – San Francisco to Sydney
Qantas – Sydney to Brisbane
I arrived at Harrisburg at around 1PM for my Scheduled 2:14 flight to Chicago and I am informed that it is delayed but only by 1 hour so my connections would be made easily.
So i make my way through security and to the gate where I pull out my PC and look for a wireless LAN to cruise the net on to pass the time. I find a free open wireless lan and commence my time wasting. I check out United.com and look up the status of my Flight. I am worried to see that my flight is delayed by 2 hours which leaves me < 1 hour to make my connection... a few minutes later I check again and I get this information:
My flight from Chicago to San fran boards at 6:00PM so there is a problem. I exit out through security and wait at the United ticketing. The ticketing is very busy as they are rebooking people like me due to connections they cannot make. I get surved and I say that I am concerned about my connections. He takes my boarding passes and the ‘hmm, shit’ look comes over him.
As he types away at his terminal for a while, I am feeling more and more stressed. All I want to do is go home.
He comes to the conclusion that United Airways cannot jiggle my flights that will get me to my International Flight. To the guys credit though, he did not give up. He went down to the Northwest counter and tried to see if there was a way to get me to San Fran for my flight. He comes back and asks if I had checked luggage. The problem was that they could get me there but there was not enough time for my bags!
He goes to the US Airways counter and tries there. Success. They have room on some flights. I am rebooked on US Airways from Harrisburg to Pittsburg and Pittsburg to San Fran. I arrive in San Fran a bit over 2 hours before my flight to Sydney leaves. After a bit more computer fun, they manage to get my bags retagged right through to Brisbane.
I tell you what, I will NOT be flying through Chicago again. I lost 4 hours there on the way here and I have had to totally skip it to make it back… Hopefully everything it smooth from here I do have an Economy Plus ticket from San Fran to Syd which gives me a little more legroom which is always a plus…
