Away we go!

We are off on another adventure!

We are headed to the “land down under” for a three-week visit with our son Bill, his wife Katherine and their sons- Michael 15, Jack 8, and Ethan 5.

They have been living in Sydney, Australia for about 9 months. Bill is working for a new government agency, National Broadband Network, which is creating and building a broadband Internet across the continent. All three young men are attending Redlands School, a private school whose motto is “Let Your Light Shine” based on a passage from the Gospel of Matthew. As I write this, the time in Australia is about 8:00AM on Tuesday, February 1st. Because the seasons are reversed, it also means this is the beginning of the new school year and all three of the youngest Barnetts have completed their first day of this new school and are beginning the second day just about now. Here is how they looked on the first day.

Meanwhile, we are busy today preparing for this journey. Because I just recently had back surgery, I have been cautioned about lifting luggage. So I am struggling to pack light so neither Jim nor I strains anything we shouldn’t. This will be a casual trip with no formal nights or dress-up times so it should be easier.

I began by stacking my clothes on my dresser as they got clean. Looked terrible but I had a plan. Now the clothes are safely in a suitcase and waiting for the “bag smashers” to do their work. I made a copy of my x-rays showing the screws in my back in hope that the TSA security check will be simple. We’ll see!

We are departing home tomorrow at about 11:00, flying from Tampa at 2:30 to Atlanta. Then we fly from Atlanta to Los Angeles at about 7:00PM; arriving at 9:15PM. We change planes and depart for Sydney at 10:45PM. We arrive in Sydney at 8:40 AM on Thursday morning. Whatever happened to Wednesday? Flying time you ask- I think the trip from Tampa to Atlanta is about 1 ½ hours. The trip from Atlanta to LAX is about 5 hours. The trip from LAX to Sydney is about 21 hours long. Altogether we’ll be traveling for 29 hours counting the journey to Tampa and the airport waiting time. We are at least traveling Business Class with seats that convert into flatbeds but I think we’ll be weary when we arrive.

Many thanks to Leigh Berghane, friend and travel agent extraordinaire, for her patience with our changing plans and many questions. We cruised in Australia in 2008 and loved our stay. This time will be different and we look forward to whatever comes our way!