Odyssey in Oz: Day 1

Day one started at 10:30am Saturday morning in Dallas as I rode to the airport. My flight to LA was smooth and eventless. Upon landing, I grabbed a cab and headed to my brother and sister-in-law's house, where they were having a photo shoot. For the shoot, my brother had to repeatedly pet the dog and water some succulents, and then it rained. This is as close I got to seeing a celebrity.

After dinner, they dropped me back off at the airport where I made it just in time to my international flight. There was a series of wrong terminals, wrong kiosks, and forgotten items, but eventually I was snuggled into my seat and ready for the long haul.

I'm quite grateful it was too dark to see out the window until only a couple hours before landing. That ocean is BIG, you guys. The meals weren't terrible, and movie selections were fine, and the nice old man next to me--who may actually have been the actor who plays Professor Proton from The Big Bang Theory, although what he was doing all the way back in row twenty-five I don't know--helped me unstick my seat at about 7am (Dallas time) so then I was finally able to sleep for about forty-five minutes at a time.

We chased midnight across the ocean, but finally caught up with dawn around 9am Dallas time. The clouds broke so I watched the ocean and just when I thought it would never end, we saw land! Landing in Sydney required circling the entire city, so I got to see the whole city from a bird's eye view.

Getting through customs was a breeze, and hopping a shuttle to the hostel was even easier.

After storing my luggage in a locker, I headed out to wander! Starting in The Rocks, I made my way through Circular Quay and the Sydney Opera House. The Opera House is as spectacular as you'd think, but--it's beige! Who knew? Silly Disney had me convinced it was white.

Lastly, it was back to the hostel to check in, shower (which was glorious), and nap. Wanna know what came next? It involved a lady named Lexi, an Austrain with a bubbling of enthusiasm, and a Sinaporean we called "G!"