In Los Angeles

(Entry by Dad)
We made it on our first leg of the flight to Los Angeles. We checked into the Radisson hotel that is just outside the entrance to LAX airport for a day-stay. We have to leave at 6pm for our next flight. This has given us a place to do last-minute emails (Jeff and Mike), play cribbage (Robin and Brigitte), nap (Dada and Brigitte), and relax (Grandma). And have lunch.

We leave for the airport in about an hour to catch our flights. We hope our luggage makes it again. One down, one to go!

Our next post will be from New Zealand!

(Robin's post saying that going to the Southern Hemisphere causes us to lose a day was inaccurate. It's a geography thing. It's going toward the east that causes it. We pass the international date line which changes the day one day forward (to the West) or one day backward (traveling to the east). With every time zone adding an hour as you go east, or subtracting an hour as you go west, there has to be SOME place where those hours add up and you have to adjust by a day. The International Date Line was placed down the Pacific ocean because it's the most open space on the planet.

So we'll cross the line on our way to New Zealand and arrive an extra day behind. When we return we'll cross it the other way and get the day back. So we'll arrive home before we leave. Fun!

Dad

Back and Forth, Back and Forth

So I'm not the lightest of packers. In fact, I think it would be safe to say I overpack. :D By A LOT. So this trip is a real challenge for me. (Kind of like going to France with Randy, the king of light packers.) Qantas allows 70 pounds per bag, but only allows 106 inches total for the suitcases (length+width+depth). My two medium size suitcases total 105.5 inches! Whew.

I cleared a spot in our closet to hang the things I'm considering taking. I walk in there numerous times a day. I usually stand and gaze at the choices and decide "I don't think I'll need that," grab an article off the rod, and put it back in the usual place in the closet. Then the next time I go in, I gaze at the clothing in the 'going on the trip' spot and decide "I think I don't have enough shirts" and grab the top (sometimes the same one, sometimes a different one) and put it back. (Or pants or sweater or whatever.)

It will be somewhat of a relief to actually cram all that stuff in the suitcases and be done with it!

You've got to be kidding, Qantas!

From the Qantas Web site:

Carry-on baggage should be kept as light as possible as there are considerable distances to walk upon arrival or departure at some airports. However you should carry fragile and valuable items, such as electronic equipment (including laptops, mobile phones), cameras, cash, keys and jewellery etc. in your carry-on baggage.

You should also take any essential medication and prescriptions on board with you.

Personal articles such as an overcoat, handbag, umbrella, walking stick, small camera, duty free items and some reading matter for the flight may be carried in the cabin.

All of this plus my iPod, noise-cancelling headphones, book, crossword puzzle book and pencil, kleenex, chapstick, and eyedrops must fit in one 1 x 115cm (45in) bag, weighing no more than 7kg (15lb). My bag, which is small, not 45 inches, weighs 6.5 pounds EMPTY. And this does NOT include my CPAP. On American carriers, CPAP machines are considered medical devices and are 'free'--they do not count as a carry on. (They're covered, interestingly enough, under the 'Americans with Disabilities Act'. Not so on Qantas.

But I COULD carry on all the duty-free booze and jewelry I want! What is wrong with this picture????

So I will board the plane at LAX wearing my hoodie, coat, my camera around my neck, my iPod in my pocket, my kleenex, chapstick, book, and eyedrops in my other pocket, noise-cancelling headphones around my neck. It all still goes on the plane, only I look even more like a Teletubbie than I usually do. Then I have to take the time to take it all off and stow it once on board! Wouldn't it be faster/easier to just let me carry it on IN MY CASE???? (My case will be full of CPAP, two pair of underwear, medications, and my makeup. (I've had makeup destroyed in checked bags.) I have got to learn to pack lighter!

True story: Friends were flying home from New Zealand in June. They had done their best to weigh their luggage with a home scale, but it was very inaccurate, and they figured they were over. When the gate agent stopped them and weighed their bags as they were boarding, they were WAAAAAAAAAAAAY over. So she told them to take the heaviest stuff out and just hold it while they boarded. They did. Their bags were still overweight, but the gal allowed them to board, holding the all the stuff in their arms! What an absurd policy!!!

Essential Documentation

'Aotearoa' means "Land of the Long White Cloud". And that's a map in the middle. Why did I go to Barnes and Noble and buy a map today? Because we have 'hired' a car for our first day in New Zealand. A car that has the steering wheel on the right and a manual transmission. A car, suprisingly enough, that has the same name as the one I drive here at home--Toyota Corrolla. (I'm sure nothing could be further from MY car!) The gear shift is also located on the right--BETWEEN the driver and door. I can't imagine how that will work. I hope there's a parking lot to learn in before we head out on the highway! Dad thinks it will be an enormous adventure. Ben wants photos of the inside of the car. (I will probably take videos too.) And pictures of road signs and cars coming at us on the WRONG SIDE! Heck, I'm not wild about driving on THIS side, I don't know why they want to drive on THAT side!

We're going to go down to Hamilton, where the LDS temple is located. We want to see it. And take pictures along the way and just enjoy the drive. Or not....

On the left is our cruise documentation. I love that blue folder. I always do a happy dance when it arrives. It has our boarding passes and cruise tickets for the ship, as well as Shore Excursion and Private Tour information. I just junked most of the stuff Holland America sent us and put my own stuff in there.

On the right is my indispensible little pink book. After our last cruise, I got that notebook out of the cupboard and started a list for the next cruise. (Optimistic, wasn't I?)

I made notes like:

Mark baggies with what is in them. (To make packing at the end easier.)

Bring a list of movies we'd like to watch. (Not applicable this trip as I doubt we'll have any conscious time to watch anything, but last time we stood in the library flipping through the list of everything available, trying to remember what we wanted to see--which was A LOT since we hardly go to the movies any more.)

Keep a list of souvenirs we buy in each port. (This is to facilitate the Custom's Declaration we have to fill in before reentering the United States and helps avoid the whole "Honey, what did we buy in Aruba?" "I dunno, don't you know?" conversation.)

But since we booked this trip fourteen months ago, I've also kept track of suitcase sizes/weights (a real problem on Qantas and a subject that needs it's very own post).

And average tempatures of the ports we will visit. (So I know what to pack...or not.)

And ideas for unique items to buy as souvenirs. (Possum socks! No kidding.)

And how far from the airports to our hotels in Auckland and Sydney.

And phone numbers.

And...most of all...packing lists. I have never made a packing list for a cruise. I always just make it up as I go along, but now that I'm getting...er...older, I find I forget stuff. So now I'm making a list I can use in the future so I never have to be this obsessive again. Although, I probably will be anyway, but I can focus on other things than packing...maybe.

Time Travel

We cross the International Dateline on our way Down Under. The time warp really hurts my brain. We crossed the International Dateline when we flew to Seoul to accompany Christopher home from his mission. That didn't seem like such a big deal to me. (Probably because I was too excited to obsess about it.) But this time it boggles my mind, even though I basically understand the mechanics of it. We are, after all, leaving our hemisphere and heading into the southern one.

(Random thought: Will it be weird to look up and see different constellations than I am used to seeing, or will they just look like stars?)

We leave Sunday morning, October 19th. We fly from Salt Lake City, landing in Los Angeles at 11:30am where we wait...and wait...and wait...and wait. Until 9pm! (Using SkyMiles is not always convenient.) The only ones who have a longer wait than we do is Grandma and Dada. They arrive at something like 7am and go out about the same time we do! EEEK.

Once we board our Qantas flight, we will hopefully sleep. While we are sleeping, somehow, even though only about thirteen hours pass, when we arrive in Auckland, it will be Tuesday morning! Where does Monday go and how do we lose it? Sure, I get it back on the way home, flying on the longest Sunday ever. We arrive in Los Angeles BEFORE we leave Sydney! Explain that to me. Am I transported? My molecules all broken up, sent across the universe, and then reassembled again--two hours before I left???? Scotty, beam me up!

Minds immeasurably superior to mine will have to explain this to me. Please use small words and lots of pictures. Thank you.

About our Ship: the ms Volendam

Jeff and I are lucky to have sailed on the Volendam before. We were aboard last fall to the Panama Canal. She is a beautiful ship and just the right size, not too big. We are so excited to be returning to the lovely Volendam!

From HAL's Web site:

Gross Tonnage: 61,396 grt.(One registered ton equals 100 cubic feet)

Length: 780 feet

Beam: 105.8 feet Maximum speed: 23 knots (maximum)

Ship's Registry: The Netherlands

Passenger capacity: 1,432

Crew: 588

Dedicated: November 1999 by tennis professional Chris Evert

The beautiful garden theme of the ms Volendam is reflected in an artful floral motif throughout the ship's spacious public rooms and elegant staterooms. "Flowers" can be found in abundance in the forms of floral fabrics and tapestries, as well as huge vases of tropical floral arrangements and chrysanthemums.

In addition to fresh flowers throughout the ship, Holland America Line has drawn on its collection of incredible artwork to enhance the interior of the ship's public spaces. Everything from pre-Columbian fetishes and sculptures to Renaissance-era fountains imported from Italy are included in its hallway galleries. At the heart of the ship an elegant sculpture by Luciano Vistosi, inspired by the myriad of moods and colors of a kaleidoscope, greets visitors in a soaring three-story atrium.

Ship's Itinerary

• Day 0 24/10 Auckland, New Zealand 11:59 PM


• Day 1 25/10 At Sea


• Day 2 26/10 Tauranga (Rotorua) New Zealand 08:00 AM 08:00 PM


• Day 3 27/10 Napier, New Zealand 01:00 PM 08:00 PM


• Day 4 28/10 Wellington, New Zealand ON 09:00 AM


• Day 5 29/10 Leave Wellington, New Zealand 05:00 AM


• Queen Charlotte Sound (Cruising Only)


• Captain Cook Ship Cove (Cruising Only)


• Picton, New Zealand 10:00 AM 06:00 PM


• Day 6 30/10 Christchurch, New Zealand 07:00 AM 07:00 PM


• Day 7 31/10 Dunedin, New Zealand 08:00 AM 06:00 PM


• Day 8 01/11 Fiordland Natl Park Westbound (Cruising Only) 09:00 AM 06:00 PM


• Day 9 02/11 At Sea


• Day 10 03/11 At Sea


• Day 11 04/11 Burnie, Tasmania, Australia 06:00 AM 06:00 PM


• Day 12 05/11 Melbourne, Australia 08:00 AM 06:00 PM


• Day 13 06/11 At Sea


• Day 12 07/11 Sydney, Australia , disembark 06:00 AM