Introduction & Flight

In the southern hemisphere there sits an enormous island continent (7,617,930 square kilometers/2,941,300 sq mi) surrounded by the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the flattest continent in the world, with six different climates, and with a population density of about 2.8 people per square kilometer. It is home to many different plants, animals, and about 22 million humans. I am of course talking about the country of Australia.

I had been there once back in January 2009, visiting my older brother who was studying law in Canberra. We had visited the cities of Sydney, Brisbane, Surfer’s Paradise, and Canberra. You can read all about it in my New Zealand Blog, starting with the post ‘Packing’.

Almost 2 years would pass before I would get another chance to visit the island continent in the south. It was late November 2010 when I made my way to the airport, packed to the brim with summer clothing, shoes, washing kit, digital camera, and winter clothing for the return trip to Canada. With my airplane ticket & passport in hand, I proceeded to the Air Canada check in desk to drop off my luggage. The process took a little longer because I didn’t have an Australian visitor’s visa so I had to purchase one for $25. Hiccup aside, I made through security with ease, quietly grinning as I watched an attractive woman in a dress go through the digital image scanner. I don’t care what excuse they came up with (ie random search), those male security guards purposefully made her go through the machine.

The evening flight to Vancouver took about five hours and from what I remember, it was mostly uneventful. The plane touched down in Vancouver and I made my way to the next gate. The departure area was surprisingly empty and quiet. I wanted to buy some Tim Horton’s donuts before I departed for Australia but the nearest Timmy’s was closed. In fact, most of the stores were closed.

The Vancouver-Sydney flight departed at 11:45pm and would stay in flight for 14 hours. I was flying Economy but I was glad that I had an aisle seat and the middle seat in my row was vacant. Also there were no crying babies and snoring seniors around my seat. Over the course of the flight, I kept myself preoccupied watching movies (Winnebago Man, Inception, Knight & Day, Salt, & Grown Ups), listening to my MP3 player, and eating the food. Most of what I ate was edible and the drinks were good but I bet it was way better in Business Class. At some point the plane crossed the International Dateline, leaping into the future, thereby erasing everyone’s existence on November 23rd. As I have mentioned before I can’t sleep on a plane; I just lapse in & out of consciousness. Hopefully, no one filmed it cause it probably was amusing to watch.

Eventually, the plan landed at the Sydney International Airport, the hot temperature a far cry from the cold in Canada. I changed into a t-shirt because I had been wearing a turtleneck and a light sweater. After getting through customs and picking up my luggage, I walked over to the Qantas domestic connection terminal and checked in my luggage. From there, I took a bus ride to the Domestic Terminal which sat across the International Terminal separated by the runways.

After a short wait, I boarded a Qantas plane that was bound for the city of Melbourne. The flight lasted about 80 minutes and landed at about 2:30pm. I picked up my suitcase and walked out of the secure area bringing my 20 hour flying journey to an end.

Despite being a relatively safe city, there exists a problem with unlicensed taxi cabs at the airport. Unlicensed drivers have been known to approach travelers and offer them a ride into town. The ride lasts longer than it should, forcing passengers to pay more. So if you still wish to take a taxi to the city, proceed to the taxi stand outside and don’t accept any offers from inside the terminal. Of course, the other option is to take the SkyBus which arrives every ten minutes.

I got on the bus after paying $16 and sat in silence, watching the countryside pass me by. After several minutes, the surrounding landscape appeared more developed and I could see the downtown skyline in the distance. After 20 minutes, the bus dropped everyone off at Southern Cross Station, located in the heart of the city. Armed with my tourist book Melbourne: Day by Day, I walked down several streets and arrived at my final destination, the Melbourne Central YHA hostel.