Thursday, 20 October 2011

21 October. Australia

Gold Coast airport (7am!)

We have arrived in Australia - and the bags arrived with us - always a pleasant surprise. Through the immigration auto entry machine, no humans! I have a chipped Australian passport. The machine spat out a label saying "Welcome home John Oliver Collins". Big brother is watching ....... Fastracked through customs and quarantine, always a problem in Australia, but not this time. Gold Coast is a tiny airport, and all our visas etc. are in our UK passports, so they didn't see the Mongolia stamps etc. otherwise we might still be in the queue!

Our plane from Japan at the tropical Gold Coast airport

So now we have to wait in the Gold Coast airport 4 hours for our connecting flight to Sydney. Lots of Japanese off our flight and off a flight from Tokyo, plus Oz youth in shorts singlets and plastic thongs (flip flops), being very loud and full of life, high fiving and full of beer at 6.30 in the morning! Ahh being young ..... Beer and bonhomie.

We have yet to get to Sydney, take the subway to town, pick up the car, hope it starts ..... and 4 hour drive to the bush. Oh, forgot the obligatory Malaysian chilli noodle soup (called laksa ) for Merryn at her favourite Thai near the flat! It has red chilli oil floating on the surface!!

Update late in the day .....
Flight to Sydney unremarkable.
Train to the city - expensive but convenient. In fact the most expensive subway we have been on.
Reconnected the battery, the car started first time (what a lovely old Toyota). Had the soup - don't know how she does it !!
Pleasant trip out to the bush (Molong).

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