Part II - Travel & Sydney

Finally Oct. 5 arrived. This was my first flight since 9/11, and I did not know what to expect. BPT’s official name is now Southeast Texas Regional Airport. Only American Eagle and Continental Express fly out of it. I arrived at the airport approximately 2 hours before my flight. Cars can no longer park within 300 ft. of the terminal so about a third of the parking lot can no longer be used. The county is constructing more parking beyond the existing lots. I walked into the terminal and I saw no one except a sheriff’s deputy standing by the Continental Express counter. I rang the bell at the American Eagle counter and a young women who guides the planes to their terminal parking came out. I handed her my ticket and passport. She asked the usual security questions and tagged my bag. She said she needed a photo ID. I pointed to my passport. Apparently she doesn’t see too many passports. Then she asked me “Did I ask you the security questions?” I repeated them back to her, and she said “I guess I did.” I then decided to press my luck. I said I am flying on an international first class ticket, can you put a priority tag on my bag? She looked at my ticket again and then searched in a drawer for a tag and put it on my bag.

I went back to the restaurant and ate lunch. Then I went out to the waiting area and still had the airport all to my self except for the deputy and a Texas National Guardsman who was walking around the terminal with the deputy. The deputy stopped and talked. He said the two-hour check in wasn’t really necessary at our airport. People finally began to show up for the flight. A half hour before the flight two security personnel arrived to operate the xray machine and check ID’s. The deputy and the National Guardsman stood by and observed behind the agent operating the xray. They observed my bag for a long time. I had very little in my bag except my camera equipment and film. In the past I have had security personnel actually take the camera lenses out of my bag , take the caps off and look through the lenses. They finally passed my bag through without a hand inspection. ID’s were checked against the boarding passes again as we went outside to board the plane. We left BPT about ten minutes ahead of schedule. The pilot made an announcement that there was some weather ahead, and he was going to fly around it. This is a common occurrence with the Eagle flights here in Texas. We were about 15 minutes late arriving at DFW. I was glad I had opted for the DFW three hour wait.

The flight to LAX was on time and uneventful. The dinner was good. My only complaint was that the ice cream sundae was frozen so hard that I had a difficult time eating it with the little plastic spoon. I finally gave up. I completely understand the reasons behind the plastic flatware, but it is still rather disconcerting to unfold a cloth napkin and find the plastic knife, fork and spoon.

There was about a 20 minute wait for the bags to arrive at the carousel LAX. My bag was one of the first off. I finally got a look at the tag that was put on my bag. It was a silver-colored tag that said American Airlines Premium Class. I went outside and the Sheraton Gateway courtesy shuttle bus showed up within five minutes. Check in at the Sheraton was fast and efficient. I requested late checkout because of my midnight flight to Sydney. I was told 4 PM was the latest checkout without an extra charge. I was given a standard room on the third floor. I don’t think I was given any kind of upgrade. Next morning I ate the buffet breakfast which was not very good because the eggs and bacon were cold.

The VIP Grand Tour of Los Angles covered a lot of territory and gave a very good overview of LA. We made stops at Venice Beach, Rodeo Drive, Mann’s Chinese Theatre, and Olvera Street. The lunch stop was at Farmer’s Market. I thought about taking a second tour on Sunday but decided against it since none of the tours that interested me returned before 4 PM. I could have checked out and stored my bags but decided to stay at the hotel and rest. The buffet breakfast was much better on Sunday. I didn’t get a newspaper on Saturday nor Sunday morning. I asked reception about it and was told they did not provide papers on the weekend. When I checked in, I was given a letter about the current situation and necessary cost-cutting measures. I bought a copy of the Sunday LA Times and took it back to my room. I read the paper and then tuned the TV to CNN. The war in Afghanistan had started. I was glued to the TV until checkout time.

The shuttle bus was waiting outside the door. The driver took me to the Tom Bradley International Terminal. I had a little trouble finding the Qantas counter. There was no one in line when I arrived. I checked in and was given directions to the first class lounge. I sailed through security with no problems. Qantas shares the first class lounge with BA. The lounge had no computers nor showers. There was one TV. Naturally everyone was watching CNN. There was a good selection of food and drinks. I settled in for the long wait. Shortly thereafter an Australian who had been visiting Las Vegas arrived. He had arrived on an AA flight and also had the long wait. More passengers arrived until there were seven of us waiting for QF108. At 11:40 the lounge hostess took us down to the plane. There are a total of 14 first class seats on the QF 747. Seven of the passengers had boarded at JFK. Every first class seat was full when the 7 LA passengers boarded.

This was my first experience with international first class. All of my previous international flights had been in coach so I did not know what to expect. I was amazed to see all the windows in the first class cabin. Each seat had at least five windows. We were given our amenity kits and pajamas. Several people changed into their pajamas right after the seat belt sign went out. I decided to change too. Shortly thereafter the dinner service started. I really didn’t feel like eating very much. I am from the central time zone and my stomach thought it was 3 AM I did like the raspberry ice cream pie. I figured out how to pop up the LCD screen. I didn’t request any movies and just watched the channels that were for business class. As soon as the dinner was cleared away, I set to work on converting my seat to a bed. It was a fairly simple task. The seat converts to a 6’6” sleeper. I am only 5’4” tall so I had lots of room. The bed was not completely flat. There was a raised area that hit in the small of my back. I found if I turned on my side I was more comfortable. The seat belt was fastened across my thighs. I wondered if this would really keep me in the seat if we hit severe turbulence. I woke up several times during the night. I kept catching parts of the movie “Cats and Dogs”. I think I finally saw the whole thing but not in the proper order.

The next morning I chose the big breakfast with eggs and ham and all the other offerings. At last I was hungry. I changed back to my clothes and we landed in Sydney right on schedule. I don’t even remember Australian immigration. They stamped my passport and I went to the baggage carousel. My bag arrived just as I walked up to the carousel. I found an ATM machine and got some Australian currency.

I had sent an email to the Westin Sydney and asked them to recommend an airport shuttle. The concierge had written back and recommended a shuttle called Silks. I walked around the area where the shuttles were lined up and could not find Silks. One driver told me he thought Silks operated only from the domestic terminal. I finally got on the first shuttle in the line. The driver acted like he had never heard of the Westin Sydney. I finally said it was at No. 1 Martin Place. He knew where that was. I think I got a tour of every backpacker hostel in the Kings Cross area before the driver finally stopped and told me it was the Westin Sydney. He let me out on George Street at Martin Place. Martin Place is a pedestrian street. No. 1 Martin Place was originally the site of the GPO (General Post Office). The GPO clock tower is now part of the Westin. I walked across Martin Place to Pitt Street and did not see the Westin. I finally stopped a man and asked him where the entrance to the Westin was located. It was a little farther up Pitt St.

The Westin Sydney is less than two years old. The lobby is very modern and opens into the old GPO lobby on one side. The old post office clock tower is an impressive sight. It was approximately 9:30 AM when I arrived at reception to check in. The desk clerk said they only had one room ready, and it was a smoking room. He said it would be approximately two hours before a non-smoking room was available. I said I would take the smoking room but asked if I could change rooms the next day if the smoke was too objectionable. He said the hotel was oversold for the next day,. but I could change on the third day. I went to the room I could not detect a trace of smoke. The room was beautiful. The bathroom was very modern. The wall above the bathtub was glass and looked out to the bedroom. There was an electrically operated shade that could be lowered over the glass. There was a separate Heavenly Shower. This was my first stay in a Westin with the Heavenly Shower.

The rest of the room had every convenience that you could want in a hotel room . There were no Do Not Disturb or Please Make Up My room signs. Instead there were buttons to push that lit up little lights on a panel outside the room. I lost much of my first day in Sydney because I could not resist the temptation of the Heavenly Bed. I usually try to stay up all day after an all-night flight and get acclimated to the new time zone but not this time. I finally went down to the lobby and explored the food court out in the old GPO lobby. I ate a sandwich and then walked around outside.

The next day I took an explorer bus around Sydney and got familiar with the city. In the following days I visited most of the major attractions. I took a tour of the Opera House, a walking tour of the Rocks, made a couple of visits to Darling Harbor and took a harbor ferry. I also took a day trip to the Blue Mountains. Sydney is a beautiful city, and I have decided I will have to return for another visit and another stay at the Westin Sydney. The day before I left the concierge made a reservation on the Silks shuttle. This shuttle was on time and quite nice. The van had a trailer which carried the luggage. I had never seen anything like this but found that shuttles with trailers were the norm in Melbourne and Auckland, too.