Destination: Australia

When I left NYC to travel to Sydney for the Art is You Australian Mixed Media Roadshow, I was not looking forward to the 23 hour travel time. People had said that I would want to jump out of the plane halfway to Australia. Little did I know that the trip would turn into a 3+ day adventure.

Kecia Deveney was my partner in art crime. We met at JFK and off we went on Qantas. Sort of. After we boarded our plane, there was a 3 hour delay while they searched for a part so the air conditioning would work. We passed the time by taking photos and sweating. 

We arrived in LA 9 hours later.

Because the AC had broken along the way and we were due to fly on the same plane, the onward flight to Sydney was cancelled. Qantas informed us no hotels were available in all of LA. Hmmm...must be because Los Angeles is such a small city. Our flight was rescheduled -- for 13 hours later. So we hunkered down for the night in the airport seats. How perfect that just as we fell asleep, the airport terminal lights came on.

While waiting for the flight the next day, we did what any self-respecting mixed media artists would do: journal. With a twist. We decided to work on the same journal pages and pass them back and forth.

page in progress

page in progress

calling it done

An hour before the flight, we were told that our rescheduled flight was cancelled and would be rescheduled again -- 9 hours later. Arggghh. This is what the scene at the airport looked like. It was not pretty.

We were all in it together though and by then we had made a number of good friends. 

For this delay, we passed the time talking and enjoying many refreshments!

After we finally boarded the plane for our 13 hour plane ride from LA to Sydney, nearly 3 hours passed before we took off. But took off we did. I was so exhausted by the earlier delays that I slept for 10 hours and the longest leg of the journey seemed the shortest.

As we got closer to Sydney, our anticipation of arriving grew. First there was a magnificent sunrise to watch.

Then there was this awesome Aussie terrain.

And then the incredible Sydney skyline....Harbor Bridge, Opera House and more.

And then......the fog!

But wait...why are we passing Sydney and not landing? Turns out there was too much fog to land.

 We flew to Brisbane and landed to refuel. Brisbane?? For real??? 

This was our view for the next 3 hours.

We took off again...back to Sydney. Although I figured we would probably end up in Japan...we actually, eventually, finally, happily landed in Sydney. Some 50-plus hours after we left!

Funny thing though...Kecia and I actually had a good time. I guess not showering for 50 hours leads to some real bonding. And, of course, how could we complain when our ultimate destination was a month-long adventure in Australia. More on that soon...