My flight for Australia was leaving on Tuesday afternoon, and therefore I had from Wednesday night to Tuesday afternoon to plan and prepare everything for Australia. Thursday and Friday I went to work and the rest of the time I was either collecting things from the house and placing them in a corner in my room, training, spending time with the family, or eating… I also went to take my triathlon suit stamped with my Last name and sponsors (I finally found a place in Vancouver!). Saturday and Sunday I trained in the morning and in the afternoon I spent time with the family, saw Enej and Jason (they were going to kill me if I left without seeing them…), and spent time with Alica who is now back from Spain after spending almost a year there.
Friday at 3pm I had the vision that working Monday was going to be a bad bad idea. I was still going to have lots of things to do, including training and preparing things for the trip, and I wanted to spend some time with the family so I asked for Monday off at work. Lucky for me, I got my request (they have been great with that and I could not be happier) and therefore packed everything. Monday I trained in the morning, then had lunch with Alica at home, picked up my tri suit (looks awesome, pictures to come), and finished packing with the clothes mom washed and had ready for me! Thanks mom! Finally Tuesday came and after getting a ride and run in I went to Speed Theory to get my bike boxed. After that was lunch time and time to get to the airport!
The check in was easy, only 50$ for my bike all the way to Australia. My other bag was 2kg over so I took some multivitamins and powders out and saved 100$ overweight fee. I had a 3 hr flight to LA with Air Canada (got the emergency row, very nice), a 3hr transfer in LAX (boy I hate that airport, is huge and very very disorganized), a 14hr flight with Quantas (did not get the emergency row as they now charge 129$ at the counter for it, crrraaazzzyy!!!!), and a 1hr minibus ride from Brisbane to the Gold Coast. From door to door: 27 hrs… Needless to say, it was long. Fortunately I the following things were very good and made the trip better:
-Quantas gives lots of food on flights. A big dinner with fish, veggies, salad, bread, cake, etc. After that they give you a night back with snacks for the 6hr “night” period with cookies, candies, cereal bars, water, mixed nuts, etc. Breakfast was sausage with omelette, muffin, fruits, etc. I was not hungry =)
-I got an aisle, so I got up and stretched 2 times about 10 minutes and slept 3 hours in between for a grand total (and record on a plane) 6 hrs or so.
-Gold Coast time is +17 hrs Vancouver time, so basically I changed the clock back 7 hrs and added a day. Jet lag was completely inexistent. I went to sleep at 11pm Gold Coast time and slept 8hrs the first day, and have been sleeping normal
-The bus from the airport was 50$ instead of 30 that the train costs, but it was door to door service. It was great, after 27hrs I did not feel like taking a train and then 2 local busses and then walking 300m with a bag and a bike box.
The apartment I rented is awesome! Its pretty big, full kitchen, pretty new appliances, washer and drier in the washroom, tv, 1 block from the beach, swimming pool, pretty quiet at night (excluding wildlife, there is a freaking bird that makes a weird noise starting at 5am, pretty damn loud. I need to ask someone what it looks like and start getting rid of some when I see them =) The only thing missing is internet, so I have to go to the mall to get free wifi. I have 2 big malls 15 blocks away, one is 15 blocks south, the other 15 north. There are big supermarkets and lots of restaurants on both of them, and now that I got most of the start up groceries done I should not be walking 20 minutes loaded like a donkey (2 times) anymore! One of them is on Cavill Ave, the heart of Surfers Paradise (the town I am in). There is lots of entertainments, street performers, shops, boutiques, restaurants, cinemas, clubs, bars, chemists (pharmacies hahaha), and so on. It is pretty good place to hang out…
I am tired of writing, but on Part 3 I will post what I have been up to since I got here (other than shopping for food)… Its 10 pm and I am absolutely exhausted, today the sun was out all day and a 2hr ride at midday and a swim at 4pm really drained me.
Until the next one (I promise, now that I got up to date I will keep it that way…)
Facundo
1 comment:
there is a freaking bird that makes a weird noise starting at 5am, pretty damn loud. I need to ask someone what it looks like and start getting rid of some when I see them
It's called a rooster. What, you don't have them in Argentina?! :D
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