Wednesday 21 March 2012

Home again....

After a couple of days of travel, it felt good to arrive to the warm caress of a Caribbean breeze, the buzz of mosquitoes and my own bed. Being upright for so long took it's toll on my well being and the final plane leg was only possible after a large mohito. Well, that's just justifying the mohito I enjoyed with coconut shrimp and salad a Miami Airport. There are some nice restaurants there and, at Islander Bar and Grill, excellent service. The man serving me must have felt sorry for me, he poured me a large one and smiled that smile people do when you look like you've been flying for days.

It was good to get to Miami. The leg from LA was a blur of tiredness. I felt so sorry for the man who sat next to me and the plane ladies. I was a little incoherent when they asked what I wanted to drink, such a tough question when gibberish is your first language and English is relegated to second. I was also starving and American Airlines doesn't have any real food that this vege eats. Actually there's not much real food at all, hence my Miami meal.

I got a surprise in LA, well just before LA really. I checked my forward boarding passes over breakfast on the plane and noticed the short time on my itinerary was different to the very short time on my boarding pass, about 50 minutes shorter. Oh dear! I knew it would be tight, I was almost at the front of the plane because of this. Luckily for me I got out quickly, right into an immigration queue. A long one. I explained my issue to an officer, she was not interested. Luckily for me there were eight or nine Aussies in front of me, men of about my vintage who also had a short stop between flights. Not as short as mine thankfully.

One told the others to let me in, one or two were not that happy, but I did smile sweetly and they forgave this queue jumping kiwi. There was plenty of banter, I took all I got with the best of grace and didn't fire many Aussie ones back, very restrained of me. The bag finally came, I ran to Terminal 4, up the stairs and had a sweet run through security. They were trying out a new system, the line was smaller so through I rocked. I sprinted through Terminal 4, dodging people, and got to the gate for the final boarding call.

I would most certainly have missed my plane and not got home last night if it wasn't for those generous Aussie blokes. Thanks guys, much appreciated! It was lovely to be home in my own bed, a good nights sleep, stocking up the groceries, a Swedish massage and I feel human again. Not quite ready to go back to work. I did have plans to go in for a bit of catching up today, loose plans that didn't happen. That's tomorrows job. Photos and more stories to come as soon as I really land.


No comments: