This is how it went down:
Our flight from Knoxville to ATL was smooth and quick, upon landing Grace grabbed a quick hot dog and we quickly boarded our net flight to LAX. We taxied out as Grace fell asleep, I thought this was going to be a piece of cake. And as we learn sometimes in life, that's what I get for thinking. Because we spent the next four hours on the runway trying to repair mechanical problems with our airplane... We eventually taxied back to the airport and were allowed to get off the stupid airplane. By this time we had missed our connecting flight in LA by hours, I was pissed. I waited in line at the gate desk to talk to a representative as Grace slept by a stranger in a chair close by, I struck up conversation with a gentleman behind me who was on his was to Sydney and had too missed his connecting flight, it appeared Delta had a HUGE mess on their hands. I explained my flight itinerary and problems to the man behind the desk, he looked concerned and agreed to take me to the ticket desk so we could get our flights in order, I turned to get Grace and she was gone. I freaked, the nice gentleman behind me pointed out that she had gotten up to vomit in the nearby garbage can... AWESOME. Apparently the hot dog did not sit well. Once that was over we took ourselves to the ticket desk and worked with a lady to get a new itinerary. (now from LAX to Sydney to Dunedin) At 11:45, 6 hours after we were supposed to depart, our plane finally left the airport. 4 1/2 hours later we were landing in LAX, we waited in line at the Delta desk and received a hotel voucher and meal vouchers. Little compensation for making it home on time, but whatever. We met another gentleman from Australia and walked together to the hotel, Grace liked his accent. We slept like rocks that night. Got up the next morning, ate a decent continental breakfast and sat outside the hotel and counted the cars passing by, our flight wasn't out till 10:45pm that night. And apparently the area that LAX is in is not very tourist friendly. So we played it safe and opted for cheap entertainment. We checked out of our hotel room at 1:30, went to the airport, found our gate and watched movies for the next 8 hours... At 10:45 we boarded our plane to Sydney, 14 ridiculously long hours later we landed at Sydney International Airport at 8:40 am on Monday the 23rd. We made it to our next gate (they print boarding passes at the gate) We patiently waited, with ants in our pants, knowing that we had but one flight till we got to hug John and be home. Promptly at 10:30 the attendants filed in behind the desk and opened the gate for passengers. When Grace and I approached they informed us that we were NO where in their system, so we weren't allowed to board the plane. They instructed us to get in touch with Delta, as it was their mistake. Irate, Grace and I went up to the Transfer Desk because there was no Delta desk to be found. The ladies told me that the Delta desk was on the other side of customs... Which I can't get to because I don't hold an Australian Passport or Visa... Well Shit! With the help of Alex and Kelly, two Virgin Australia reps, we decided that I might need to get a transit visa for Australia so I could cross over and approach the illusive Delta desk. However, William the Customs agent informed us that even if they did issue us visas there wasn't anyone at that desk today. SHIT! So the customs agents got Delta on the phone and threatened to fine them $10,000 for getting us in the country and leaving us there. After a lot of phone calls and much effort from the VA reps and the customs agents Grace and I had 5:40pm tickets from Sydney to Christchurch New Zealand... (6 hours north of home) And there was supposed to be a rep waiting on us with the understanding that we were needing further transportation (by plane or freakin bus) to Dunedin. We arrived in Christchurch at 10:30pm Monday night with no rep waiting... and three missing checked bags (of course the ones with our clothes in them are MIA) So Grace and I elected to sleep in the airport, I bought two tickets to Dunedin for the next morning. I was done waiting on Delta to make it right at this point all they had done was screw things up... I stayed up till 3am talking to a french backpacker who travels around working on farms in NZ and Aust. I found it very interesting how so many of our "single-serving" friends at this point were what made this horrifying trip not so bad... Our friends that we spent little time with and never exchanged names or information, just conversation and smiles... We fell asleep around 3am and woke up at 5am to catch our 7am flight out to Dunedin. We made it and John was there with a giant grin on his face to pick us up.
We learned a great many things from our adventure, but most important are:
1. A good attitude goes a long way
2. Delta SUCKS
3. Grace is immune to Jet lag
And most important of them all is,
4. There's no place like home!
1. A good attitude goes a long way
2. Delta SUCKS
3. Grace is immune to Jet lag
And most important of them all is,
4. There's no place like home!
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