Over the past couple of days I have traveled from SFO to SYD. Of course, you should already know that SFO is San Francisco and SYD is logically Sydney. The flight was only 15 hours long, but I left San Francisco on Friday night and arrived in Sydney on Sunday morning. I didn’t really have a Saturday this week.

Here you can see the flight map and you can see that we took a pretty direct route, but not exactly straight. There were several areas of turbulence and I think this is why we made a few course changes.

Yesterday afternoon I wrote that it was going to be a Delayed Flight. Luckily I was paying attention to my app as they bumped the flight back to the original time. It was a bit past the original planned departure time from home, but traffic was light so made it to the airport with plenty of time.

As I got to the airport I learned that I had received an upgrade. I had been at the top of the upgrade list since I checked in, but the flight was full. It was nice to get the good news and to be able to use an upgrade on what is probably the longest flight I will take this year. This is where the down and back flight to LA I took at the end of last year has paid off. See: There and Back

It was nice to have a meal on the plane that not only tasted good, but also looked good. Then it was time to lay back and get some sleep. A long flight goes much quicker when you can get some good sleep.

I don’t often sit in a window seat, so I decided to take a few pictures while I had the chance. I really like the way the wing on a 787 looks, although it is a bit more dramatic when you are sitting right over it and looking straight up the wing.

When I landed in Sydney, I was able to quickly go though immigration, but then had a long wait at the baggage claim. You have to wait somewhere.

Unfortunately the train to the airport was not running due to track maintenance and I was not going to take a bus. So, it was time to go stand in the taxi line.

I really dislike the taxi line at the Sydney airport, they seriously need to look at making it more efficient. I am not an expert, but having seen many taxi stands around the world even I could improve their efficiency with a simple reorganization of their existing loading space and a bit of training for the staff.

After the long taxi ride I made it to my serviced apartment and got another surprise. I got another upgrade. Instead of a studio apartment I am staying in a one bedroom apartment for the next two weeks. It is a bit more space, but also nice that I don’t see my bed all the time 🙂

Taking the taxi also had another advantage. I got to the apartment a little quicker than I would have by train as traffic was light. I then had more time before I was picked up by friends to go to worship services at Macquarie Church of Christ. I have to admit, I fell asleep a few times during church this morning.

Now to stay awake until a normal bed time. Maybe just a little nap? I will think about it after I get in some shopping so I have something for breakfast tomorrow.

Steven