Day-o, Daylight come and me wan' go home

 Well, our fabulous trip down under has come to an end.

On my last post, our flight had been rebooked for 7:20 PM.  So, we went to the gate at boarding time, stood in a stupidly long line to get on, only to have the boarding pass rejected.  The gate agent looked at it, and said, "Ma'am, these are for tomorrow night!"  Gaa!  She asked if we were on one of the canceled flights which Virgin rebooked for us and I said yes.  So, she said have a seat and I'll see what I can do. 

Fortunately, she did manage to get us on the flight, albeit both of us with seats in the middle.  I was between 2 large guys, both of whom were using the middle arm rest, so sat the whole way scrunched up.  Oh well, it was only a 90 minute flight and we made to Sydney.

Then, we got in line for a taxi to our hotel.  I had booked one very near the airport as we were flying out the next morning.  We get the taxi, tell the driver the hotel, and he says, "That's very close.  I'm going to have to charge you $30 because I've been waiting in the queue a long time."  We were so tired we were just like, whatever, but it was quite a rip-off.  Then, to top off being ripped off on the fare, he dropped us at the wrong hotel.  We obviously could see the name of the hotel, and were like, "Is this the right place?"  He says, "Yes, yes, this is it."  We went in, and of course it is not the right place.  So then we had to walk down the street with our bags to the right place.  😡

Okay - now we are overly tired, the pillows on the bed were like rocks, and it just wasn't overall a very pleasant night.  But, we get up, get some breakfast, then head back to the airport for the flight home.

At some point, I can't remember exactly when, United notified us our flight out of Sydney was delayed by about an hour due to crew rest requirements.  Not a big deal overall, but we had a very short window in Houston to catch the flight to Charleston, so just one more thing to worry about.

Going through security at the Sydney airport, they confiscated my Vegemite!!!  😭  The young man was very polite about it, but he said I couldn't take it because it was 150 mg (or whatever measurement) and I was only allowed 100.  I told him that was the smallest one I could find, and it was going to ruin my Around the World Family Dinner because how could I make Aussie Meat Pies with no Vegemite?  He said I could buy a smaller one in the Duty Free shop, but it would be expensive.  So, we found this tiny little jar (I think it's just enough for the recipe) for $4.  (That's Australian dollars, so about $2.50 USD.  😃)

Our flight out of Sydney takes off as re-scheduled, and we head on back to the States.  There are storms in Houston, so everything is clogged up.  We are trying to rush through Security and Immigration to get to our gate, when we receive a notification that our flight to Charleston has been delayed.  For once, some good news.  😂  So, we slow down to a reasonable pace, find the lounge, and relax until it's time to head to the gate.

The flight home was fairly uneventful, and our lovely driver (Cory) was right on time picking us up and bringing us home.

Fantastic trip overall, but glad to be home!