i'm gonna start with the end of the trip. its 6:45am, i'm wide awake (i did have a good 10 hr sleep though) and i feel like starting with the end-- the 37 hours of transit.
it starts off with getting on the hotel shuttle bus to the airport where we stand in a VERY long line to check in. we still managed to get emergency exit row seat though 8)
we got on the plane just before lunch for our 12 hr flight to taipei. i don't even know what time it was when we arrived in taipei (i'd assume mid afternoon sometime a day ahead of vancouver). our plan was to do the same as last time (find the couches by the prayer rooms in the airport and try to nap there for most of the 8 hr layover-- this time at least we had some nt dollars and they'd added a subway into one of the food courts so we could eat-- all the other places seemed to only have meat dishes). while we were trying to find our way to the food court and prayer room area we ran into a canadian guy doing the same flight and he wanted to see if there was a hotel in the airport that had hourly rates (zac and i knew there was a transit hotel at the airport--we even knew where it was and i had said to zac that we should check on hourly rates but he said it wouldn't be "that kind" of hotel). while we sat in the food court the canadian guy went over to the hotel. he came back a few minutes later with a piece of paper-- $39us for 3 hrs twin share room plus extra for more hours. he was gonna head over there after he ate and we decided to do the same. that was the most expensive (but really good) nap and shower i've ever had (much better than curling up on the couches in the highly air conditioned prayer room foyer). here's our view from our cute little airport hotel room
we got on the plane just before lunch for our 12 hr flight to taipei. i don't even know what time it was when we arrived in taipei (i'd assume mid afternoon sometime a day ahead of vancouver). our plan was to do the same as last time (find the couches by the prayer rooms in the airport and try to nap there for most of the 8 hr layover-- this time at least we had some nt dollars and they'd added a subway into one of the food courts so we could eat-- all the other places seemed to only have meat dishes). while we were trying to find our way to the food court and prayer room area we ran into a canadian guy doing the same flight and he wanted to see if there was a hotel in the airport that had hourly rates (zac and i knew there was a transit hotel at the airport--we even knew where it was and i had said to zac that we should check on hourly rates but he said it wouldn't be "that kind" of hotel). while we sat in the food court the canadian guy went over to the hotel. he came back a few minutes later with a piece of paper-- $39us for 3 hrs twin share room plus extra for more hours. he was gonna head over there after he ate and we decided to do the same. that was the most expensive (but really good) nap and shower i've ever had (much better than curling up on the couches in the highly air conditioned prayer room foyer). here's our view from our cute little airport hotel room
i think that rest made the next 9 hr leg of the journey much more bearable (especially since we got stuck in the center of the plane-- at least i had a spare seat between me and the next person so i could kind of lay across part of that and get a bit of good sleep). the australia-taiwan flights have in seat tvs with lots of movies, shows and games to choose from too so in between a couple naps i managed to watch 3 movies and play some video games 8)
we had a 2 hr layover in sydney but most of that time was spent collecting our bags and moving thru customs (which i had NO issues with despite not having my passport validated with my current visa) and quarantine (we also managed to have an australian coffee-- mmmmmm..... back to the land of good coffee-- before getting on the plane to melbourne).
my legs had been feeling really funny (i'd swiched to flip flops before re-checking my baggage in sydney) and i took once we got on the plane to melbourne. i discovered my ankles had swollen to at least twice they're normal size!!! i'd never had that happen from flying (by my mom had the same thing when she flew down at christmas)
we had a 2 hr layover in sydney but most of that time was spent collecting our bags and moving thru customs (which i had NO issues with despite not having my passport validated with my current visa) and quarantine (we also managed to have an australian coffee-- mmmmmm..... back to the land of good coffee-- before getting on the plane to melbourne).
my legs had been feeling really funny (i'd swiched to flip flops before re-checking my baggage in sydney) and i took once we got on the plane to melbourne. i discovered my ankles had swollen to at least twice they're normal size!!! i'd never had that happen from flying (by my mom had the same thing when she flew down at christmas)
i had rolls on the top of my ankle when i flexed it and i couldn't see my ankle bone at all! the flight to melbourne was nothing (only 1h 5 min) but then after collecting our baggage zac's dad met us and drove us all the way to the other side of town to pick up wombat from the kennel before heading home. so by the time we got home we had spent just of 37 hrs in transit from vancouver to here. i was pretty tired but i think poor wombat was even worse off than us (i think she must have spent most of the last couple weeks completely on edge day and nite)
first she just passed out on top of me while i was trying to elevate my ankles:
then she just crashed on her chair (after zac gave her a bath cuz she smelled and looked horrible-- the kennel was supposed to bath her before we picked her up as part of their service but i'm pretty sure they didn't):
she didn't move from there-- even when zac brought home chips and veggie burgers!! she slept thru the nite on her bed and then i woke her up at 6am to come cuddle on our bed. she's still passed out on there with zac.
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