Leaving on a Jet Plane(s)

Another beautiful St John day greeted us on the 22 December our last day on St John. It was both a happy and sad day for Annie. Happy because she was setting off on a new adventure and sad because she was leaving an Island and a large group of friends she had grown to love.

All good things must end and we set off on our journey to Australia at noon when Sue arrived to take Annie and I to the Cruz Bay Ferry terminal. 

We had five large bags and a heavy backpack between us and it was rather cumbersome making our way to the ferry, though some of this was alleviated by having a porter take our bags to the ferry. We boarded one of the new fast ferries for the twenty minute trip to St Thomas.

Annie looked back at St John and I think I detected a tear in her eye as she said goodbye to the place that had been her home for ten years. 

Annie's last sight of St John

On landing at St Thomas we had to haul our bags only a short distance to the large taxi that can accommodated a dozen passengers. St Thomas was a busy metropolis compared to St John, traffic lights, traffic snarls and fast food joints. St Thomas certainly doesn't have the laid back vibe of St John. 

We found ourselves in a scrum of people at the American Airlines check in. People everywhere with not too many rules. By the time we had struggled with our bags to the check in counter we were hot and frustrated. That all changed when the lady at the check in counter turned out to be a cricket fanatic and her and I had a discussion about the Big Bash League in Australia. Who would have thought I would come across a cricket enthusiast behind the check in counter in St Thomas?

Thumbs Up - On our way

To our relief our bags were checked through to Brisbane but unfortunately we couldn't say goodbye to our bags just yet as in St Thomas you have to haul your bags with you through Customs and Immigration. No easy task when you are shuffling forward in a large conga-line of people. 

We passed through TSA without any problems and were finally able to offload our bags onto a conveyor belt. Annie and I have a $10 bet as to whether our bags appear in Brisbane. I say yes, Annie says no. We will see!

Once through all the formalities we had an hour to chill in the waiting area, grab a quick bite to eat and purchase some duty free spirits for Christmas. 

We were seated towards the back of the aircraft a rather old and worn aircraft. Annie sat near the window and I was in the middle with someone on the outside. The service was minimal and Annie and I amused ourselves by watching shows on our laptops. 

Our aircraft departed late and we realised as we were coming into land at Miami after our 2hr 35 minute flight that we were going to be running short of time. An announcement went over the PA to allow folks who needed to catch a connection off first, but that didn't work out as everyone stood up. We walked ran to our gate which included a short two station ride on the Skytrain. On board we met two folks from St John who Annie knew.......is there no escape!

The screen is too far away - Laptop Time

We raced to the gate and proceeded through a doorway where we were met by a long boarding line which meant we could have taken our time. 

Once again we were down the back of the aircraft and once again for our 5hr 35 minute flight to Los Angles. Annie had the window seat and I was in the middle and someone on the aisle. The service was poor and American Airlines certainly once again failed to deliver.

A pleasant surprise was that we were met by a representative from Qantas and were escorted to a shuttle bus which took us to Tom Bradley International. After a short wait we boarded our 747 and headed down to the back of the aircraft. The flight to Brisbane was 13hrs 40 minutes a fact that Annie wasn't too keen to face.

We had a window and aisle seat hoping that no one would sit in the middle but that was quickly dashed when a young Aussie guy on a baseball scholarship to college in San Bernardino sat between us. After a moments consideration I swapped with him and moved to the middle seat of the third successive flight. I haven't sat in the middle seat for ten or more years and here I am doing it three times in one day!

Qantas Menu

We had an individual TV screen in the seat with over 100 movies and a multitude of TV shows, games and guides to watch. The service was fantastic and our two meals were fabulous. The cabin crew came through the aircraft every 30 minutes offering water to passengers, at the back of the aircraft were an array of self-service snacks. 

Breakfast is served

Finally, early in the morning on Christmas Eve we touched down in Brisbane. In  total we were in the air for 22 hours, travelled around 26 thousand kilometres, and slept for a combined total of around five hours. Thankfully we cleared immigration, bag pick up and quarantine in short time. 

Annie's first sight of the Australian coastline

Time now for Annie's Australian adventure to commence!

Annie and donkey's at Brisbane Airport