G'DAY MATES

(just kidding, no one actually says that here!)

Here goes my first real blog post! I've been in Perth for a few days now and am still feeling the effects of jet lag, though it really hasn't been nearly as bad as I was expecting.

MY 36-HOUR FLIGHT PATH

Depart TORONTO: 28 September 2012 12:40

Arrive LOS ANGELES: 28 September 2012 14:55

Time in airport in TORONTO: 3:10

Depart LOS ANGELES: 28 September 2012 22:10

Arrive SYDNEY: 30 September 2012 6:05

Time in airport in LOS ANGELES: 7:15

Depart SYDNEY: 30 September 2012 8:10

Arrive PERTH: 30 September 2012 11:20

Time in airport in SYDNEY: 2:05

Weird fact about my particular flight path: I never experienced Saturday, September 29th.  From leaving Los Angeles I was travelling earlier in September 28th until we hit the International Date Line of the east coast of Asia/Australia.  At that point I ended up immediately in September 30th and continued to travel back in time on this day until I landed in Sydney.  Hope it wasn't too great of a day that I missed :P

TIPS AND TRICKS

For anyone anticipating a long trip like this coming up, or for those of you curious how I survived this (I am still questioning that myself!) here are some of the tips/tricks I used:

a) Sleep deprivation - this may sound counter intuitive, but the only way to make it across the pacific ocean is by sleeping through it. I forced myself to stay awake on the flight from Toronto to LA and during my 7-hour layover in LA. This combined with some of the other tricks below, allowed me to sleep for 10 hours on flight #2. Now, I woke up for the dinner and breakfast meals but other than that it was pretty much a solid nights sleep.

b) Gravol - a big thank you to my bestie Danielle who provided me with Gravol. I took 2 of these as soon as I got on flight #2 and it clearly helped!

c) Eye mask, ear plugs, pillows, and blankets - no one wants to be woken up by seat belt announcements (you aren't getting out of your seat anyway!), shivering (those planes get cold!), or cabin lights!

d) Change of clothes - I brought almost a full change of clothes to put on after flight #2, which helped with the jet lag to start a new day when I landed in Sydney. It felt like a million bucks putting on new socks!

e) Toothbrush and baby wipes - I brushed my teeth 3-4 times over the 36 hours. Whenever I was feeling gross, tired, hungry, thirsty, basically any feeling, I brushed my teeth! And whenever I brushed my teeth I also wiped my face, arms, neck, any bare skin down with baby wipes. Its pretty much the best you can do in the bathroom of an airport to freshen up!

f) Pacing - if I was on solid ground, my bum did not touch a seat. Any time in an airport was spent pacing up and down the terminal, I clearly had enough time to sit while in the air!

g) Lots of entertainment - books, movies, music, all of the above!

Here's a little snapshot of my carry-on baggage with all of the above mentioned included:

MY FIRST 48 HOURS
Now for a short update on my first few days here in Perth. 

I was lucky enough to have my friend Steve (from here) pick me up from the airport and take me to my apartment.  It looks exactly like it did online, only a little bit smaller and is very comfortable.  I will post more pictures in a later post, but here is the picture of the view from my balcony to the pool below:

I managed to stay up until 11pm on Sunday night as a result of a short nap and Steve taking me out to a birthday party. 

Jet lag set in on Monday morning though, I managed to force myself to stay in bed until 7am after dozing in and out of sleep for 3 hours and felt truly awful -- headaches, cranky, nauseous.  I spent the next few hours laying on the couch, watching TV, and drinking tea. 

Luckily that was just what I needed, as I was feeling perfectly fine to hit the beach by noon!

If you look closely there is a small black dot - that's a shark helicopter! They fly along the coast where the beaches are looking for sharks.  If they see one within 500m they sound the alarm and everyone has to come out of the water until they give the "all safe". 

Anyway, thanks for reading my first post!  I'm going to do my best to update at least once a week with things happening down under! 

Love and miss you all
KRISTY
xox