05.11.2004 - Melbourne, Victoria, Australia

The flight from Los Angeles to Melbourne was not as bad as I had anticipated it would be. The duration of the nonstop flight had been listed as 17 hours, but it turned out to be “only” 15. This was till the longest single flight I have ever been on. Traveling westward, with the rotation of the earth, and starting at midnight LA time, we stayed in night for almost the entire flight. Although the rows of seats in coach class were much too close together for comfort, I had an aisle seat in the center section of the 747. A man who reminded me of Peter Lorre in Casablanca or The Maltese Falcon had the aisle seat at the other end of my row, but the two seats between us were unoccupied. This made it possible to be a little less uncomfortable while trying to sleep on the plane and apparently I managed to get some sleep, since a total of nearly six hours vanished during two different times when I closed my eyes.

I had never before succeeded n sleeping on a plane, and doing so this time was very helpful in adjusting to the time in Australia (15 hours ahead of Jackson and 17 ahead of Los Angeles). The sleep on the plane combined with a three-hour nap late Monday afternoon seems to have done the trick in getting me on the radically different time here.

Customs in Australia uses dogs to sniff all the baggage. Agents run them through the lines several times. Kind of scary.

My host for my first few days in Australia, Tim Healey, met me at the airport and has proved to be wonderful in providing hospitality and good conversation.

It is hard to believe that I am actually in Australia, but the numerous very tall gum (eucalyptus) trees along the road from the airport toward the city center of Melbourne were entirely in keeping with my image of Australia. I’m looking forward to my drive along the Great Ocean Road today and tomorrow, but I’m a little worried about driving on the left, especially in the city, but also on the winding road along cliffs above the ocean.

RSM