Annette is gone walkabout

hi guys!

i promised people I would do my best to keep you updated.

Well I am in Vancouver :D And it's great!!!!

I'm doing my best not to roll of my chair, cause i still have the feeling i'm on the plane.

My trip went pretty good. Well....I made it, so that means that the main things went alright.

In the last euhm....many hours that I have been awake I have experienced a lot of different things. I have written them down in my travel journal so I'll just copy some from that :)

at 3.30 this morning my alarm went off! Poor mim...gotta love having friends like me who decide to fly out of the country at 5.45 am. Thank you so much for putting up with that Mim! At 4am Moira came past to pick me up. I only realized after I had asked her to bring me to the airport that it was her birthday that day...whoops!

Anyway...I got to sydney without any drama's.

I had to wait in Sydney for 2 hours and when I boarded the plane I got tested for drugs....I must look dutch! ;)

When I came on the plane I realised to my shock and horror that we didn't even have our own screens, but that there were only big screens in the plane!

I was sitting in the area near the window, but had the aisle seat. It was pretty good because the seat next to me was empty. So I and the lady in the window seat could share it when we wanted to sleep. I slept for about a whole 2 hours! Pretty amazing for me! I watched some interesting movies and some VERY uninteresting movies, but all with all the 12,5 hour trip went really vast.

And then the fun began! America! :S

When I got to San Fran I was supposed to pick up my bag and check it in again. Of course....no bag! I waited at the service desk for 15 minutes but no one from United Airlines showed up. So someone from another airline told me to go past security and try another service desk. Thats what I did. The guy there told me that I had to talk to someone at the quantas service desk because i flew with them from Perth to Sydney. So I looked everywhere for the desk. Well....in case you are ever in this situation. There is no such desk!!! O how delighted I was with this warm welcome into the amazing united states! And I only had 45 minutes to catch my next flight! So when the lady at the general info desk told me that there was no such thing as a quantus service desk in San Fran, I went up to another United Airlines person and told him my inner feeling.

It is amazing how long trips and no sleep give you the ability to be very honest with people! :)

This dear mister 'I-look-important-but-i-have-no-idea-what-i-am-talking-about' told me that there was nothing they could do there, but I just had to wait until I got to vancouver.

Fair enough...at least I had still heaps of time to get through the security check point....so i thought!

Man alive!!!! What a chaos that was! It was so busy and it took security forever to process people! I must say....I am not that scared of a terrorist attack while I'm in america!

I got through it, but while I had 45 minutes to observe the dear Americans I had to come to the conclusion I came to. Most people that I have seen in the 2,5 hours I was in America are unfriendly, rude, unhelpful and extremely pushy!!

But who knows, my view might change when I go back in 5 weeks time.

So...I finally got to my plane...and it was late :)

While I was waiting I got talking with an Australian woman who was born in Berlin. She was on her way to Edmonton. She has had more experience with United Airlines and said that it never has been extremely good....so maybe a point for people to think about when they book a ticket....it's something I will keep in mind!

So I had a 1 hour and 45 minute flight to Vancouver and it was amazing to land there!!!

First of all the view of the mountains...LOVE IT!

And the airport is amazing!!!! A lot of glass so it's really open and light. And there is carpet everywhere. It is just so peaceful to walk into it! They even have a room with water and trees and bird noises....i just wanted to lay on the floor and go to sleep!

And when I got to customs they were actually friendly to me and I didn't doubt myself if I maybe look like a terrorist!

She did however ask me all these questions about Kym, cause I said my main reason to come was for her wedding. She asked me what kind of job she has and what kind of visa......euhm......I think I was pretty close to the truth...I hope.

But then after customs I couldn't find my bag again! Surprise, surprise!

So hopefully they are going to bring it to the hostel tomorrow.

I took the train to the hostel and after that I did a bit of shopping so I have some things I really need. The shops here are amazing....they have an h&m just down the road from the hostel :D I'm right in downtown vancouver so thats great!

Anyway...I gotta go...there are other people who need internet.

I'm gonna have a shower and jump in bed...seeing i've been up for over 30 hours!

It is 8.45 pm at the moment here and it's still light....so it nearly feels like a sin to go to bed! But for the next 6 weeks I'll make the best of it :D

hope everything is well with you all!!

xxx

Leaving San Fran

Vancouver

This is the room with the water, trees and bird sounds....amazing!

I don't think you can see it well on this photo, but right at the top behind the round thing there is a water fall and it runs all the way down next to the stairs.

This is just before you go through customs....just amazing!