Destination # 8: Melbourne, Australia

After almost two weeks in New Zealand, it was finally time to start our long trip back home. We were set to fly out of Queenstown with a lay over in Sydney and then off to LA where we needed to catch a domestic flight back up to Portland. Our lay over in LA was pretty short, and I was a bit worried about making it through customs, getting to the domestic terminal, and then checking our bags back in and getting through security, but we didn't have any other choice, so we crossed our fingers and hoped that everything would work out (but it should be clear by now that that isn't how things go for Jacob and I! lol).

In the morning Jacob and I packed up and headed out of Wanaka. We got to Queenstown a bit early, so did a little souvenir shopping (of course we waited until the very last minute to do this! lol) and then headed to the airport. We returned our dear friend, the campervan, and checked in and paid our fees. (Apparently you have to PAY to leave New Zealand... $25 per person... I kind of wondered what would happen if I refused to pay ;)).

The weather was starting to a get a little crappy, kinda wet and foggy, but, being Oregonians, we didn't think anything of it. We boarded the plane and sat there waiting for take off.

And waiting, and waiting.

We were told that there was a large cloud of fog that was in the way of our departure route, and so we were waiting for it to move.

Jacob and I had so much "fun" with Mother Nature in New Zealand (earthquake, near-hurricane winds, snow closures) that it really shouldn't have been any surprise to us that she was now screwing with us leaving!

I wasn't stressing out too much as we waited. I knew that our layover in Sydney was pretty long, so I wasn't worried. And we continued to wait.

And then I heard something I wasn't expecting. A passenger asked another one, "We can't fly out of this airport after 6, right?" It was about 5:30 PM when I heard this statement... now I was nervous. A few minutes later a passenger asked a flight attendant the same question... and got an affirmative answer. If the fog did not move out of the way by 6 PM we would not be leaving the airport that night (Queenstown is surrounded by mountains and so, apparently, flying out after dark is a no-go).

Guess what everyone? The fog did NOT move. We did NOT leave Queenstown that night. Instead the airline shuttled us (at our expense) to hotels throughout the area (which, thankfully they paid for) and we were all told to be back at the airport at 6 AM... which, for Jacob and I, meant that we would miss ALL of our connecting flights.

The airline was able to re-book us to get to LA, but because we booked from LA separately, we were pretty much SOL. We tried making some phone calls and getting things done, but, in the end, we had to ask Jacob's mom if she could help us out while we were in the air... and we just had to hope that we had a flight out of LA when we finally go there.

So, the next morning Jacob and I return to the airport and are re-checking in. Our itinerary is now Queenstown to Sydney to Melbourne to LA (and then, somehow to Portland). And here's the kicker... since we were taking a domestic flight from Sydney to Melbourne, we had to pay for a visitor's VISA for Australia. (The last "day" of our trip was starting to get a bit more expensive than anticipated!).

We paid the fee, boarded the plane and took of (yay!)

After several hours we found ourselves in Melbourne with an EIGHT HOUR layover. So, with our visitor visas in hand, we decided to explore the city and spend an afternoon in an unplanned destination! =)

Looking out from Southern Cross Railway Station

We took a shuttle from the airport down to the train station and then walked around until we found the free tourist city loop bus. We rode through the loop and got a quick tour of the city!

St. Paul's Cathedral

City Street View

Finder's Street Station (I think)

I love this concept of rented bike. I think PDX should do something similar!

Centre for Moving Images

They had a Batman St., too! The Aussies most really love the caped crusader! =)

I don't think I could use a public toilet like this... just too.... out. But at least it's pretty. =)

Love it!

Just some parrots. =)

Off the bus and walkin' around a bit. Loved the city skyline for this vantage point.

The trolley that heads around the city loop.

The Yarra River

Our last "honeymooner" photo... though we still have many, MANY hours of travel to go.

Thankfully, by the time we made it to LA Jacob's mom had booked a flight home for us that same night. We got home late, but managed to get a few hours of sleep before heading back to work the next morning and back to "real" life (we had originally scheduled for a rest day... but that just didn't pan out. lol).


So, that's it! Honeymoon recaps are DONE! And the good news is, our professional photos are up online and we should be getting the CD this weekend!!! =) I can't wait to show you all how the actually event turned out. lol