11/5, 10/5, 11/5 - Cairnes; Brisbane; Aukland;
Los Angeles, Atlanta
At 3:30AM on Mother's Day, our alarm awoke us for the start of our return
from OZ. Our flight from Cairnes to Brisbane left at 5:00AM. We had a short
layover in Brisbane before our hop to Aukland. On the flight from Aukland
to LA, we were in an exit row seats, which gave us a little more room to
stretch out. Also, each of the seats had its own screen, and a choice of
five movies. Because I don't sleep well on planes, I ended up seeing three
of them, and still had time for two meals, plenty of reading, and a few short
naps.
The flight from Aukland left in the middle of the afternoon. Because it was
going eastward, an hour's flight meant two hours on the clock. But before
we could get to midnight, we crossed the International Date Line, which sent
us back to late Saturday night. Another hour or so put us back into Sunday
(and Mother's Day) for the second time.
Other than this, the flight was uneventful. After a short layover in LA,
we boarded our last of eleven flights. After 31 hours of traveling, we arrived
home to a night's sleep in our own beds and several confused days as we adjusted
to our ten hours of jet lag.