They say "cheers mate" a lot...

After a year of planning, poring over maps and blogs and prices and logistical calculations, I'm in Australia.

The year it took me to get here didn't feel anywhere near as long as the two days it took me to fly from Raleigh, NC to Sydney, Australia. It was rediculous. After hauling my awkwardly-packaged bike into the airport in North Carolina (and paying a $50 oversized-package fee) I was off... my last view of Greensboro was from 15000 feet, a twinkling blur in the hazy purple twilight. For a moment I waxed sentimental, realized I was leaving behind everyone I know and love. Then I remembered they had to get up and go to work in a few hours, and I was on my way to summer beaches, and then everything was alright. (Sorry guys.)

I stopped in Denver during a layover, and caught my first glimpse of the Rockey Mountains in a decade... I hadn't seen the front range since I lived there years and years ago. Once I landed in Los Angeles (lovely from the air, but officially the most overrated city ever) I found my bicycle's makeshift box ripped wide open in several spots... there's no way it would ever make it to Australia in that condition. I spent the next hour piecing together strips of cardboard from the baggage service office, and taping them on with a full roll of packing tape acquired from the same location. I finished it up well enough, but I was still worried about how well the thing would hold up. Luckily some awesome guy named Marcus walked up with a roll of packing plastic and offered to help... five minutes later the thing was completely cocooned. Bears couldn't tear the thing apart, it was so well wrapped.

My next flight was to Fiji, but I had ten hours to kill before departure. Because baggage checkin times weren't until about two hours before the flight, I had to sit with my bike in the middle of a crowed airport until then. Audio security tapes in constant loop announced that any packages left by themselves would be promptly removed by security. So I babysat the thing for the next eight hours, alternative reading Pascal's Pensees and sleeping on the floor. Concrete is NOT comfortable.

Finally I was able to check my bike, and my bag (which had my camera in it, which meant it wouldn't be available once I arrived in Fiji... the bags were automatically transferred to the next flight. I realized this too late.) I slept a couple of hours on the way to Fiji, and landed there just as the sun was coming up. Sore from the long flight, I staggered off the plane, miffed that I didn't have my camera... the scenery was beautiful, a row of tropical mountains exploding from the grassy plains surrounding the airfield.

Four Fijians were waiting in the terminal with guitars and mandolins, singing and playing to greet travelers. It was pretty awesme, but all the lyrics sounded like variations of the word "Bula" ("hello" in Fijian.) "Bula bula buuuuuuula bulaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa buuula bulabulabulabulabulabulaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa bula..."

Pretty much just like that. It was still cool.

FINALLY i arrived in Sydney. It was surreal, getting off the plane and going through customs... my head in a whirlwind, I tried to contemplate that I was here at last. The very first thing I did was purchase a prepaid cellphone in case I needed to contact somebody. I hadn't thought of it until I saw the booth... definately a good move. Right next to it was a hostel directory; I called around to find the best prices, and ended up at a place for $28 a night with free breakfast. Not a bad price for a room in the middle of the largest city in Australia.

I booked two nights; the first one all I did was sleep, from 7 pm until the next morning. I was bloody exhausted. (They say 'bloody' a lot here too.) I woke up this morning and killed about five bowls of rice krispies and a half a loaf of bread, and then spent the rest of the day wandering the city. I had to have walked a good ten miles total, seeing everything from the famed Sydney Opera House to the botanical gardens to Chinatown to the King's Warf. It was complete awesomeness. And only in Sydney do you find an open-air McDonald's with pigeons chilling on the stools inside. I'd love to know what the health code standards are for that place... reflecting on how gross that is, I ate there.

So I'm alive and very well. I begin the biking portion of the trip tomorrow morning... I'll take the bike package to a nearby park and pull it out, assemble it, and navigate my way out of the city. I haven't quite found a way to upload pictures yet, so I don't yet have any to display... doing so might be a bit more difficult than I'd imagined. We'll see how it goes.

More updates soon! Keep checking back.