Day 1

The honeymoon begins! After the excitement of yesterday, I think we actually both slept well, even though we had an early start to the airport today. As Ted's friend Danielle stayed with us last night, Ted dropped me off at the International Airport with the bags first, whilst he took Danielle to the domestic terminal to catch her flight.

I had a simple breakfast of raisin toast for breakfast, before we headed to the gate. We had been requesting either Business Class or Premium Economy, but got the bittersweet news that I had only received PE, whilst Ted was seated in Economy (although with three seats to himself).

I boarded the aircraft and was about to sit when Qantas movement control called me to say that we now both had Premium Economy! I wasn't sure what to do or where to sit but fortunately they had also called Ted who appeared a few minutes later. Now the honeymoon could really begin!

Without giving too many details about the flight, Ted slept for some of the way whilst I entertained myself with the Inflight Entertainment and dining. The Cabin Manager, hearing it was our honeymoon, treated us both to First Class champagne and comfort packs. Wow!

When we arrived in Los Angeles, we had the huge queue through immigration but fortunately, didn't need to wait for our bag at all. We took the transfer bus to our hotel but, since we couldn't check in yet, Ted suggested going to Santa Monica. We walked to a local 7-11 for some snacks and the clerk told us the bus to Santa Monica was "across the road". Unfortunately we thought she meant the main road, not the side road and ended up catching the bus back to the bus depot! When we eventually got on the right bus, we were on our way!

We didn't do a lot in Santa Monica, just walk along the pier and have some porridge for brunch at a large cafe before taking an Uber back to our hotel. Fortunately they let us check in slightly early, and we both enjoyed a 2 hour nap. For dinner we headed to a nearby Denny's which Ted and I always enjoy but most Americans we speak to don't seem to rate!

I contacted two friends: Mike (whom I met years ago on MySpace) and Monica (whom we met at an Argentinian tango show) who both live in Dallas to catch up later in the holiday. Ted had arranged to have drinks with an aviation friend John at a nearby hotel which ended up running quite late. We both went to bed with that typical Sydney-LA exhaustion feeling.Læs mere