Plan C

My flight to Sydney was just 2 days away and I still hadn’t come up with a game plan. Although our dollar is stronger than the AU $ I quickly learned that Sydney was an expensive city. I spent hours searching for a reasonably priced hotel in a safe, convenient neighbourhood. With just hours to go I was able to find a studio apartment through AirBnB. Then I learned that when I applied for my NZ travel visa I made the stupid mistake of using a fake website that linked me to a third party site. I got billed $144 for what should have cost $44 (a $100 processing fee)!! I consider myself a pretty savvy traveller and I had read about this scam but it all looked so official. At least I did receive the visa while apparently some don’t. I now have to worry about the security of my credit card information and passport as I have no idea who this third party is. Not a smart move on my part :(

When I arrived at the Honolulu airport Hawaiian Airlines refused to check me in for the flight because the Australian government requires that you have proof that you are leaving the country. I didn’t have a definite plan so I had to get on the wifi and figure out when and where I was going. Fortunately Virgin Australia had a seat sale and I had arrived at the airport 3 1/2 hours early just in case there were issues. JS will be shocked by that! While in the security lineup an attractive Hawaiian woman in her mid-30’s came up behind me, said she was having an anxiety attack and collapsed on the floor, which was unusual behaviour for someone having a panic attack. I was glad that security personnel came to assess her only to discover that she was as drunk as a skunk! When she couldn’t stand up independently in the body scanner they determined her unfit to fly.

I am writing this enroute to Sydney, a 10 hour flight. The 2 passengers across from me have been coughing constantly. There is an empty seat beside me so that has been helpful. I watched the movie Parasite. I highly recommend it but don’t nod off like I did because I had to rewind a couple of times in order to read the subtitles I had missed!

Time for another movie.Read more