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From Down Under to Up Yonder

Writer's picture: Nancy SedgwickNancy Sedgwick

January 28/29, 2024



Where Are We? Do you recognize the scenes above?


Sooo... we weren't planning on writing a blog about our travel day. But some stories just sort of write themselves. So here we go:

  • The 28th started off well. We were packed and ready to go to the airport on-time, unusual for us!

  • Our flight to San Francisco was a little late, but nothing serious. We arrived at 7:30 pm for our 10:50 pm flight to Sydney. Our biggest problem was deciding when and how much to eat at the airport since we were getting dinner on the plane. But did we really want to wait until after we took off at 10:50 to have our dinner? Major decisions!

  • Then we got the first text that our flight would be delayed. But it wasn't a long delay and we boarded the plane around 11:05. And then we sat in our seats as a series of announcements were made, each pushing back our departure time. Reasons given for the delays:

    • an issue "outside United's control"

    • an issue loading cargo

    • waiting for a part to take to a plane in Sydney that needs it

    • waiting due to the need to meet the assigned gate time upon arrival in Sydney

    • a technical issue that needs to be fixed

    • a technical issue that is fixed but needs to be signed off

  • And finally - the flight was canceled because the crew would now go over their allowed service time if we flew to Sydney


At 1:15 a.m. on 1/29 we disembarked and joined the throng of people who needed to rebook their flight and find a place to stay for the night. At 3:00 a.m. we finally got into a hotel room near the airport, with a flight booked to Sydney 19 hours later.


But after getting some sleep and coffee and food this morning, the grumpy mood dissipated and we focused on the positive aspects of this experience.

  1. We got to wish Sarah, our daughter-in-law, a happy birthday on her actual birthday. Originally we were going to miss her entire birthday day (1/29), because when traveling to Australia from the west coast, you actually lose an entire day crossing the International Dateline, and that day was Sarah's birthday.

  2. The 49ers are NFC Conference Champs and are going to the Super Bowl! We went shopping and bought 49er shirts to wear on the cruise on Super Bowl day!

  3. We are in San Francisco! We love San Francisco! So we jumped on BART and went into the city to eat and shop!

  4. We are still going (we hope) to go on an amazing cruise to places we haven't been before!



Hopefully, off to Sydney to night!

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Lori Morris
Feb 01, 2024
Rated 5 out of 5 stars.

I KNEW looking on the bright side included shopping!! 😊

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Nancy Sedgwick
Nancy Sedgwick
Feb 06, 2024
Replying to

You know us well!

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Sarah Pierce
Sarah Pierce
Jan 30, 2024
Rated 5 out of 5 stars.

Making the best of it and a sunny day in SF too!

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Nancy Sedgwick
Nancy Sedgwick
Feb 01, 2024
Replying to

Including yummy clam chowder and shopping!

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mary Susan doyle
mary Susan doyle
Jan 30, 2024
Rated 5 out of 5 stars.

The journey is the reward…a day in the Bay is ok

Enjoy summer down under

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Nancy Sedgwick
Nancy Sedgwick
Feb 01, 2024
Replying to

Thanks Mary!

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Peter Klein
Peter Klein
Jan 30, 2024
Rated 5 out of 5 stars.

A real pain. Sorry for you. However, there are worse places to be stuck. Happy trails.

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Nancy Sedgwick
Nancy Sedgwick
Feb 01, 2024
Replying to

So true!

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