Sometimes things just seem to go too well.....

I hardly slept the night before I left.

The combination of excitement over the trip, worrying about what I might have forgotten, and dread of the long flight ahead had me awake and tossing and turning at 3 am.

My neighbor Charlee had offered to drive me to the airport, and I was meeting her at 5 am. I took care of the last few details to close up the house for 3 months, went over my mental checklist one more time, and went to pick up Charlee.


It was cool and foggy in the valley when I left, but a forecast east wind would mean clear conditions at the airport. I wanted to get to the airport early, since I was taking my hang glider as checked baggage. I had taken the precaution of getting approval from the airline station manager for my glider ahead of time, but I still wanted to make sure I had time to deal with any eventualities. As it turns out, every thing went like clockwork. I checked in, waited for my gear to clear the TSA screening, and headed to the gate.

my connection was tight, but I didn’t think it was that tightThe flight from Portland to Honolulu was on time, which was good, since I knew I had a tight connection in Honolulu. In Honolulu I was hoping to take a stroll and get a few pictures, but when I got off the Portland plane they were already boarding the Sydney flight. Oh-oh. I knew. There was no chance that they would get my glider moved between planes. I had at least thought ahead to bring a change of clothes, a razor, and a toothbrush in my carryon, but it was still going to be a hassle if my bags missed the flight.

The flight to Sydney was long but uneventful. 10 hours seems like forever, especially after just stepping off of a 6 hour flight. I passed the time reading, sleeping and listening to music.

In Sydney the immigration clerk asked where I was staying that night. I realized I had no idea! I was being met by my friend “Butcher” Bob. We were supposed to stay at his sister’s house in Sydney, but I had no idea where that was. Fortunately I had a phone number for Bob, and that satisfied immigration.



When I picked up my bags, there was the glider. Amazing. I balanced my suitcase, carryon, and hang glider on a tiny luggage cart and headed for the serpentine line to clear customs. Since I live in the country, I had checked the box for having visited a rural area recently, which meant I had to go through the “something to declare” line at customs. I passed the 300 people waiting in the “nothing to declare” line and was waved on through.

Bob was waiting at the exit when I came out.
How easy is that?