Posted by I forget the pains of long haul flying every time. It is particularly hard from regional Victoria with that extra travel day into Melbourne to first reach the airport.
I haven’t calculated the full time I’ve been on the go. Too many time zones changes that I’ve lost count. I suspect is been around 26 hours from Melbourne to Phoenix in Arizona. Initially I flew from Melbourne to Auckland, basically just to fly with Air New Zealand but to break the trip up a but and avoid a straight run through from Melbourne to LA, then onto Phoenix. Three and half hours from Melbourne to Auckland, passing through security again and then some waiting. Another twelve and a half hours to LA, more security and immigration.
Expecting to be asked a million questions by immigration about my long term stay, I had a stack of printed documents at hand including a statement from HR stating I was on long service leave and was still being paid, statements of bank balances and proof of return flight. I have a five year visa but was still expecting the third degree about how I was funding this trip, what I did for work and would I be looking for a job in the US etc… I think I was asked maybe three questions and was welcomed across the border.
The border guard didn’t stamp my passport with an exit day which I thought odd. Maybe this is the new digital way of doing things. Just to be safe I’ve kept copied of my documents as I know a fellow Aussie hiker Ben who had dramas on the CDT two years ago. Ben had the same 5 year visa as me but the border officer entered the standard 90 day limit on his record. He received an email on trail saying his entry was about to expire and it cost him 4 or 5 days travelling to a major city to get it worked out. Fingers crossed.
The travel wasn’t quite done. More security and one more flight, only a short 50 minutes, from LA east across to Phoenix and a short cab ride to my hotel.
I basically left Melbourne at midday Monday and arrived in Phoenix at 6pm the same day. Time travelling.
I have never nailed down a solid sleep strategy for long haul flights where the time difference between cities is huge. I have tried a few. Setting my watch to the destination time when first seated on the plane and trying to adapt to that has been my main strategy. If it is early morning in the destination country when on plane I try to sleep.
My other tactic is remain awake right through and crash n burn at the other end. Not preferred as the lack of sleep has similar effects to feeling half drunk. This is never good when navigating through foreign airports, rushing to collect luggage, passing through security half delirious, finding the next gate to make connecting flights and passing through immigration control. I opted for the second and did alright.
The size of LAX has seen me avoid it where possible but it was super easy. Very well signed and easy to understand where to go. It took longer to pass through Auckland than LA.
The Motel was a bit of a surprise. City Centre Downtown Motel. I chose it because it was close to the CBD and walking distance to the places I needed to go the next day – the supermarket to start my food resupplies and an outdoor shop for a gas canister. I was only a 2 star place and online reviews were generally good however it is obvious to me now most reviews had to have been bots. You get what you pay for. This place was all of 2 of it star rating. An absolute dive of a place. Oh well… only two night and the first one I would basically just be crashing out, exhausted from travel and the huge time differences half way around the world.
I had to have a second look at some of the online reviews. There was one with photos of a broken door latch, loose wiring on the air con and some other stuff. Interesting the hotel responded to this review stating that none of these issues had been reported and that the review was meant for a different hotel. Some of those photos looked familiar to me. Sure enough they were photos from the exact same room I’m now staying in.
Onto Lordsburg tomorrow for the final travel leg before kicking off the CDT, a four hour Greyhound bus ride.
Mick Beckers 