Finally I leave (21st June 2001)

My adventure finally begins!  After a week of cancellations, frustrations, disappointments, I finally board the plane, not to Auckland and Santiago as first booked but to Los Angeles and then directly into Lima.  

I am so grateful to Jacinta, Toni, Kath and Adele for distracting me by taking/meeting me for lunch & coffee. Thursday I joined Toni’s mahjong group, what a delightful game, I won three out of four games played and Toni's afternoon tea was delicious. On Friday, Adele had kindly given me Terry's ticket to see the Dali Lama, thank you Terry! Kath, Adele and I spent the afternoon at the Botanical Gardens listening to his wisdom, though the parking fee was a shock on our return. Later I met up with Jacinta to see Oranges & Sunshine, while waiting for Jacinta to arrive, Deb & Don walked past, heading for dinner before seeing the same movie. Naturally we had a drink and chat.

I am rested and very grateful for the calls, texts, messages of support and love, thank you.

As I had no car (on the Coast being repaired after my two accidents) and my Internet was cut off (I wasn't supposed to be here) I spent Friday, Saturday and Sunday travelling by bus to either Indooroopilly or Kenmore Libraries, trying to research my adventure without the Antipodeans. Thursday I received notification I again was cancelled and would not be flying to Tuesday 21^st and unfortunately the Antipodeans School trip was postponed till September, so my Peruvian adventure was to be on my own. 

I landed in Los Angeles and went through security for the first time (for me) since 9/11.  The queues were long and I eventually exited with my fingerprints and photo taken. LA airport was a bit disappointing, no showers, a few shops and a small food area, nothing compared to our Brisbane airport.  As it was 2am (for me) so I decided to have some scrambled eggs on rye toast. The odd thing was the eggs were served with either rice or potato. 
I landed at Lima airport at 12 midnight their time. I had booked a transfer and was grateful to see them waiting for me. I arrived at the Hostel and again was happy for the welcome, shower and sleep. It had been a long 30 hours.