26:48:48

it was a long day or so of flying but we are finally here-- 26 hours, 48 minutes and 48 seconds from taking off in chicago. dont worry i timed it.

in full aussie fashion, they showed cinderella man on one of the flights over. the film ofcourse stars (the man) russell mf'ing crowe. that movie only affirmed the fact that crowe is a force to be reckoned with.

the flight from chicago to san fran was severely delayed and we damn near missed our flight out to sydney, but they kindly held the plane for us. so that was a good start.

the dinner was salty, i guess thats the best word to describe-- but i was real happy just to have something hot. the bagel diet from earlier in the day just didnt quite cut it. we had the exit row seat which paid dividends on the long haul of 14.5 hours to sydney.

we finally landed and damo was there to pick us up along with a friend of his-- great to see him.

so get this. we went straight to my old house in sydney.. oh the glory days. its still there thank god. i coudlnt tell if the neighbors were or not. from there, i couldnt help but stop by the palace (favorite bar in the entire world at this point) and holy crap that place got a facelift. new paint job (from yellow to white) and a different floor plan. they took the pool tables out of the ground floor area where we used to get coopers. oh well, im over it.

shortly following that, the walk to coogee beach (about 100 feet away frlom the palace) brought back memories.. everything was still in the same place. it felt just like it did two years ago when i would be running to the bus stop, but would always run by the beach for a "casual glance." oh, good times. the beach was bustling.

we stopped by coogee yeeros for wedges and sweet chili. i went to the bottle shop for a toohey's old (beer) and that about did it for me. sitting on the beach was fantastic.

at this point, it is looking like we are going to hit the road tomorrow and head up the coast to byron bay for new years. should be nice.. we have no accomodation whatsoever, so that will certainly present a fun time. updates sure to come.