big green.

After a nearly tearful goodbye with my new Aussie buds Suz, Wayne and Greg and promises to stay in touch... I headed to the New Zealand Air ticketing counter where I continued pretending my carry-on and my "purse" did not weigh 30+ pounds each (my shoulders were bruised but my complete set of tiny toiletries and 2 changes of clothes kept me comfortable in this unexpected visit to LA). I told the woman who was clearly not a Kiwi and a LA native (the gold lipstick was a dead giveaway) that I missed my flight and my bag was probably still in LAX. She typed in my baggage number and assured me my lime green, monster-of-a-bag would be on the flight with me. At this point, I was not holding my breath. Everything after that was smooth sailing. I went through security, up to the gate and got my first feeding since my 6am egg and fruit. It was 6pm. I had been eating my stash of Twizzlers throughout the day (and sharing with my fellow displaced travelers) so you can imagine my lightheaded-ness and lack of clarity. I scored big for the second time with airport food and got a mozzarella, sun-dried tomato and pesto baguette. It was $13 with a (much deserved) coke... but delicious. A quick call to my almost non-teenage sister and I was off to New Zealand!

The flight was fine. I had a glass of wine and passed out. It was glorious. I slept the whole time. And I should... I was exhausted. After a quick freshening up of my hair and change of clothes in the Auckland airport (and the security officer telling me she had relatives in Miami) I was on the last leg of my journey. Finally. It was pretty surreal. A few movies and a beer with breakfast later. we were landing in Melbourne. The flight attendant/ air hostess (I'm still not sure what the proper term is) gave me a pep talk about things happening for a reason and we decided that all this happened because I met great people, reunited with Liliana, and that now I would take travel insurance out next time... we were still working on why her car cost $3000 to fix.

Arriving at the airport, breezed through the passport control. The woman asked me if I was going to Ocean Grove for the beach.. and I just blurted out "that's where my boyfriend is... it's been so long" and she said "oh how long has it been?" and I said "oh only a month and some but i've just been stuck in LA for days... Stupid Delta!" And she said "GO!" as she stamped my passport with a smile and shooed me through to reunite with Luke. I almost just went straight through the customs part where you collect your bag and go through the exit being checked one more time by an officer. I knew Big Lime wasn't there. I just wanted to see Luke. But for fear of being eaten by the attack customs beagle for not following protocol... I waited, with a small glimmer of hope, that my obnoxious, fluro bag would pop out of that tunnel and onto the shimmering belt of goodness. Nope. I made my way to yet another baggage office and made my claim. The woman told me my bag was in New Zealand. I was more than impressed. She said it would be delivered to Luke's house this evening. (Upon calling the number later to check on the Jolly Green Giant, I was told it was still in LA and would be there "tomorrow".... another call the next day gave me the eta of "tomorrow".... 2 days.. or 3 I'm still a little off with the time loss.. of washing my 2 changes of clothes... my bag is delivered by a man with a work shirt that matches Limey exactly. That made my day). Anyway, with my claim made, I burst through the security doors to find Luke still waiting (he probably thought I missed another flight by now) and was greeted with open arms (on my bruised shoulders). I'm sure it was pretty cute.

Two international tickets, some stress and adventure later... I'm finally, here. Sitting by the fire (because it's freezing.. but beautiful when the sun comes out). It only took me forever and a thousand more dollars to do it.. but I made it. My Aussie friends made it too. All three got on the standby flight they were hoping for the same night as me and also were one bag lighter upon arrival. Hooray for travel!

I will be writing strongly-worded letters and posts on some other blog things about my experience with Delta and NZ Air in hopes to get my money back. Apart from the money though, it was certainly an adventure and I'm glad it happened with Suz, Wayne, and Greg (and Liliana!).

Hopefully nothing this monumental happens too soon to have to come up with more nicknames for people. I feel like Chelsea Handler. (I read her book "Are You There Vodka, It's Me Chelsea" in it's entirety on the plane to LA from Detroit. I had to cover my mouth and turn into the window to hide my laughter. Thanks, Casey).

p.s. The birds are awesome here. In the backyard I saw a bunch of parrots and a flock of black cockatoos flew over yesterday. All wonderful people.