FLIGHTPATH TO CHRISTMAS ISLAND

Start Arthur’s ipod timer on the jetway in Minneapolis to see what our total travel time will be. First flight is from Minneapolis to L.A. (4 hrs), and, after eating leftover lefse, we head from L.A. to Auckland (12.5 hrs) with no problems; get Air New Zealand's 747 into Auckland and it's big and beautiful and overflowing with movies and good food. During descent, can start to see tiny bits of islands spotting the ocean, and the idea of island living becomes all the more real. We’ve now been traveling for 20 hours. Grab a wireless connection in the airport and use our new Magicjack to call home, for free! First time trying it internationally (though it still registers as a local number) and get great reception. Excellent.

Our last flight for a couple days is from Auckland to Perth. Another big plane with lots of movies and food. Don’t sleep much, arrive on time, customs a surprising snap. Get picked up from our airport motel, waiting outside we find unexpected heat and humidity. We check in, shower, and “lay down for a minute.” When we wake up, it’s suddenly dark outside, and apparently 4 hours later. Luckily the hotel has a pub menu, as it’s 1030 at night. After eating we promptly pass out again.

Wake up to sunlight, eat some breakfast, and figure out the bus system and head to downtown Perth. Wander around for awhile and check out the outside malls, the waterfront, and Perth's bell tower.

We take a little rest under some great palm trees, which, at first glance, appeared to be inhabited by toy parrots. After some squawking and flying, we figure out our mistake and watch these Rainbow lorikeets play around for a bit.

We stop for a coffee and realize we’ve now been traveling for 60 hours.

Leaving the city we stumble across a Belgian beer garden, and indulge as it may be the last chance for awhile for imbibing our favorite brew.

Bus map shows location of main depot, and we see tons of buses pulling into large structure, but all the signs say “no pedestrian access.” Figure out that need to cross large sky walk to access building, and find the right bus. But don’t remember from what bus stop we started our day, and luckily the friendly bus driver knows our motel, and drops us at the right spot. See two gents drinking beer outside the motel restaurant as we return, and we officially meet Pete and Dennis, the project’s co-supervisors. Enjoy pleasantries over a beer, and then we take a taxi to Fremantle, a coastal town known for good seafood.

Take off next morning – Perth to Cocos (Keeling) Island to Christmas Island. We land a few times to refuel, and the seven-hour overall flight path has us anxious to stop the traveling. We descend onto a tiny airstrip on a tiny island, and, after 85 hours of travel, arrive on Christmas Island.