Royalty returns home after going Down Under!‏

After the King & I woke up early Saturday morning on March 29th, we realized our amazing journey was almost over. After arriving in Sydney a week earlier after a long exhausting flight, we had a blast as you already know if you've followed along. With that being said, it was time to head back home. After all, all good things have to end eventually. With that in mind, we had to fly all the way home from Melbourne via Sydney & Los Angeles before we finally arrived back at JFK airport in NYC.

Here's the way it turned out for us. We checked out of the Easystay Motel in St. Kilda. We then walked up the block & we crossed the street & shortly thereafter our Airport Bus showed up to take us back to the airport. We wound up getting there around 7:10AM. We had just enough time to catch our flight on Virgin Australia Airlines that was scheduled to depart at 8AM local time. We arrived back in Sydney at 9:25AM. After having some time to walk around the terminal we caught our connecting flight on Delta Airlines to Los Angeles that left ‎at 11:20AM local time. We finally landed in Los Angeles early at 6:45AM Pacific Time Saturday morning. If your wondering how that's possible you have to take into account that Melbourne & Sydney, Australia are 14 hours ahead of us here on the East Coast in the States. In addition, we flew across the international dateline. By doing so, we gained the day we lost when we flew out there. Since we got in a little early we had to wait on the plane because we needed to go through Customs first. Unfortunately they didn't open until 7AM which turned out to be a disaster. 

Here I am at Melbourne Airport

Final Call for our flight from Sydney Australia

When the King ‎& I finally got through Customs we were told we needed to get checked in for our flight from Los Angeles to JFK in order to get through security to board the plane. That wound up giving me a reason to explode. I knew we were back in the States. When we went through Customs to depart Melbourne, the process was so organised. When we attempted to do the same in LA, it was a nightmare. As the clock ticked, I knew we had no chance of making our connecting flight that was suppose to depart at 8:30AM Pacific Time. As we went through a run around trying to find someone from Delta Airlines to help us, our original flight got delayed 20 minutes. That didn't make a difference. We still missed our flight. The King tried to calm me down. I was really upset because I had no idea when the next flight was leaving nor did I know that we would get on it. Finally a lady from Delta Airlines came to our aid. She took us to a representative who was able to rebook us on the next flight to JFK which wound up leaving at 1:30PM. In retrospect, things actually worked out for the best. If I knew what was going happen ahead of time I wouldn't have gotten so bend out of shape.  As a result, I got to relax by the gate area of our new flight until it was time to board. In the meantime, I was able to finally turn my phone back on. I sat down & I started charging it up. While doing so, I got to catch up on my e-mails, text messages & my social media activity. Thanks to modern technology, I was able to get in contact with a number of special people in my life. What seemed like a nightmare turned out to be a dream come true. In addition, when I heard the weather forecast for NYC was rain all day & night, I was more than happy to stay in LA longer. 

Here I am charging my phone at LAX Airport

We finally got back to JFK around 10PM Eastern Time safe & sound. With that being said, our journey was a success‎. We then picked up our baggage which was checked onto the flight we were supposed to be on. With that being said, our luggage arrived ahead of us. We then proceeded to take the Air Train to the subway in Jamaica as we made our way home. We dodged the rain drops as we walked from the subway station to our home. We walked into the house just before midnight. Home sweet home.

Here I am Outside the Barclays Center

After unpacking our bags, we went to sleep. That Sunday I did my laundry before the King & I shook off the effects of the jet lag as we took the subway to Brooklyn. We went to the Barclays Center to see the Nets play the Minnesota Timberwolves that night. The Nets beat the Wolves, 114-99. It was a game for three quarters then the Nets pulled away in the fourth quarter. The Nets were able to keep Kevin Love, the star forward for the Wolves, in check throughout the game. He finished with just 14 points & 9 rebounds. 

Stay tuned as I will do some special posts that we recap the Opening week of the baseball season here in the States.

Thank you for reading & following along.

Yours truly,

Gary Herman

Royalty goes to Melbourne, Australia!‏

Virgin Australia Airlines

Airport Bus

After the King & I spent the first six days of our visit Down Under in Sydney, we woke up at 4AM Friday morning, March 28th so we could take a cab which cost us $50 to go from our hotel to the airport. Mind you it wasn't a long ride & it was early in the morning with no traffic. With that being said, we arrived there with plenty of time to catch our flight on Virgin Australia Airlines to Melbourne. Our flight departed at 6:30AM & we arrived in Melbourne at 8:05AM. As for breakfast, we had a snack on the plane. Upon arrival, we wound up taking a shuttle called the Airport Bus to our hotel in the southeast suburb known as St. Kilda. It cost us $68 round trip to do so. As the dispatcher told me, it would cost that much to go one way by cab. It didn't doubt it. It turned out to be a brilliant decision. We got dropped off right by our motel where we were staying for the night since we were leaving Saturday morning to return home. It was called Easystay Motel. When we went to check in, it was too early so we did the paperwork & we had to leave our bags in a special room they had that was locked up until 2PM. The person who assisted us gave us directions on how to get to the CBD aka Central Business District. In order to get there, we needed to take a tram which was located in the middle of the street right in front of the motel. 

Easystay Motel in St. Kilda

Next Generation Tram

In order to get on the tram, we had to go to 7-11 which was practically next door. In fact, there were two of them. One was to the left of the motel ‎& the other one was to the right. We wound up going to the one to the left when we walked out of the motel. We went there because they sell a smart card which is called a myki card. It's the new ticketing system there & you need one in order to ride the tram, trains and/or buses aka Public Transport. It costs $6 for the card itself & it's good for four years they told us. In addition, we had to add money so we could ride around for the day. They have a cap aka top off if you will for the day so it wound up costing us $13 each. That way we didn't have to worry about transportation the rest of the day. 

Flinders Street Station

City Circle Tram

We proceeded to wait for the tram which came shortly thereafter. We wound up taking it to Federation Square which is the heart of the CBD. When we got off we walked around Flinders Street Station, which is Melbourne's railway station. It reminded me of Central Station in Sydney. Once we had a better understanding of the area, we decided to take a free tram ride that circled around the CBD. People got on ‎& off. It was very crowded as we went around. We rode around the City circle until we came across the stop for Etihad Stadium which is a retractable dome. It's an entertainment venue & it's one of the stadiums where the AFL is played. Five of the teams play their "home" games there. AFL is Australian Rules Football which they affectionately call footy. It's similar to American football but they have different rules & the players don't wear equipment to protect themselves. Melbourne has nine different teams in the AFL. 

Etihad Stadium

Me inside Etihad Stadium

We wound up walking around the outside of the venue. I was even able to get a peak inside. As I walked around I found an open door. I walked inside. I wound up taking an elevator up three or four floors. When I got out, I was on a luxury suite level. I saw someone who worked there so I asked him if I could take a look inside the seating area. He let me in a room & I was able to take a picture. I thanked him then I went back outside. As I walked around the exterior of the building I got to see the Victoria Harbour which was on one side of the venue. Just like in Sydney it was a beautiful view as you can.

Victoria Harbour

When I finally got done walking all the way around, I met up with the King who took a walk in a different direction. We waited for quite some time before we finally got back on the tram around the City circle. We decided to go back to the area by Federation Square. By doing so, I was able to get some WIFI which enabled me to get in contact with fellow ballpark chaser, Ken Liu who had spent five days in Sydney ‎& he now was in the midst of spending his last five days in Melbourne. He asked me if we wanted to meet up at 4:30PM. I told him we'll meet at a bar that was nearby. In the meantime, the King & I decided to stay in that area instead of going back to the motel to get our room. We decided we'll go back there later when it was time to get some sleep.

We wound up walking around the area so we could get a feel for Melbourne. Since we were only there for the day, we didn't get too see that much. Before we knew it was time to meet up with Ken.

Stay tuned for a special post that will go into detail about our meet up.

Thank you for reading ‎& following along.

Yours truly,

Gary Herman