New York / Detroit Trip 2008 Day 2 - New York Part 1

Hour 36:30 / Start of "Day 2"

We're in New York, and both Sarah and I are keen to get into it, so we bolt to the luggage carousel .... only to wait 20 minutes for our bags in one of the most dilapidated and seedy arrival lounges I've seen. Actually, lounge isn't fair.... it was a crapped out old carousel, a few odd "smarte-carts" and not much else. The really odd thing was actually that there were about a dozen (presumably unclaimed) bags randomly scattered around the floor. We joined the other folk making sure we weren't standing too close to any of them, just in case....

Much to our delight, both the bags came out fairly quickly once things started to move, and it was off to the Air-Train and the Subway. It was a short walk to the elevator,  which turned out to be the first of about 6.... up, over a road, down elevator, through a tunnel, up elevator, across a boardwalk, and up elevator again to the actual platform.

Now, I concede that these guys may have got a good price on elevators, but this was quite simply over the top - even for the US.

The air trains run quite regularly, and we were soon trundling along towards the Howard Beach subway station.

Exiting the air train, we visited the last of the many elevators, and landed in the subway transition. This is where we encountered our first moment of the trip where we didn't know what to do next.

We were faced with a wall of "automatic" ticket vending machines for the exit from the air train. Now, up until this point, all of the signs for the air train suggested that the air train was free. So we had expected to simply buy a subway ticket - or if possible a 3 day pass - and jump on the next train to Manhattan. Hmmm. Nope. The options on the vending machines were : Air train, Metro, Metro+ Air train. Now, the first and the third options just didn't make sense ... unless of course the air train is only "free" if you use it within the airport. Ahh. 

A few minutes pass before one of the attendants sensed we were stumped. "we want to get a weekly pass for the subway". Oh, you need a $7 exit from the airtrain, go through those gates on the left, use the vending machine on the other side of the hall, and buy a metro pass. OR,  you can buy a $5 exit from the airtrain, go through the other gates, and use yet another set of  vending machines, and you can get a metro ticket there. .... Duh. Why would we go through the $7 line? 

So now we need 2 x $5 tickets, right ? Nope. You buy 1 x $10 ticket, and use it twice by handing it back over the counter. Riiight, Ticket in hand, I shoot through the turnstile (which I might add, it quite obviously NOT designed for people with luggage.... kinda handy at the terminus of an Air Train) then reach back over and swipe it again for Sarah to come through.

We're experts on the vending machines now, so I set about buying 2 x $25 weekly tickets. It all goes well, except this time my credit card is denied. Oooh... heart attack. "It won't let you use your credit card more than once in an hour on the vending machines" adds one of the attendants. You'll need to use another method to pay, or wait. Grrr... but hey, BE-COOL, right....

After trying Sarah's VISA card and finding that it works, it's through another bunch of turnstiles not wide enough for luggage, and down yet another elevator to the train siding. Phew. Maybe now we're off.

The E train to Manhattan was there in under 5 minutes, and we jump on and hurtle towards the Big A. All is going smoothly, until we seem to be going past stations that aren't on the subway map that we've got. A quick scan of the map on the train wall reveals that we're on a different subway line. Hmm... that's not good. We have now missed the station we were going to swap trains to head up to the hotel. Luckily, we had planned a second station station, and both the blue line and orange line would stop at. Now, it turns out that it's normal for trains to deviate from their normal tracks on weekends to enable maintenance, not that we knew at the time!

We jump off at 42nd street (also named "Port Authority" which was initially a worry, 'cos according to the map it's smack in the middle of the island !!) and traverse to the red 1 ... other than a few sets of stairs challenging us to carry our suitcases, we manage to find the right siding for the uptown red 1, and we're off to 96th street station.

Aside: Over the next few days we discovered local vs express, thanks to watching the locals. Local trains stop at ever stop on the line. Express trains stop at ever 4-5 stations. Once you figure this out, you catch an express to a hub station, and catch a local to the station you want. This cuts your travel time in half. Much better.

When we get to 96th street, we are faced with 6 different street exits. By some luck, we manage to choose the closest to our Hotel - Days Hotel on 94th. 

Hour 38:30 - Home base @ Days Hotel - 9:30 am Sunday.

We can't check in until 3pm, so we store the bags with the door man who chains them to about 30 other bags in the lobby. After charging the camera and our phones for 30 minutes, and getting a Starbucks, it's out and about to see some sights. 

It was quite warm - at least 30 C (whatever the heck that is in Fahrenheit I guess C x 2 + 32 = 82 ish). We decide to walk down Broadway to the Statue of Liberty ferry. Sounded like a good idea, until it took 25 minutes to go 5 blocks ... the ferry is effectively south of 1st ... so, it's take us 4 hours to walk there ... hmm. Luckily, we come across a subway station, and head down to catch the 1 downtown.

These trains run every 3-4 minutes, which is fantastic. The sticker on the wall of the train is helpful telling us that we need to be in the first 5 carriages to get off at the ferries.... unfortunately it's not smart enough to tell us what carriage we're in, So a quick dash forward when we stopped at one station gets us to the 3rd carriage. Cool.

The excitement got the better of us for a few minutes, as we charge up the escalators to the ferry terminal for the Stratton Island ferry. A quick check at the info booth reveals that the ferry is free, which is the first time I'm a little suspicious. 

.... See part two.... more to follow....

New York / Detroit Trip 2008 - Day 1 (part 2)

I think that Sarah took a few minutes to get used to sitting on the left and not driving, but before long we barreling along the freeway towards the Hollywood Sign. 

Before we left home I programmed in a few of the popular vantage points into our GPS. Our route took us through  some pretty amazing terrain, and pretty soon we came to realise that the Hollywood signs were on a pretty steep bit of hill. We got pretty close really, and after some obligatory photos, and a little more sightseeing, we found ourselves at Universal City - right near Universal Studios. 

Feeling a little bit peckish, I decided to introduce Sarah to "In and Out" burger. Now, for those of you who know my mum - Christine - you'd know that she has an innate ability to get a car park wherever and whenever she wants, typically right out the front of places - not on the same scale as certain historical figures that can part water and such, but it sometimes seems that she can MAKE a spot on demand, regardless of how busy a place is. This is known affectionately in family circles as a "Chris Driscoll Park".

Well, we managed a "Chris Driscoll park" - thanks mum - right at the front door, and went in. It had been a few years for me, and I must say the double double cheeseburger was just as tasty as I remembered. Hit the spot nicely. As is more usual than not in American fast food places, the Coke was flat, and I must say, Sarah and I were amazed at how BAD these guys could make a potato chip taste. I mean these things were something else - almost like they were made from reconstituted or frozen spuds, and they hadn't put in enough water.. urgh!

So, we finished our flat coke, and our cardboard stick fries, gave Sarah's brother Joseph a call for his (18th) birthday, and fired up the wheels, and set off again. Destination Rodeo Drive, Beverly Hills, and Sunset Boulevard. The GPS did it's job once more, and before we knew it, we were rubbing shoulders with the rich and famous on Rodeo Drive. There we 1000's of tourists - just like us I guess - and I must admit, it was kinda cool just to be there. I found a replacement bright yellow convertible for Mr Bukva - a Rolls Royce - parked outside of Gucci with the hood down.

In case I haven't already mentioned it, it was 31 C and windy in LA, and the huge engine in the mustang seemed really good at making noise, but not doing much else - especially the seemingly simple task of running an air conditioner.....

With Rodeo drive behind us, it's off to Sunset Boulevard. Quite unremarkable really (unfortunately), and pretty much tired and ugly - just like the rest of LA IMHO.

Well, time was running on, and we needed to get on back to the airport, so a quick re-routing in the GPS and we're cruising back to the 10 and 405 to the Avis terminal.

Must say, that LA was just as windy, dirty and pretty much run down as I remember... and arriving back at the LAX concrete jungle wasn't much of a disappointment as we though it might be ... New York, bring it on!

After a parking the car in the line that said returns, and taking our bags out of the "trunk", AVIS decided that this line wasn't open anymore - despite processing the 2 cars in front of us, and the car next to us. So we were asked to drive to another line - after they shifted the car next to us so we could get out. And the return lady was quite grumpy when I made HER wait while I walked to 200 yards back to get our luggage. AAARRGGHH - didn't make much sense to me, but hey... we're in America. BE-COOL. 

The check in line at Delta was quite short, and we were at the front of the queue in no time. The lady that served us must have been to Qantas check-in school, because she once again gave us seats that were not only different to our previously allocated seats, but once again, not together. I asked for an aisle and a middle, and she obliged, suggesting that we had an aisle and a window because this aircraft was in a 2 + 3 seat configuration in our row. Deciding that we were actually in good hands this time, I decided to accept her explanation, and we dropped our bags at the x-ray machine.

Aside: For those of you that haven't been through a US domestic airport since Sept 11, you may be surprised to discover that after checking in, and tagging your luggage, you'll be asked to wheel your bags to a makeshift x-ray machine, and just leave your bag in a pile of others for ground staff to process. Now, aside from anything else, this is quite disconcerting, as you're basically just leaving your bags in an un-secure area just meters from the taxi / drop-off area. There is a heightened fear that you may never see your bag again....

The security area at Delta was really quick, and we settled in for a Sam Adams and a quick rest.

Before we knew it - actually, it was and hour, but it seemed quicker - we boarded the flight to New York. Amazingly, it seems that Americans actually listen to the boarding staff when they call out line numbers... wow. That wouldn't happen anywhere else in the world I've been to, especially Australia..

Hour 29:00

After making our way to our seats, it quickly sank in that we were sitting in an Aisle and a middle. Sigh. That's none from 4 for the check-in staff... oh well. BE-COOL. We're both pretty shagged at this point, and I think that we both slept for most of the 5.5 hour leg to JFK airport. 

Flying in to the East coast at night was something of a treat, as the city light are not only visible, but they create an amazing line of the coast - just like looking at Google earth in "night mode". wow, wow. There is a picture of it from the plane, but it doesn't do it justice. wow.

Pics Pics Pics

See Trip and New York pics here

... last day in New York :-(

New York / Detroit Trip 2008 - Day 1 (part 1)

Hour 00:00 / Day 1

Well, it all began when I (JD) got home from a work function in Sydney @ the (delayed) time of 10:15pm Friday. Not exactly the ideal start packing for a 6:45am flight out the next day.

.. but hey, "Chill out, I'm On Leave" so let's not worry. (BE-COOL)

After a seemingly quick pack, it was a surprise that I had not exceeded the allocated baggage weight, and it looked like everything was packed. (quite a rare occurrence, for a first try)

Quick call to Qantas to "confirm within 24 hours of leaving" that our details, itinerary and seats were all still sorted. Mistake #1 at 1130pm - the aircraft had been changed (presumably due to the little 747 explosion mishap earlier in July) so the seat allocations had been reset. Now, instead of notifying us as it says in my profile, Qantas had moved us from sitting together in row 25 to sitting 5 seats apart in row 49. What the? And because it's less than 24 hours before, the folk on the phone can't make changes because the flight is under the control of the load controller, who doesn't start work until 4am.

Grrr.. oops, I mean, BE-COOL.

Raymond and Emma stayed over and kindly dropped us off at the airport @  6am.

The short line @ qantas quickly explained itself - it was too good to be true - as the load controller had still allocated our seats together.

The dude checking us in also tells us that we're not on an Airbus, it's now a 747 and we're on a direct flight now, from Melbourne - LA.

After some delicate discussion, he checks with a colleague, and they decide that we're really on the Airbus, it really is going via New Zealand, and we DO want to sit together. Sigh.  BE-COOL.

Turns out that we were able to get 2 seats by themselves in the very back row - a new experience.

The flight from Adelaide to Melbourne is full, but uneventful. 

The international terminal is quite close to the domestic in Melb, so after a short stroll, we're through customs, and lounging about waiting for launch.

Hour 04:00

The seats to Aukland + LA were in row 58, j+k (which are 2 seats by themselves in the very back row).

Turns out these aren't bad seats. The galley is behind them, and no toilets = good. The host'ies were immediately good fun, and we struck up a friendship with a New Zealand girl who kept crashing the servery carts into out seats.... "lady driver" according to the other staff. Grin - we spent the next 14 hours paying each other out about just about anything. She got back at us when the pilot announced that the all blacks had beaten the aussies in the Bledesloe  (?) cup 38-10. Bummer. Bloody sheep huggers! But, BE-COOL, hey.

Hour 07:00

Other than a 90 minute layover in Aukland - and a bumpy take off there too - we settle in for LA.

Lots of good movies on the little screens in the back of the seats, so all in all, a good flight.

Hour 19:00

As usual, LAX is in complete turmoil. The pilots manage to get a shitty park, so we're all on busses back to the terminal - but hey, what's another 30 minutes given we're not flying out until 9:30 pm, so BE-COOL.

After asking 3 ground staff, and getting the usual 3 different answers, we find the delta check in counters, and discover that we can't check in until 6 hours before the flight. After asking 3 more of the helpful - if not completely void of real facts - for the way to AVIS preferred desk to hire a car for the afternoon. Walked across the airport to get a shuttle that picked us up and went straight past where we just were. There goes another 25 minutes... but hey, BE-COOL, right ?

Just when we we're starting to let the jet lag kick-in, we get to AVIS, and ask for a car for the afternoon. 

Our luck takes a change for the better, and the guy behind the desk like Aussies. He find's us a Mustang hardtop for $31 dollar (plus tax)... which is better than the $45 I got quoted  (for a compact) back in Adelaide. COOL.

Very cool.

So, we stash the bags in the boot, plug in the GPS, and we're off to see the Hollywood sights.

... more to follow... (gotta go see stuff)