Lost in translation...

14 hours of travelling...

On a plane...

With a baby...

On my lap...

The whole way!

Exhaustion doesn't really seem an adequate term for what I felt at the tail end of our Sydney to Los Angeles flight. It was 6:30 am in LA, and 12:30 am in Sydney. We limped through customs, been fingerprinted and photographed. We collected our bags from the baggage carousel. I wait patiently at the oversized baggage door for the baby car seat to arrive. Then all we have to do is load ourselves, all the baggage, and the baby into a taxi and we will be so close to having a hot shower and lying down I can feel the steam already and feel the soft flat mattress...

Wishful thinking.

Another, exhausted looking mother turns to me at the oversized baggage area and asks if I am looking for a stroller too. I manage an exhausted smile and say I am waiting for the car seat - no stroller on this trip, I am carrying the baby. The airport employee with the clip board seems to be taking down this mothers details and says something along the lines of, "We'll check the stroller straight through to New York for you and then deliver it to your hotel." Not good...

My stomach lurches a little. "I'm waiting for a car seat?" I show my baggage tickets and say a little prayer, "please please please please". This nice, fresh, well-rested young man flips a page and says, "Oh, BOOKER? Your baggage didn't make it onto the plane. It's still in Sydney, but should be out on tomorrow's flight..."

"WHAT?! Well what do I do now? Do you LEND me a car seat?!"

"Yes, what age do you need? 12 months? Ok, go upstairs to the recheck desk, fill out a report about the seat being left behind and they will bring you out a LOANER."

Phew! Thank you God! I knew You know I was too exhausted to cope with a no-car-seat-situation. Praise be. This is going to be ok, and so easy...

Wishful thinking.

Take baggage trolleys, and baby, up stairs, find recheck desk, maneuver the 100 feet of rope leading up to the desk with trolley and baby, and explain our little annoying but submountable situation. The response...

"We don't have Loaners. I can give you a $100 to purchase a new car seat. That's our policy."

"Oh...

BUT, where do I buy the car seat from? You?"

"No, go to a store, BabiesRUs..."

"BUT how do I get there?"

"Just get a taxi from out on the curb."

"But I have a baby - WITH NO CAR SEAT!"

"Well, its against California Law to take a baby in a taxi without a car seat. Our policy is I can give you $100 to purchase one."

I could continue on reiterating the conversation that followed, but I think you can already see the circular (and VERY FRUSTRATING) nature of the dialogue. After some time, when I realised the circular nature of the conversation I was having (it took me a while to see it due to the fatigue) and the fact that the people I was dealing with could not see how illogical their "policy" was, I went upstairs and asked to speak to a Customer Service Supervisor. Initially, there was a repeat of the above circular conversation with no fewer than 3 different people. At some point I outlined, slowly and clearly exactly what I was feeling and trying to achieve,

"Ivan (the name of the QANTAS Customer Service Supervisor, I have been on a plane for 14 hours, with an infant on my lap the whole way. It is 2:30 am in Sydney right now. Me and my baby should be asleep right now. But we are not. We are standing here talking to you about our missing car seat. We are tired. He has a dirty diaper. You have left my car seat in Sydney. Your only solution is to give me $100 to buy a new one, but I can't buy a new one, because I can't get there, as I don't have a car seat to transport my baby in to the shop to buy a new car seat. AND even if I could get there, $100 is not going to cover a car seat. I am trying really hard to be nice and patient here. But you do not have much longer before I am not nice any more. Find me a solution to the missing car seat!"

"Ma'am, I understand that, and I appreciate it. I am trying to work something out for you. But, do you by any chance have any family in LA who can pick you up?"

I'm thinking, "Oh, of course! Why didn't I think of that earlier? Silly me. Lets just call them and get them come over and get us."

I say, "NO!!!"

3 1/2 hours after landing, with no solution in sight from QANTAS, a friend - lets call him "My Saviour" arrived having pulled himself out of his sick bed, dropped one baby at daycare, and with another baby in tow who is sick also, and picked me and Noah up, loaded my in-laws into a cab, and we headed closer to that hot shower and bed - and a diaper change for poor Noah.

There was only one more glitch.

"My Saviour" had locked himself out of the house....

48 hours in transit

After 48 hours in transit, with a 5 month old, we got our first glimpse on Manhattan from the ground before sliding underground into the Midtown Tunnel. The husky hues of sunset were the perfect backdrop to a city coming to light. The pinks and purples faded into oranges
and yellows before being washed out into blues and grays. Lights began to twinkle in the windows of the city that never sleeps.

We emerged onto Manhattan under the Empire State Building. Iconic and encapsulating all we looked forward to in our new life here.

But it is not all so romantic. 48 hours ago we left behind our families in Sydney. Our son's grandparents only just stopped short of kidnapping him but did not manage to hide how sad they were to say goodbye. So sad in fact we had our smallest farewell party at the airport in our 2 years of living in the US. Too hard to come to the airport again and say goodbye.

Then 24 hours ago we farewelled our Los Angeles friends (and tried to convince them to move to New York with us)!

In between all the farewells were two mammoth plane rides. Mammoth both in time spent travelling and because we had our robust (as my husband describes him) and adorable 5 month old son with us. The adorability is the harder trait when travelling we have discovered, for even when he is asleep hostesses and other passengers stop and coo and cluck - and none too quietly -often waking the poor little guy up, who of course just flashes a big smile at all the inquisitive faces above him. My husband and I however were all scowls knowing we have little chance of getting him back to sleep for at least another couple of hours!

"Yes he is cute"
"He's 5 months old"
"His name is Noah. Yes adorable"
"It's a Phil and Teds cocoon. It comes with our stroller. Yes it's great."

These are just some of our conversations whilst in transit.

But I guess we shouldn't really complain. We were flying business class and on the Sydney-Los Angeles leg of the journey we had 4 seats to ourselves. Noah is already used to the luxury and space. He may get a rude shock when we head home in November and only in Premium Economy!

A couple of other travel and transitting whinges to end with. We are srrugglung to understand why, when forced to switch planes in Los Angeles on our way to New York, our baggage allowance dropped. Does United Airlines expect us to drop 20 pounds out of each of our suitcases as we pass between terminals? At least the staff were so smitten with our "Mr Adorable" son they helped us repack at the check-in counter.

Some highlights from our travels to New York:
Noah timed perfectly his once-a-week poo to arrive 15 minutes prior to boarding (we got called over the airport paging system for the first time ever as a result)!
Being able to go into the American queue at customs due to Noah's birthright (not that we did as it seemed longer only to be pulled out 10 people from the front of the visitors line and sent to the back of the American line)!
Bring able to sit at our favourite cafe in Los Angeles, Joans on Third, one last time for hours with our friends.

Good-bye Los Angeles. Good-bye Sydney

Hello New York.