I always figured that if I ever went to Australia, it would be for surf.

Makes sense, right?  All the legendary breaks are there; D-Bah, Kirra, Snapper… all the great food, incredible culture, and where everyone looks like models out of a Tilly’s catalog.  Ok, I could really care less about the Tilly’s, but this is AUSTRALIA.  It had better be something epic in order to get me to sit my ass on a plane for anything longer than 10 hours.

The offer came to me as a surprise; to go Australia, all expenses paid, represent Octane Report, and cover the 2010 Superlap World Time Attack Challenge.

That’s it?  Yep.  How could Joey and I pass this opportunity?!

Oh, one small complication; the race was held on the same day as my friend’s wedding.  Of course, I was slated to be the photographer to said wedding event.  DOH!  I was given a 96-hour window which to find a suitable replacement for me at the wedding, or I would be staying Stateside.

Needless to say, everything worked out perfectly well in the end.  The wedding was covered, which really was my first priority.  I found my passport.  Samy’s got a new shipment of Think Tank’s Airport International in, just in time… AND during a no sales tax event!

The flight out wasn’t as bad as I anticipated it to be.  I sat next to a very cool guy named Ian Hopkinson.  He and I talked story when we weren’t crashed out during the flight, and he gave me some valuable insider tips on Sydney and surrounding places.  I guess you’re either lucky or doomed on long flights like that, regarding who you’ll be stuck next to for 13-hours.  The flight back was horrendous, and nearly drove me to shoving toothpicks under my fingernails somewhere over the Pacific.  More on that later, though.

Airline food wasn’t all that bad, although I could only imagine what people up in Business or First Class were having.  Still, it didn’t taste bad, it was hot, and enough to keep my stomach from making angry sounds two hours later.  What was even more cool was the fact that they issued these “snack packs”, consisting of a bottle of water, pack of M&M’s, small package of cookies, and another candy which I really wasn’t into.  And all the while, the only thing I could think about during the long flight was, ‘what do the hosts and hostesses do with themselves?!’

I managed to sleep for something like five or six hours straight, then forced myself to get out of the seat for a bathroom break.  It’s always good to get up and move around to avoid cramping and DVT, apparently.

So 13-and something hours later, we touch down in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.  I really wished I had a window seat, but hey… can’t be choosy.  De-planing was interesting to me, not because we were in a different country, but because the very first thing you see while walking through the Duty Free store is ALCOHOL!  I’ll have to figure that one out some day.

Ford Australia had arranged a car to use during the stay there.  We had to taxi it from the airport to the dealership where the vehicle was held for us, which was basically 15 minutes away in normal driving conditions.  Unfortunately, since we landed in Sydney and was out of the airport by 8:30AM, we hit morning traffic.

The one irritating thing about driving in Australia isn’t driving on the left side of the road, but not being able to make U-turns when and where you need to.  If you pass your destination or need to double back, you basically have to go around the block just to get to the neighbor’s house.  It doesn’t seem to bother Aussies too much, but I can totally see how it would piss off the average American driver!

Since our stay wasn’t going to be very long, we needed to maximize the time we had to get in as much as possible.  Since we landed there early enough in the morning, Joey wanted to make a run out to Bathurst to check out the infamous Mt. Panorama racetrack.

The adventure continues…

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