The flight

If anyone asks, yes,it is a very long 15 hours across the Pacific. From takeoff in San Francisco to touchdown in Sydney you are squeezed into the airplane's idea of acceptable seating, 11 seats across, maybe 50 deep.  The christmas tree bulbs that were just packed away have more leg room. Knees do touch the  seat ahead. About the 6th hour in the air, the legs desperately ache to stretch out, but nothing doing.  The carry ons have been stashed under the seats, leaving one unnatural position.
But the miracle is ( well, the second miracle. The First is that that blue whale with wings known as a Boeing 747 can get off the ground.)the second miracle is we can cross 7500 miles of endless ocean without getting wet or seasick.  I just read that the First Fleet, the one that brought the first colony of settler convicts to Sydney took 242 day (eight months) to make the trip.
But arrive I did, on a rare overcast Sydney morning. Susan was there to rescue me and begin to show me her home city.