Got to Brisbane airport and they offered us the option of a refund or other options due to Cyclone Sandy on the East coast of USA, heading for NYC on Monday evening...just as we would have arrived!
As we had a 3 hr stopover in LA on the way to New York, we opted for the LA get "off-loaded" version.
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| Ready-Set-Go? |
We had a good trip over, arriving before we left...6am, just prior to sunrise on their Monday, leaving Brisbane 10 am our Monday in Australia.
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| Dawn breaks in LA |
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| A good night's sleep does wonders |
After clearing customs and immigration in LA...3 hrs...we were then sent to Special Services and offered help to get sorted out and in the meantime Delta airlines had rescheduled us for Tuesday afternoon, arriving NYC at 12.30pm midnight!
Not a good option for us...so, armed with LAX airport free WIFI, we took the email confirmed new booking to the counter and they rescheduled our rescheduled trip to NYC...
We were going to leave on Thursday lunchtime on the 3rd reschedule, arriving NYC at about 9pm...ish, then off to the hostel/hotel in Times Square for our Phantom hunt, but after seeing for ourselves the devastation to-night on TV, we squashed all thoughts of visiting New York.
Manhatten is in darkness, Wall St under water, Times Square deserted.
That's where our hostel was located! EEEK!
Water a meter higher than the previous records...No one over this side had a clue about the conditions over the other side.
So we'll stay here in LA area, see Phantom Gerry Redux9 on Sat 10th, see Gabby on Wednesday in Disneyland and do a couple of 3 day/2night tours for just on $225 for the 4 nights accom, trips to San Francisco, Las Vegas, Grand/Canyon etc etc. staying 2 nights at the Stratosphere in Las Vegas and 2 nights at the Crown Plaza in San Francisco included in the bus tour prices.
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| Special Services gave us priority access... |
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| We weren't the only one's... |
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| Our Hotel... |
Found a hotel, with 2 queen beds, en-suite, fridge etc close by, had free WiFi and free airport pickup, so at $54, including taxes, ($27 each) we took it and here we are!
Tea and coffee on tap all day, so we are happy chappies.
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| The Pool area... |
At 3pm, they have free afternoon tea...home-made blueberry muffins, free fresh made popcorn on all day too.
To-nite at 6pm, they have free champagne with a free buffet dinner, and to-morrow they have free shuttles to Manhattan beach and other places of interest.
Continental breakfast is...guess what? Yes, free!
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| Finding a hotel at 10 am, Monday morning... |
At the airport, whilst sitting on the floor, plugged into electricity, looking for accommodation, we were approached to be interviewed by a reporter for The Los Angeles Times newspaper.
The paper wanted to cover the effect Sandy had and how it stranded passengers even at the other side of the country.
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| Waiting...waiting...waiting... |
There were body building competitions and the New York Marathon on this coming week and other events all over the place, so athletes and competitors from around the world were becoming stressed that they may not be able to compete after coming so far.
The reporter took our pictures and we took his too for my blog!
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| Adolfo Flores from the Los Angeles Times |
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