The flight to Australia is 22 hours. I leave the house at 6:30 AM (EST) on Friday morning and arrive at the final destination at 8:35 PM (EST) on Saturday or 11:35 AM their time on Sunday. That’s a good 38 hours of traveling. I don’t know if Su-Do-Ku is gonna cut it but I guess it will have to do.

Aside from the dread of traveling (car to bus to metro to bus to plane to bus to metro to plane to plane to car), I’m looking forward to being in sunny, HOT, Australia. I’m pretty much packed and ready to go. On Monday, I was so proud of myself when I hauled all my summer outfits into the suitcase, actually judged that it was too much, and voluntarily yanked out some not-really-that-necessaries. It’s really because I’m planning ahead and making space for stuff I plan on carrying home.

Last night, I de-furrified myself which was painful, but worth it. Fur is only handy in cold weather anyway. Today, I buffed all my nails til they’re all nice and shiny. Yeah, I’d say I’m ready to present myself to Australia.

Some things I’m looking forward to:

• Snorkeling (in the Barrier Reef) for the first time! I can’t even swim, but I’ll worry about that later.
• Checking out a big car race in Adelaide called the Clipsal. A great coincidence that it’s occuring right when we’re going to be there.
• Tasting kangaroos and wallabies, amongst other Australian good eats. This includes Tetsuya’s Restaurant which is supposed to be the best restaurant in Australia and the 2006 5th best restaurant in the world. Mmm…
• Exploring the Atherton Tablelands in Cairns.
• Hugging a koala at Cleland Park in Adelaide.
• Visiting the Australian wineries.
• Seeing the Sydney Opera House in real life.
• Seeing the Sydney Harbour Bridge.
• Hanging out at the beach and shopping!

I can’t wait!