When we first booked our flights to Indonesia, we were flying through Qatar. After the war in Iran broke out, the Qatar airport closed and we had to rebook. We flew to Jakarta through Taipei and were going to fly back through Brisbane and Dallas. When the government shutdown started in the US, American Airlines rebooked our flights back to be through Brisbane and LA, with 12 hours in Brisbane during the day. When that happened, I knew I had to take advantage of the layover to explore Brisbane. Getting a visa for Australia is quick and easy for Americans. I had to download an app, fill out some information, and within minutes, I got an email saying my visa had been granted. The rest of the group was planning to stay in the airport and find a lounge to rest in during the layover.

When we got to the airport in Bali and tried to check in for our flight, we were told that anyone with a layover longer than 8 hours needs a visa for Australia. That was a surprise. American hadn’t mentioned anything about us needing a visa when they rebooked our flights. Luckily, everyone was able to get a visa quickly through the app and we were allowed to check in. Since we were going to be forced to leave the airport, Josh and Nicho decided to explore Brisbane with me. Therese, Patrick, and Luci were going to get a hotel room so they could sleep.

Australia is very strict about what they let into the country and there are signs all over the airport telling you to let an officer know if you don’t feel well. I hadn’t been feeling well all week and was hoarse after our flight, but I knew it was just a cold, so I kept my mouth shut and let the others do the talking as we went through security and customs. I wasn’t going to let a little cold keep me from exploring Australia. When they were checking our passports, there was a couple at the booth next to us that had also had their flights rebooked and their layover extended by their airline, but they hadn’t been told at checkin that they needed a visa. They had to call a manager to help handle the situation. I don’t know what the outcome was, but the manager seemed to understand once they explained everything, so I hope they didn’t have any issues.

Once we got our bags and made it through customs, we took an airport shuttle to a nearby outlet mall to have breakfast. After that, Josh, Nicho, and I took an Uber to the Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary, where we saw koalas, kangaroos, a platypus, birds, reptiles, and many other animals. There was a section where they had the older koalas who were “retired”. Nicho asked a staff member what their job was before they retired. He said “eat, sleep, poop, repeat”. The retired koalas still do that job because “you can take a koala away from its work, but you can’t take the job out of the koala”. I hope you read those quotes in an Australian accent.

The koala sanctuary is right next to the Brisbane river, so we took a river cruise back to the city. We were all so tired, that we didn’t get to enjoy the views because we were all inside trying to dose off while we sat. The boys had more luck with that than I did. I went outside for a bit, but it started raining, so I had to go back inside. The cruise dropped us off at the South Bank Parklands, a big park that has walking paths, a man-made beach, playgrounds, and different activities. We weren’t able to walk around since it was raining, so we found a Mexican restaurant and had churros instead.

After having churros, we went back to the mall to change and freshen up in the bathroom before our long flight to LA. We met the rest of the group back at the airport and boarded our flight. We flew EVA Air on the way to Jakarta and Qantas on the way back and they were better than all the American airlines I’ve taken on long flights. The food was very good. I was so tired on the flight to LA that I was able to sleep a bit, even though I usually can’t sleep on planes. Even though I slept, I still had time to watch all 3 Downton Abbey movies. I had watched all 3 Now You See Me movies on the flight to Taipei.

We were supposed to have 1.5 hours in LA, but even though we departed on time, we somehow arrived late and only had an hour. This was a problem because we had to go through security and we knew that Nicho would likely be taken in for questioning. He’s Canadian and a few years ago, there was a mixup with his visa and he ended up getting deported while trying to get into the US. That has been resolved and he can legally enter the country, but they told him he’s been flagged and will be questioned every time he enters the country for the next 5 years. That seems a little overkill.

As expected, they took Nicho away, so the rest of us continued to baggage claim. We had to change terminals for our flight. Therese stayed back to wait for Nicho and the rest of us went to find our gate. We had to go through a maze to get there. We exited the terminal, walked a bit, entered our terminal, went through security, walked a bit, went down stairs, walked a lot, went up stairs, walked some more, and finally made it to our gate. Nicho still wasn’t out and we were all praying that we’d all be able to make it on the plane. I’m not usually happy when my flight is delayed, but when we saw that our flight had been delayed 10 minutes, we were relieved. That gave Nicho and Therese just enough time to make it to our gate. It was close.

After a 4 hour flight to Chicago, we were finally home and could get some much needed rest after our crazy adventures. I’ll be in Chicago until the end of April, so I’ll be fully recovered before I continue on my road trip.