The trip to San Francisco

All began well when our dual alarm system worked and we were up and dressed when the taxi arrived at 2.45 am. Ingrid had also nobly set her alarm to make sure we were awake and to wave us off.  The driver was early which saved us any anxiety about whether he would be on time. He had us at the domestic terminal earlier than we had expected which turned out to be unfortunate. Because of the recent security alert and our relatively short transfer time at Sydney Bob had "chatted" with Qantas to ensure that there were arrangements in place to make sure we caught our USA flight. We had been assured that as long as we were at Perth airport two hours before the departure time there would be no problem. This meant arriving at 3-15am. We were actually there at 3am and found to our annoyance that we were locked out of the terminal. The notice on the doors informed us that the Terminal does not open till 3-30am. So with a few other concientious mugs we hung around the doors in the cold. The security staff did actually open the doors at 3-15am and we all streamed inside to queue up at the Qantas counters. Then to our utter disbelief we read an electronic sign which informed us that the Qantas staff would not be there until 4-15 am; one hour prior to boarding. All was not lost however as true to Bob's prediction the coffee stall was open and we were able to while away some time sipping expensive flat whites. The flight went went well and because our luggage was checked through to San Francisco we had no trouble transferring from the domestic to the International Qantas terminals. Since our last trip there is a shuttle which crosses the airport land instead of having to go right around the outside on public roads. Hence a faster trip. The Sydney to San Francisco leg went smoothly too except that the plane was full and there was no  room  to spread out. Neither of us slept as "mother's little helpers" did not work this trip. Never the less the staff were excellant and we were plied with food and drinks even during the "night" stretch. We have had no problem finding our hostel which is close to Union Square and very central. We walked down (and I mean down then back up) to AT&T to buy a chip for my phone and she set it up for me. I was so pleased to have the means of phoning while over here that I sent Elise a text straight away with our phone number forgetting  that it was 3am at home. Sorry Elise I hope you slept through the "ping". Ingrid was lucky that I realised before I sent her one too. We had a short nap and are showered, topped up with tea and are ready to walk down to Chinatown for dinner. Over and out.