Team Leip Travels: 19-20 October 2022 Perth Australia: Our Sixth Country Since Leaving

Friday, October 21, 2022

19-20 October 2022 Perth Australia: Our Sixth Country Since Leaving

The flight to Australia started out difficult. At the gate they told us that one of the two seats we had chosen was broken. They had reassigned me to a seat four rows behind Leslie, but in a different section of the plane. This would have put me right by the restroom and the galley! We were told that we needed to try to fix it with the flight crew once we boarded. We decided that I should just take the seat I was originally given until they told me I could not sit there. The purser said that engineering would come and inspect the seat to see if it was safe to fly. We never saw anyone come to inspect the seat, but I used all the controls and it seemed to be operating just fine. The flight was smooth. How is it that 10 hours in a plane is no longer a huge deal to endure? Seasoned travelers, we have become. We landed in Perth to find that Australia does not make a smooth and efficient entry to the country a priority. We had to stand in line for an hour to get through immigration. There were four extra agents standing in the back that would only open up a station to process the flight crews and the folks in wheelchairs. Once the crews were processed these agents would close up the station and go back to standing around in the back. In the meantime the four other agents had to process the 200 people in line. There is nothing more frustrating than to have to watch workers just standing around, not helping the people they are paid to help. At the least, put them behind a curtain so we don't have to see them. We finally got through and thought we would breeze through customs. We did not. In fact it was another hour and a half to make it through this last step. We were sent over to get inspected. The agent went through each and every bag in excruciating detail. As an example, she opened up the folder that contained all of our important papers. She pulled out my birth certificate and name change documents and took them over to her supervisor and they had a discussion. She flipped through all of the checks in our checkbook, she read a page of one of my journals and so on and so on. It was excruciating. After all that, we had to repack all of our bags after everything was pulled out. When we finally got through pour driver was gone. We went over to the Emirates desk to ask about the driver. They were very helpful and talked with us the entire time it took for another driver to arrive. The speculation was that this agent was in training and that would explain the thoroughness and her need to keep asking questions of her supervisor. Three hours after landing we finally arrived at our AirBnB. We kept on smiling through it all as there was no alternative. It was too late to try to go to a store so we had a quick bite at an restaurant down the street. We woke up on the 20th to see our fabulous view of the Swan River's confluence with the Canning River. This place was very nice and we got out to see some of Perth on our walk. We walked along the riverfront and saw some beautiful flowers in the parks we passed. We shopped and cooked up a great udon soup for dinner.