I arrived on Monday, June 19 in Adelaide at the same time as my daughter Rebekah and the cast of Disney On Ice Mickey’s Search Party arrived at the Ibis Adelaide Hotel. Rebekah and I had gone out to dinner that evening together and now we were ready to spend her next two days off together.
Tuesday, June 20 was a day we took it easy though. I treated Rebekah to the Ibis Hotel Adelaide’s buffet breakfast which was so fun since buffet breakfasts in hotels in Australia are actually good. I’ve learned that breakfast buffets in the UK are also good, but in the USA, our hotel breakfast buffets are not very good.
In the afternoon, with Rebekah and her boyfriend Garrett, we explored the outdoor Rundle Mall that was almost right next to the hotel and then headed to a park and where we could scooter-walk along the water.
It was just a delightful day. Garrett left us and headed to get a massage, but Rebekah and I went quite a ways through the park and along the water.
Finally, Rebekah and I began to get hungry, so we headed back towards our hotel, Ibis Adelaide to have dinner. We ended up eating at this incredible All You Can Eat Sushi Place called Sushi Train. It was so fun to grab pieces of sushi off of a moving belt! I think I ate too much though.
Wednesday, June 21, was a much busier day since our new friend Peter Agalla was going to pick us up and take us around Adelaide. Joel and I met Peter when we were on our plane from San Francisco to Sydney. Peter told me when I was in Adelaide that he’d show us around and I followed up on that. What’s so special is that Peter took a day off of work especially for us!
Rebekah and Garrett really wanted to go to Morialta Conservation Park in Adelaide and so Peter took us there. The four of us had the most awesome hike there too and took a lot of photos. We especially enjoyed seeing the koala bears in the trees and the waterfall.
After our hike, Peter took us to Hahndorf, a small tourist German village. I was able to use my scooter there as we walked along the street and we also had lunch there. It began to rain so we were glad we got to do our hiking earlier.
Peter then took us to see his house. We got to meet his daughter there and see incredible photos of Peter’s parents.
We learned when we were with Peter a lot about him. At 19 years old, he was a war refugee from Sudan. He didn’t see his parents again for over 25 years. He chose Australia when he was helped as a refugee because of the opportunities there for education and medical care. He is a social worker in Adelaide and is married and has three children. What an incredible friendship we made with Peter all because of a long plane flight!
When Peter finally got us back to the Ibis Adelaide hotel, it was raining so hard. I think my feet got wet when we walked in the Hahndorf German Village, do the first thing I did was get into dry socks. Rebekah was exhausted and settled in for the night, but I still wanted dinner, so I road my scooter to a Poke place and brought food back to the hotel. I also bought some sushi!
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| My Poke Bowl |
Thursday, June 22, Rebekah had to work all day long on Skater Crew, where she sets up sets and all the equipment for the show. I saw her briefly in the morning where we went together for breakfast right by the hotel, but the rest of the day I was on my own.
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| Quick Breakfast With Rebekah on Thursday 6/22/23 |
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| Ice Skating at IceArenA in Adelaide - It was so cold! |
It was raining very, very hard, so I couldn’t do an outside thing, so I decided to take an Uber and go ice skating at an ice rink that was fairly nearby called IceArenA. The people at the ice rink and especially the cashier named Rebecca usually go to Disney On Ice, and when I told them my daughter Rebekah was a performer in the show, they gave me a discount and told me if I wanted to keep my valuables with them I could do so!
It was a long all day public session and it was on the large ice sheet. I learned there were three ice sheets in the arena and not always that ice sheet was available. One of the smaller ice sheets seemed to be a permanent ice rink for tots…there were toys all over it. The other one was set up for hockey fun.
The rink was really, really cold and I didn’t bring my figure skates to Australia just my hockey skates, so I skated around just to stay warm as fast as I could.
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| Jo Ann and Paul Harris |
A man about my age was doing the same thing in his ice hockey skates and we spent a lot of time just talking about skating and skiing. His name is Paul Harris and he even worked in the Snowy Mountains and skied where Joel is. We enjoyed talking about skating and skiing. Also, his daughter is about my daughter Annabelle’s age and when Annabelle began talking to me on a video call, Paul got to meet her!
I skated a couple hours and decided to go back to the hotel and called another Uber. But…before I called the Uber, I checked out the pro shop. I asked about a figure skating coach I have known for years, Sheila Thelen’s jump harness and spinner, that she’d brought to Australia for this rink. Sheila had been brought in to coach there and bring that equipment. I also saw a hockey back there that I decided would work great with my scooter and my travels and decided that when I returned to the USA I’d buy that bag!
The rain was really coming down so when I returned to the Ibis Adelaide hotel, I just caught up on some rest and writing.
Rebekah and I had planned to have dinner together, but when she didn’t come back to the hotel by 8 pm, I decided it better take care of my own dinner. So…I went over the to Sushi place and got some sushi and salad and took it back to my hotel room.
I was just about going to bed when Rebekah finally arrived. We just visited a bit and said our good nights. Rebekah hadn’t even had dinner yet and had lost total track of time.
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| Breakfast with Rebekah |
The next morning was what the cast calls at Training Day, so Rebekah and I met again for a quick breakfast near the hotel and then she got on the cast bus. I decided to ride my scooter to the venue which took a bit longer than expected, but I did get there in time to watch Rebekah and the other “Rampers” jump ramps.
I just loved the whole thing!
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| Rebekah Practicing Skating On Stilts |
I also got to see Rebekah skate on stilts!
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| Here I am smiling with Jensel one of Rebekah and Joel’s ice show friends. |
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| Here Rebekah is smiling with CeeJay who I met in London when Rebekah and I skated with him at the family Queens Ice Rink |
After we returned to the venue, I got to watch Rebekah and the cast do “Class.” I always have enjoyed watching “Class” which is a bunch of cool edge exercises. It’s my tradition to come for “Class” and I was not disappointed. After “Class” ended at around 4 pm I hugged Rebekah good-bye and scootered back through that amazing park to the hotel.
Now…I wanted to write about my “wasted sushi experience”: The name of the sushi restaurant is Sushi Train.
It is the coolest little place: a conveyer belt circles the seating area and those who eat there just take whatever they wish to eat. The sushi is absolutely fantastic too.
When Rebekah and and I ate there earlier in the week, we noticed a man who had removed all the rice from the fish and just eaten what was inside, so I decided I’d do the same thing.
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| 17 plates! |
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| This is the bowl I ate after removing all the rice…it looks big, but was actually small and I was still hungry! My second helping is also pictured. That is when the chef told me to not take any more! |
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| I neatly took all the wasted rice and put it together in these two bowls |
I made myself what was actually a small bowl and put all the rice aside. And…it was a lot of rice! I couldn’t believe the little amount in the bowl was associated with all that rice. I really enjoyed my bowl of food, but because the rice wasn’t in the bowl, I was still hungry, so I took a few more pieces of sushi. That was when a very nice employee approached me and told me that the manager requested I not help myself to any more food. I apologized and told her I would do what was requested. I finished my small second helping and then cleaned up a bit. I neatly put all the rice I didn’t eat in two bowls. I also stacked the 17 small little plates that had sushi on them.
As I was leaving, I took a photo of what was leftover. Just as I was doing that another employee came to the table and told me I’d been “so wasteful.” I apologized again and told her I’d copied what the man I’d observed had done. I promised to not do that again. It was kind of embarrassing to be scolded for wasting food!
When I got back to the hotel which is very close to Sushi Train, of course I shared the story with my family! We laughed and laughed. I haven’t been scolded at an all you can eat place since I was 22 years old.
Saturday 6/24, was a three show day for Rebekah. I wanted to scooter-walk with her to the venue (which was an hour long walk), but she didn’t want my company since she was doing the hostess role and she needed to practice the script without anyone around.
Rebekah texted me in after she’d arrived at the venue and suggested I arrive at the venue by 12:15 pm so she could meet me so I could put my scooter in the tour coordinator’s Hugh’s office. So, that is what I did. I got a bit lost since I wanted to go through the beautiful park I’d scootered through the day before, but I still made it in time. The security guards had no trouble letting me back stage.
After Rebekah and I got my scooter in the tour coordinator Hugh’s and show manager Ryan’s (R.J.)’s office, I walked to the front of the venue and waited until the doors opened. It was cold, so I had to find a quiet corner to stay warm. Once I got in, I got myself a nice cup of herbal tea and found another corner to hang out in until the seating area opened.
I was seated in the upper center section and it was very crowded, but I could still have a pretty good view.
Before the show even started, Rebekah and Benji came out to host some of the Pre-Show. I actually missed just a bit of her coming out from back stage since I wasn’t aware she was coming out early. I think from that point on, I videos everything Rebekah did! I was so proud!
At the beginning of the show, Rebekah announced to the audience of 10,00 the following: “My mom is in the audience!” So…I stood up and waved. The family sitting next to me were thrilled and I got to talk to them a bit during intermission.
When the show was over, I met Rebekah and her boyfriend Garrett by the ice and we got some really nice photos together. To get down to the stage was kind of neat: one of the people that worked at the venue personally unlocked the doors and walked me to the stage after the show!
After our photos, I walked backstage with Rebekah and Garrett, retrieved my scooter and said good bye. I had a glorious time scootering through that amazing park on the way back to the hotel. I really was hungry when I returned to Grenfell Street where the hotel is located and hoped to go to this food court in an underground mall by the hotel, but it was closed, so instead, I rode my scooter to the Poke place and picked up a wonderful poke bowl. “Just in case,” I also bought a salad.
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| I saw these really beautiful black swans on my scooter ride back |
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| My Poke and Salad dinner |
After dinner, I spend the evening packing and thought I’d better check that all with my flight was okay. And…guess what?!!! It wasn’t aware of it, but United canceled my flight! They rescheduled it for a next to impossible itinerary where I had an over 12 hour layover at the Melbourne airport and then an overnight stay at the Denver airport before flying to Colorado Springs, so I called United and was on hold for almost two and a half hours to get the flight changed to something that would work.
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| My unacceptable Itinerary that United booked |
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I woke up my husband Dan asking for help since we needed to initiate another phone call to United.
Finally, someone answered at United and my flight was changed. What I didn’t know was I’d been switched to Quantas and even if I wanted to, I could not change that flight without going through United again.
Rebekah returned to the hotel after the “crisis” and tried to help too.
Once I knew I really had a decent flight itinerary, I finished my packing and visited with Rebekah a bit and then went to bed.
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| Good Bye to Rebekah and my wonderful room at the Ibis Adelaide Hotel |
The next day Sunday, June 25, was a very long day for me. It began with me hugging Rebekah good bye by treating her to a continental breakfast at the hotel. We learned we didn’t have to get the entire buffet, we could just get a coffee drink and toast or a muffin.
Once Rebekah left, I completed my packing and took a shower. I then took the elevator down to the lobby. I was going to call an Uber, but there was a cab waiting in front, so I hopped in!
It was a short drive to the Adelaide airport. I had now been rescheduled to Virgin Australia Airlines from the original flight I’d had with United (I believe it was originally Quantas), so I had to pay baggage fees and also was told I had to get my bags from Virgin Australia in Sydney and take them myself to the international terminal.
Once I heard that, Annabelle called United for me. We didn’t think I could possibly make the connection, but miraculously I did because one of the Quantas employees in Adelaide suggested I get a cab to take me to the international terminal rather than the shuttle bus.
Somehow, miraculously, I made my international flight!
The flight from Adelaide to Sydney had been so pleasant, but my long 15 hour plus flight to Dallas was not nice. I ended up being put in a center middle seat and both people who were seating on either side of me were so cold and unfriendly. The man on the left side made a nasty face when I asked him if he could help put my back in the overhead bin. I never climbed over him the entire flight to ruse the restroom out of feats. The woman on my right never smiled and didn’t give me any indication that she wanted me to sit next to her.
The food was okay and I watched three movies on the flight and they were great! One of the movies I really enjoyed was Funny Girl with Barbara Streisand. It was just so good! The music was fabulous of course.
I was so, so happy when we landed in Dallas. I was also so glad to be rid my horrible row companions.
It took some time to get through customs and recheck my luggage (oh…I forgot…at least Quantas didn’t charge me for any luggage!) but once I did all that I was happy. I also had to take my luggage to the domestic terminal and check in all over again and go through TSA screening which was annoying.
When I finally found my gate which was a very long walk and train ride and freshened up a bit (I brushed my teeth, changed clothes, washed my face and put on deodorant(I looked for some dinner. I realized I missed the nice take away food from Australia, but I finally settled for some Panda Express food.
Finally, it was about time to board, but I had to get a seat assignment, so I waited in another line for a boarding pass with a seat assignment. The person in front of me took so long that I decided to sit on the floor to wait my turn!
The flight to Colorado Springs from Dallas was very pleasant since the flight attendant was so friendly and the man behind me was fun to talk to. It needed to talk to nice people after experiencing the awful row companions on my international flight from Sydney to Dallas.
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| Back Where It All Began! |
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| Oh It’s good to be Back Home Again! |
Once we landed in the Springs, I was just so happy and when I finally did exit the terminal and Annabelle and her boyfriend Ben and our dog Duchess were there I was so happy! I was back where it all began!
Getting the luggage and going to home was so easy from the Colorado Springs airport and when we did get home we visited for a couple hours before heading to bed.
What an incredible adventure that I will never forget! I went to Australia!!!!
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