The day started very early – 3 AM to be precise to get to Perth Airport for the 5.15 AM flight to Sydney. Whilst it felt every bit as early as it was, we were soon on our way to Sydney which is a 4 hour flight from Perth.

At Sydney, we had a tight turnaround. Or so it was supposed to be but the flight ended up being delayed slightly. It’s about 12.5 hours flying time from Sydney to San Francisco so it’s not a short flight but our total travel time was good at only 18 hrs from Perth to San Fran.

The flight went fairly quickly. It is amazing to leave Sydney at lunchtime on Saturday and arrive in San Francisco at 9.15 AM the same day. Thanks to the international date line, I now feel like I have gained a few hours and a whole day. Unfortunately, on the way back, we lose that day leaving on Wednesday but arriving back in Perth on Friday.

The plane made good time and we arrived in San Francisco on time. It was uneventful going through US immigration and customs and we headed up to departures to grab an Uber.

Our driver was a bit of a crazy hoon so I tried to concentrate on the view rather than the car bumpers flashing by a quarter of an inch away from our car. We passed by the city and crossed over the Bay Bridge on our way north. On the left we could see Alcatraz (I think our driver may have been an escapee) and also the distant Golden Gate Bridge.

We got our Formula 1 friend to drop us off in Berkeley. We had ordered a few things from REI to pick up in Concord, but unfortunately the Berkeley store was the only one which had our bear canister in stock. It was fun walking around REI with three suitcases and a bear canister. We only got odd stares from five people. Which means everyone else was just being polite.

After REI, we caught another Uber to our final destination in Concord, an outer suburb of San Francisco on the way to Sacramento. We are staying here as it has everything you need to get organised for a thru-hike including an REI, car hire place, post office and, most importantly, a ribs place.

It was great to get to the hotel and grab a shower before heading out. The hotel is clean, comfortable and quiet. Perfect!