The countdown was complete and the #FAB5 converged on Brisbane International. After some swift moves in sharing the load, the bags were re packed and without a hitch the team descended through the departure escalator waved on by the loyal fan club of Kate, Emily, Grant and Mac.

The first job was to get the two for one deal at the Coffee Club and marvel at the new "Birthday Album" - courtesy of The Sensible One. More gifts as the team water bottle made its debut (perfectly themed with a Pink Flamingo) and everyone was solemnly pinned with their Poppy crafted by The Wise One.

With narry a backwards glance the team made their way the 150 metres to the Boarding Gate and somehow managed to lose one of the flock. Still not sure how it happened but there was a minor panic. And detentions were issued!

It really did seem a good idea at the time! When we did the seating we put Carolyn, Julie and Jan in a row together with Von and Denise (with BJ in tow) in the row behind.

And so the fun began. BJ was in everything. He was squeaking, squawking and groaning incessantly .... much to the exclusive delight of the #Fab5. Within 30 minutes, The Sensible one was threatening to cut his squeaker out.

The third seat in the Denise and Von row was taken by Mario, the 70 year old Sicilian diabetic (sans violin case thank goodness) who was seated separately from his wife. Denise and Von became his "keepers". Mario was the definite third wheel and needed a lot of attention - he kept losing his insulin bag, lost his shoes, sat on his hat, spilled his drinks on his jacket, commandeered Denise's service tray, feasted on sugar, jabbed himself with injections and for 13 hours and 20 minutes straight was transfixed by Flight Tracker!

But it was all okay because, on boarding the aircraft, Julie had donated her Poppy to Tracy the air hostess who had offered to "buy it". True to form, Julie sacrificed her team poppy to the daughter of the Vietnam Vet - a sacrifice in the true Spirit of the ANZACs. It was a cunning and winning move as this ensured us the best service on board. Got the best of everything! We were the only guests to receive a glass of bubbly before takeoff and didn't that toasting and cheering set the tone for the trip to come.

So what do you do on a 13 hour flight?

A bit of eating...
Talking...
Laughing.....
Eating.....
Drinking......
Weeing...
Crying...
Walking...
Movie watching...
Flight tracking...
And just an hour of sleep

And on reflection, who would ever, ever, ever consider giving a mini hot dog to the #Fab5. Seriously, by that time they really should have known it would lead to pandemonium. The first truly censored moment of the trip.

But who cares. We made it to LA at 6.30 am Tuesday and after a smooth exit we were in the maxi taxi on our way to Sunset Boulevard- driven by an animated Ethiopian driver who acted as our personal tour guide as we navigated our way through peak hour traffic (did he really think that five over sixties who had just one hour of sleep would be in the LEAST bit interested). Hollywood, here we ARE - our home away from home for the next 5 days.

It is all downhill from here. #Day1#Fab5 still laughing.