by ·Comments Off on I still

God I love this city.  I really do.  Seattle was always going to be the city that I would move to if I got my green card.  Even though I didn’t I will try not to let that dampen my mood of the city.

This city is like heaven to me.  Here’s a few reasons why:
* Pikes Place Market – fresh market produce, gorgeous artisinal foods, atmosphere, pure awesomeness
* Boeing
* Coffee (not just starbucks)
* Boeing
* Beautiful scenery
* Museum of flight
* Boeing

Ok so I slipped Boeing in there a lot but its a big thing for me in this city.  One of the reasons I love this city is because it is heaven for avgeeks.  Where else can you openly be an avgeek and not be ashamed.  But, its not for everyone and frankly I don’t care haha.

After we got off the train on Saturday we had an easy day planned that first day.  Bit of orientation, pick up some essentials and the movies to see Captain America.  I also got to wipe off one of my trip list items.  First thing we did after getting some sim cards was head to Seattle Coffee Works where I could get a cup of Syphon Coffee.  The experience was fantastic.  The whole process was a great spectacle.  Best cup of coffee I have ever had.

That evening we caught up with Cory for some dinner and a movie as Captain America was showing as it was released the day before.  Movie was awesome but that’s for another day.

Yesterday was a late start after our free breakfast at the hotel. O how good it was to get a bowl of cereal.  Pure bliss.  We hit Pikes Place Market in the morning, it was great.  I spent the morning grazing over amazingly good fruit and veg (cherries are definately in season right now).  I got to tick off item list number 2 for seattle as I got to catch a flying fish at the Pikes Place Fish Market.  It was an awesome experience.  Also got to add some gum to the chewing gum wall.  It was gross but awesome.

In the afternoon it was getting pretty warm so we retreated to the hotel to cool off.  It was here that I found out that there was a wholefoods store closs to our hotel.  Time to tick off another item.  I scooted over to the store and started to explore.  My god it was awesome.  I was astounded by the sheer scale of the fresh food on offer.  I was going to return for lunch that’s for sure.

For dinner again we were going to meet up with cory but I had tweeted out for recommendations for dinner.  One that came back was the Steelhead Diner.  So with approval from the others we booked it in.  It was fantastic, and with an indulgent few scoops of local ice cream for dessert I was spent.

Today was a big day for me, it was time to free the avgeek, to let it fly with free abandon, to hell with what others think.  Off to the Boeing Factory and the Future of Flight.  It was also another chance to meet up with a tweep as Sandy who looks after the @futureofflight account was friends with a twitter friend of mine, so with a bit of organising I got to meet another “tweep” and get my photo taken.

The tour was great, even if u can’t take photos.  So many sites to see, so many sites to spot.  787s from JAL, ANA, Air India, China Southern, Royal Air Maroc and Etheopian. 747s from Lufthansa, Cargolux, Cathay Pacific and Korean and lots more.

I missed two take offs but you can’t have it all.  I spent up big in the stores ($130) on lots of geeky goodies.  After lunch at Wholefoods and a coffee from a donut shop that Obama frequented we checked out the Experience Music Project and Sci Fi Museum.  It was great to get in and finally see these museums and then I did a Duck Tour around Seattle as well.

Tomorrow its off to the Museum of Flight and also a tour of Safeco Field hopefully and then Wednesday we hit the road.. jack.

Current Location: Holiday Inn Express Seattle City Centre

by ·Comments Off on V-Town

God I love Vancouver. It is one of those cities i could easily live in. I mean seriously, why wouldn’t you. The city is amazing. Unlike the first few days pre tour, i had a decent amount of time to explore the city this time and do heaps of stuff, and I was going to enjoy doing it 😀 I had a few things planned but other than that it was all good to just explore and do random things.

Of the things I wanted to do, the main thing was the Grouse Mountain Grind. Why catch up a Gondola up a mountain when I can challenge myself to a grueling trip to the top on foot. Commonly reffered to as the “Vancouver Stairmaster” this was going to be fun for me. One of the girls on the Tour Christina was up for doing it as well, my day looked up as I would have some company rather than doing it alone.

The Grind was great, even in the cold temperatures (8c) and the wet with cloud everywhere. I still managed to have fun doing it. It was not easy, step after step up we went. It was done fairly well though the steps were fantastically set up with lots of stone steps along with wooden as well with only a small percentage of dodgy looking steps.

The time on the Grind was 1h20m47s. A great achievement for me and christina. It was a great feeling at the top to have concurred the mountain. But with so much cloud and fog at the top, it was not worth sticking around as you could not see anything, so I came down the mountain and ended up working my way back to Vancouver on the Seabus (like a ferry pretty much).

The other days in seattle were spent just enjoying the outdoors and either catching up with friends or exploring the city and doing a little bit of shopping. With plenty of canadian dollars leftover, it was good to know that I could just buy whatever I wanted without an issue. I even sent home 2 boxes of souveneirs so far at a cost of $177 CAD. Ouch :/ Might have to curtail the souveneir collecting a little…. NAH!

During my time in Vancouver we did some special things. One of them included a nice dinner at Tojo’s Sushi. A tour buddy, Cory, was organising a dinner at this special sushi restaurant that everyone raved about so I just had to go. It was an amazing night, now it was not cheap at all ($85 each including drinks for 7 people) but to be honest, I did not care. The food was amazing, the company great and I had a fantastic time spoiling myself the night before the Grind. We also trekked out to La Casa Gelato out in the inner suburbs around Vancouver. This Gelateria has over 218 flavours out daily out of a range of 518 flavours they offer. CRAZY! it was great. Some of the sampled options (you can try as many as you want) included Curry Peanut Butter, Chilli Chocolate and Vegemite, yeah thats right, vegemite!

Yesterday on my final day in Vancouver, well I had a great day planned. The Aviation Geek in me demanded some time out in the open, it wanted to be released. Thanks to twitter there is a giant collective of #avgeeks around the world. One of them who I have mentioned in the past Leighton (@pacificairphoto) offered to take me out to YVR (Vancouver Airport) and let me do some spotting and was going to make the day special. What I didn’t realise was that the day we were going spotting was also the day of the Vancouver Airport 80th Birthday celebrations! AWESOME!!!

Special events were being held around the airport and i ended up taking around 1700 photos while out there. I shouted Leighton lunch at the Flying Beaver bar which is part of the Seaplane Terminal down on the River. It was a great lunch spot, with good food, good company and lots of Seaplanes coming and going around us.

I also caught up with my friend Trista who took me up to the top of the Harbour Centre (for free thanks trista!) and we had a good catch up for a couple of hours over coffee and random shopping. All in all a great time. I was pleasantly suprised at how great Vancouver was, it is a city i could get used to and if my friend Chantelle has anything to do with it, it may be possible. She put the idea in my head to apply for my Canadian work visa. I dunno if I will but we shall see.

Managed to tick off more things on my list including a Bike Ride, Plane Spotting and the first of the Train trips. More on the train trip in the trip report (later tonight probably while I do my washing). Farewell Canada… i will be back, not sure how long for but stay tuned!

Current Location: Onboard Amtrak Cascades Train 809 – Bellingham, Washington
Countries: 3
Canadian Proviences: 2
US States: 2

by ·Comments Off on Trip Report – Around the World on a Star – Los Angeles to Vancouver – 7th July

Once we were released from our aircraft into the Terminal, it was a mad dash towards immigration. Anyone who has ever been to LAX before will know what I am talking about. LAX is a NIGHTMARE for transit. The facilities are crap, the staff are as slow as hell. But so many people do it, and I was doing it for some crazy ass reason. I was going to chatise myself at least a dozen times during this stopover for transiting at LAX.

As we got to the escalators down into immigration, we were spread out amongst people coming in off Virgin Atlantic from London. A full 747 load of passengers. Now unfortunately (and I don’t know why) but they don’t offer any sort of express service for priority passengers. This is ludicrous because the scene that was in front of me was like pure and utter bedlam. Crazy++ There was just hundreds of people in line ahead of me. The line was barely moving. I knew this was not going to be pretty.

I was meant to meet some people here in LAX for a bit of Aviation Geekage but I laughed when they said I would be out around 4pm (since I was due to land at 1445. They were not wrong. I was in line for a good hour and then once I got my bag, I still had another 15 minutes to get through customs. Yeah worst hour and 15 of the trip so far. But it was done, and I was clear.

As I dropped off my bag at International connections, and off into the main area I went. Met up with Derek from Cranky Concierge who was picking me up and we were quickly into his car, and off to In n Out. O yes, that’s right, I am already 2 down on the list and its barely even 24 hours into the journey. Now the In n Out near LAX is pretty famous amongst Aviation Geeks as it is directly under the flight path for Arrivals into Runway 24R. This is often the heavy aircraft runway. And I was not going to be disappointed this time.

I had been looking forward to these burgers for months now. I already had my order ready in my head (though I ended up getting fries as well when I got there). Both Derek and I met up with Brett from Cranky Concierge and also www.crankyflyer.com and we all had a great time, chatting about planes, travel and me with Camera in hand taking in heaps of photos. Awesome afternoon. Got some fantastic spotting photos. Some highlights include:
* Hawaiian A330
* Lufthansa 747
* Air China 747
* Singapore Airlines A340-500
* A rare Southwest Aircraft (737-300 with Winglets)
* Horizon Dash 8 – 25th Anniversary
I will throw up photos online at some stage but this was an awesome afternoon. Derek got me back to Terminal 2 and ended up dropping me right infront of Premium Security (o yeah) and I was through into the terminal within 10 mins. Now we had timed this so that I should have just enough time for a shower, quick drink and to the gate. Good timing to. I high tailed it from Security to the NZ Koru Club for a shower, no problems getting in at all. I had what was probably the quickest shower in their lounge history and felt relatively human again.

From the NZ lounge (no photos was to focused on going to the Maple Leaf Lounge) I ran next door to the Maple Leaf Lounge operated by Air Canada to try and keep up my Goal of going Lounge Hopping but mainly to see if they will reissue my boarding pass onto Air Canada stock. Nope, do it at the gate the Lounge Dragon told me. Fine. Walked in, dropped my bag, took a heap of photos, grabbed a can of club soda and then out to the gate I went. Once I got to the gate the flight had just arrived and people were spilling out everywhere. The gate agent wasn’t originally going to reprint my pass, then I asked if there were any other seats available. She said 1D. Aisle Seat, first row. Think Mal, Think. Yep take it.

Gave me a few minutes to sit down, fix some stuff up in my bag, take a photo of the Best Buy vending machine that dispenses gadgets and every other tech nerds dreams and then the flight was called.

Air Canada
AC557
Los Angeles to Vancouver
1915-2257
Embraer – E190 (C-FMZU)
Executive First – Seat 1D

Boarding: 1855 (Gate 24)
Push Back 1915
Take Off Roll: 1922 (Runway 24R)
Top of Descent: 2120
Touch Down: 2143 (Runway 26R)
Shut Down: 2150 (Gate 53)

With Priority Boarding called I was in the first wave onboard behind the families unfortunately. I was greeted onboard with a slight French Canadian Accent and then remembered something I had forgotten about the Embraer. Small overhead lockers… ahhhh crap. Thankfully my bag did fit. So that is always a good feeling. No sign of any headphones anywhere, figured they would hand them out later so grabbed my book and settled in.

Pre departure beverages were offered and I took a water. Back to being good after my indulgent lunch that’s for sure! We were soon all boarded pretty quickly (small aircraft means quicker turn arounds) and we pushed back dead on time. Nice work Air Canada can’t complain there. Now one thing I will mention about Air Canada is that their Transborder (US/Canada flights) out of LAX are all on E190s. This means that the seats are just plain old Cradle Seats, which for a 2 and a bit hour flight is perfectly fine. Anything longer and it would be a bit meh.

The seat was comfortable, adequate space and because I was in Row 1, the Monitor was fitted to the bulkhead so I could use it straight away (had they given out headsets). We were pushed back from the gate and then had a quick 7 minute taxi direct out to the runway to take off from where I had been sitting about an hour before.

The takeoff was quick, and we powered out over the water and turned north, and north we went. Apparently we flew up along the coast line and for some reason the Seat Belt sign stayed on for quite some time. A good 10-15 mins before the chimes sounded to release people from their seats. With that the flight attendants started handing out plain old earbuds. PASS! If I had of known this was going to be the fact to start with, I would of grabbed mine from the start of the flight.

Once that was done, arrival documentation handed out and then drink orders taken. Again I went with a club soda for reasons I am not quite sure in my head and this was served with nuts on the side. It’s a North American thing but all the airlines serve nuts of some sort. These were skin on roasted peanuts and cashews, not warm though but they were good, tasty and a touch salty.

Menus were handed out shortly there after while I started watching about the only movie that looked half decent (Unknown). Dinner choices didn’t look to bad and after having Beef for dinner last night, went for Salmon this time around. It was served with a side salad, Vegies and some sort of Rice thingy. It was good, a touch overcooked but meh can’t complain. The whole dinner was served with a small slice of Strawberry Cheesecake which was the best cheesecake I have eaten in a long long time (even beats the cheesecake shop).

Served with another few cups of coffee and I was a happy content avgeek. I settled in to keep watching Unknown and soon enough we were given a top of descent warning by our Female Co Pilot. We ended up coming into land with still light outside which was kinda trippy for almost 10pm at night. Guess things are not going to be getting dark until late around here. But that is just something I will need to get used to.

We landed with a very nose high attitude on the aircraft and it felt very wierd. But we cleared the runway and then we were off onto a taxiway and there we sat. At this point I had thought we were pulling up to a bus gate. But I was wrong. It was just a hold point on the taxi way. Thank god for that. We pulled into our gate right next to a new colours Continental 737 (sporting united badging). Into the terminal we were released and there is where the endless walk from one of the far international gates to immigration.

Now I got to immigration quickly and there was no one in front of me at this point so I was looking good. However the Staff member just decided to grill the crap out of me. Question after Question after Question. Hell the guys at the US didn’t even ask me much more than “how long are you here for”. It seems he wanted to know every minute detail of my trip, not sure why though. Once through that it was over to get bags then out through customs (not even a stop, he just took the form and said “off you go” before I had even stopped walking) and out into the Terminal. I met up with one of my twitter friends for my evenings entertainment!

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*Updated again* Had to add in another item at the instructions of some girls at work (Number 65)

Well only 3 Days to go! God It has come so fast. I updated the trip list a bit over the last few days so here, take a look:

1. Drink a glass of French Champagne in France
2. Drink a glass of Champagne onboard a long haul flight
3. Run Through Central Park
4. Pastrami on Rye at Katz’s Deli NYC
5. In’n’Out Burger
6. Drive a car in the USA
7. Walk over the Brooklyn Bridge
8. Ride a “Bullet Train” in Japan
9. Hot Dog from a Cart
10. Food from a Truck in Portland
11. Sushi for Breakfast at Fish Markets in Tokyo
12. Changing of the Guard at Buckingham Palace
13. Visit Borough Market
14. Fly Upper Deck on an A380
15. Visit Hiroshima (Japan)
16. Visit Normandy (France)
17. Touch the Berlin Wall
18. Ride a Train on 3 Different Continents
19. Sit in a Backwards Facing Airline Seat
20. Plane Spotting in San Francisco, Vancouver & Narita
21. Catch a “Flying Fish” in Seattle
22. Visit Alcatraz
23. Ride a Cable Car in San Francisco
24. Go Hiking in the Rockies
25. Ride a Bike
26. Go White Water Rafting in Canada
27. Visit a Location where Macgyver was filmed
28. Eat a Celebrity/Celebrity Chef’s Restaurant
29. Eat Chicken Rice in Singapore
30. Buy Clothes at a store in New York
31. Visit Macys
32. Go to the Rodeo in Canada
33. Drink a Glass of Wine in the Napa Valley
34. Visit a Brewery
35. Visit a Temple
36. Visit a Cathedral
37. See the Mona Lisa
38. Make new friends
39. Go Airline Lounge Hopping
40. Try to Meet a Flyertalker/Milepointer
41. Do Something Crazy
42. Go to a Baseball Game
43. Eat a Voodoo Donut
44. Visit the UN
45. Walk up the Eiffel tower
46. Wasabi Kit Kat
47. Buy Football Jerseys in the USA
48. Visit “China”
49. Buy a Fake Rolex
50. Spot a Retro Jet
51. Pay Tribute to a Flyertalk/Blog idol
52. Write a Trip Report
53. See a Broadway Musical/Show
54. Meet up with some “Tweeps”
55. Go to a Whole Foods Market – Top Chef Style
56. Eat a “Giant Cob of Corn Husk on” at Calgary Stampede
57. Eat a Canadian Baked Potato at Calgary Stampede
58. Spend the entire day at Calgary Stampede all the way to closing time
59. Walk the Highline in NYC
60. View a Ceremony that not many people ever get to experience
61. Eat in Restaurant that was famous for a General/President who ate/stayed there
62. Eat a “Concrete”
63. Visit a Crumpler Store Overseas
64. Drink some Siphon Coffee
65. Tell a Good Looking Stranger Its “My Birthday” on My Birthday in New York City

If anyone has any other tips, please feel free to make a comment and let me know. I will try and put photos up of these items as I go around but either way at the end of all of this, a photo will go up with each and every item that was completed.

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So the last few weeks of trip planning have been going well. It has been suprising some of the things that have come my way. On the weekend I managed to change my hotel in Osaka 3 times. I was a bit unhappy with the hotel I had really booked, the Comfort Hotel in Osaka. Even though it had free wifi and breakfast, there was no gym and the rooms were UBER small. But to be honest it was cheap, really cheap. But i knew I had a bit of luck finding industry rates and all at other hotels. I gave up Breakfast & Wifi and swapped over to the Swissotel Nankai Osaka for an extra $30 total. Big step up to a much bigger room, 5 star hotel and a nice looking gym. But i also out of just shits & giggles fired off an email to the Ritz Carlton Osaka. The #1 hotel in Osaka apparently. Rates were like $800 a night and I have no idea why i even sent the email. Till i got a reply offering a rate that was only $100 MORE than the Swissotel. In total. $330 for 2 nights at an amazing hotel Im sold!

But that is not the reason behind this post. I am really talking about the generosity of others. People who I have not really met but are just generous beyond words. A few people stand out that deserve to be mentioned. First off we start with a couple of twitter friends. Firstly theres @pacificairphoto (or Leighton as his real name is). He is a big spotter in Vancouver and takes some amazingly good and artistic photos. I had a day free in in Vancouver as Brad is heading off to Vancouver Island. Leighton ended up offering to take me spotting for the day. I was totally and utterly blown away by this. I would of been happy for some advice to go off and go spotting on my own but to offer to take me and show me the best spots. That is beyond fantastic.

Next off we have @fidget02 & @airlinesangel (or Jus & Yvette respectively). These two lovely ladies based in the UK often organise Tweetups (pretty much people from twitter go out for a meal or to catch up etc) but the thing that blew me away was they were willing to have a Tweetup when I was in london! And to top things off, Jus decided if i emailed her a list of things to see, she would show me around for a day!

The last one is what made my day yesterday. I have been reading a blog called “The Cranky Flier.” A fantastic Airline blog that is just written with a great amount of humour and sarcasm at times. Brett (who writes the blog) operates a company called Cranky Concierge and I decided I would give it a shot for the trip considering there are a few days with tight connections on the flights and figured it may be usefull, plus the concept just seems really smart to me. I had been chatting back and forth with Derek who is my “concierge” for the first part of my trip about getting details of the active runway on arrival into LAX so that if everything pans out and I had the time, I could make an “In’n’Out Run” to get some good spotting photos and also tick off a spot on my trip list (visit in n out). Yesterday morning I woke up to an offer from Derek and Brett. Rather than me having to walk or use the “free” parking shuttles to get to In’n’Out, they would pick me up and take me! An afternoon of chatting about Airlines, Planes and having a Burger hopefully in the LA Sun (god it will be good to get out in some sunlight in the summer). This offer just blew me away. I agreed immediately.

The generosity of some people just blows me away. This is just amazing the offers people are willing to make at times. I will definately be returning some of this generosity in kind that is for sure!

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Wow… life is full on as usual these days. It just never seems to end. I feel like I am moving a million miles a minute some times with no time to stop. I thought I would just give a quick update to how life is tracking at the moment. All I have seemingly blogged lately is either books or travelling (although another Book Review is coming later today).

Firstly, the 1st of May rolled around. This signalled something that I had been waiting for quite some time, we will call it “Green Card Day.” Last October I had applied for a shot at the Green Card Lottery for a diversity visa to the USA. This is the famed residency card that lets you live in the USA for as long as you like essentially. There is a billion in one shot (probably not that bad of odds, usually about 1%) that you will get one of these visa’s, but hey worth a shot. Well the 1st rolled around and I didn’t get it, but hey, was worth a try.

But since I didn’t end up getting the visa i can now really start setting some more goals forward in my life, so I have come up with a few for next year. Nothing overtly crazy compared to last year’s goals, but I think its what i need.

1. Move out of Home
2. Start looking at buying my own apartment
3. Run a Triathlon
4. Get into Mountain Biking
4. Take advantage of all these points im about to earn

With that goal of the triathlon I think it should help me keep in shape, and learn to use my bike a bit differently. Don’t know which Triathlon to do or when, but hey, why the hell not. It has been a bit crazy with the bike, I have had my share of stacks but I am enjoying it more and more. As the mornings get colder though, I am finding it really hard to get out of bed as I seem to feel the cold much much more than I did in the past, gonna have to start running in a jumper maybe!

Work has been good, a few big bookings in April have kept me in the running for the #1 spot and I won’t be going down without a fight, I’ve been putting in the mega hours, feeling like I don’t leave my desk but the more hours I put in, the closer and closer I get to closing the gap. I don’t know if I can do it, but I won’t go down without a fight. Never Give Up!!!

But the awesome bit is, I was told I was nominated this year to attend something that we normally cant attend. Each year our company puts on a big event called S.T.A.R.S (it stands for Sunlover Travel Agent Reward Scheme) and its attended by our Top agents from all over Australia. This year they are inviting some top staff to come with them. I was nominated. Now just being nominated to me was a big big priveledge. It made me feel like I was achieving something, that all the hard work I had been doing was being recognised. Well word came in Tuesday. I am off to STARS on the 25th of May! AYYAYAYA 4 days in a mystery location (haven’t been told anything yet at all). Hopefully should be good!

The big trip is also fast approaching, 2 months away today. Can’t wait! Should be awesome. Now to just stay focused between now and then!

by ·Comments Off on To Sydney for Anzac Day… the Long Way

Planning.

Each year I make a pilgrimage to Sydney for Anzac day to spend time with my family and also to enjoy lunch with my grandfather’s old army unit from World War 2 the 2/2nd Machine Gun Battalion. This year was obviously going to be different with Easter falling the same weekend. So I was not sure if I was going to fly down just one or two days or make a full weekend out of it. But then I had the usual predicament of work. Part of me knew that I would be roistered to work for Easter (sure enough got rostered for the 7th year in a row) but then part of me was sick of working every Easter.

I saw some expiring NZ points as well, I thought to myself… “hrmm why don’t I have a bit of fun with this. A bit of flying about to go with my trip to Sydney. What better way to get to Sydney for a Plane Geek than to fly the “long way” So I looked around at using all of my points to fly to Auckland for a day or two. But then I remembered that Emirates flies the A380 to Sydney from Auckland. Hrmmm that would be a good idea. So I looked at those prices from Auckland to Sydney and it was damn cheap in comparison. So that was the first segment planned. Then I looked at the segments over to New Zealand with Air NZ. Well a flight in a refurbished A320 or a Long Haul configured 777-200ER. I wonder. Long Haul it is. But this left me with about half of my points unused.

I started playing with domestic flights looking at perhaps visiting another city, for a day or two other than just Auckland. But then I thought, I love to fly, lets have a flying tour of New Zealand. I had been told flying into Queenstown was amazing. So that was to be the turnaround point. So I spent several days toying with combinations of flights, looking at what I could get for the points or very little extra money.

In the end I settled on the final Itinerary.

22 April – Brisbane to Auckland
23 April – Auckland to Christchurch to Queenstown to Christchurch to Auckland
24 April – Auckland to Sydney

So now I had up to Sydney. I figured I had better come back on Anzac Day itself in the evening rather than risk there not being a public holiday on the 26th when I was planning this as no details had been decided on yet, so a cheap and quick Virgin Blue flight back to Brisbane was used as it was considerably cheaper than Qantas (my usual airline).

The last thing to do was organize hotels. I usually book through work for any domestic stuff as I can get it at cost but since we now sell New Zealand this made it even more fun. I was looking around for hotels in Auckland when I came across the Pullman (at that point it was still the Hyatt). 2 nights including breakfast came in at about $250 AUD, instantly booked that without even looking at the location.

Now for Sydney. Needs to have a gym, be in a good location close to the train and close to the harbour area as the location for the March form up is down near that area. I looked at all the options and the one that appealed most to me was the Four Seasons. I had not stayed there at all yet. I’ve stayed at the Amora, the Intercontinental, the Hilton and all were fantastic. So why not add one of the predominant hotels in Sydney to the list, and at cost it was not too bad really. So it was decided, my one night in Sydney was going to be a bit of indulgence.

When the Hyatt swapped over to the Pullman and became part of the Accor Group I fired them an email to get my Gold Status added to the booking. I knew I wouldn’t get any points out of it, but hell if they recognize my status I would not mind at all.

As the time approached this was going to be a good trip. I had one last thing to work out. Do I cabin baggage the whole trip and prove to myself I can do it. Then I remembered I had to carry my suit. I didn’t want to lug my old Suit Bag around as it was heavy as hell. So I looked around at other options. Do I go for a rolling Suit Bag or a more slim line suit bag just for the suit itself and carry it on with an extra bag.

I ended up with the slim line carry bag, my Crumpler roll aboard suitcase (checked luggage) and then decided to use my old Crumpler “Hoax” messenger bag as my personal item. I was all good to go!

Friday 22 April

After an early morning run, final preparations and a quick cleanup of the house, it was time to hit the road. Taxi was ordered for 915 and was told an sms would be sent a few minutes before arriving. It was 905, no message but a taxi was sitting in my driveway. I usually order a silver cab, costs a little more but they are a touch more reliable. Thing is each time I seem to order them, I get the old cabs, this time was no different.

It was a quick journey to the airport and not much traffic at all (given it was Good Friday and all). Arrived at the international terminal with ease. It had been a good 6 months since I was last here to fly with Air New Zealand over 4 years ago. Walked past the Business Premier line thinking “see you in 2 months” and joined the long long economy queue.

It wasn’t to long in queue (10-15mins maybe) before it was my turn. I was quickly checked in and on my way. My scheme with the bags worked so I was in the clear. Got some currency took a few photos and then headed down to immigration. No queue at security but I wasn’t thinking and forgot my belt so took a little longer than it should. Not long at immigration and i was out into the airside portion of the terminal.

Walked around for a while, claimed some TRS money, and browsed some shops for a while. Parked myself on some couches by the gate after a while and read through my book. Pretty soon the plane touched down from Auckland and made its way to the gate to disgorge another plane load of kiwis.

Air New Zealand
NZ136
Brisbane to Auckland
1225-1725
Boeing 777-200ER (ZK-OKF)
Economy Class – Seat 41A

Boarding: 1155 (Gate 81)
Push Back 1225
Take Off Roll: 1236 (Runway 01)
Top of Descent: 1640
Touch Down: 1705 (Runway 05R)
Shut Down: 1710 (Gate 8)

Flight was eventually called, and boy was it a scrum, they tried calling by rows, this didn’t work so I joined the masses and got in the queue. Pretty soon I was walking on down the air bridge to begin another journey. Only one bridge used to board through door 2L today and it was turn right this time, next time would be left. Found my seat and settled in.

The seats on board the 772 are getting a bit tired and the legroom was pretty damn comfy. Last time I sat in these seats I was heading to the USA and weighed a lot more than I do now so it was definitely not as comfy. Now even though things haven’t changed onboard in 4 years it feels so different (but that’s another story).

Gate to gate IFE is a god send so i got it switched on and found a decent movie to watch. Tron Legacy it is and got about 5 minutes in before all the announcements started. Captain first, then the cabin crew, safety demo next (Rico version) and then we pushed back dead on time. Quick taxi to the active, third in line and a bit of a wait for inbound aircraft and soon it was out turn. Sitting over the wing didn’t make for good photos but you get that, I was too engrossed in a good movie anyway.

The flight seemed to just cruise on by effortlessly. First a run through with water, then meals for those who had ordered them. Today’s choice was Roast beef salad or a ham and cheese toasted sandwich. I went salad which was served with a warm mini hot cross bun and a small tub of ice cream (chocolate). Next came the drink service (diet coke) and then coffee (black). I was content.

After a while it was cleaned up, the movie finished so took a peak at the airshow and it was 45 minutes to landing we were going to be 20 minutes early. Descent started and pretty soon we were heading through the cloud layer on approach to the airport. Coming in over Manakau harbour onto 05R and we touched down smoothly and effortlessly. Pulled into the old pier next to an EK 773 and 2 gates down from the NZ star alliance scheme.

Took a while to get let off the plane but then it was a long long trek to immigration after passing through the giant duty free store (as you always seem to do), immigration was a breeze, no questions just a grunt and then when asked for a stamp in a totally empty passport he stamps the middle (bastard). Bags took ages with 2 apologies for delays. Through ‘biosecurity’ with no hassles and I was out into the open in the cold and into a shuttle within 5 minutes.

The Pulman was shortly reached and I was helped with my bags. Definitely a good start. Check in was a bit long but it wasn’t rushed or rude or anything. They eventually got me set up, my AClub gold was recognized and they said they would let me know about breakfast as my pick up the next morning was set for 605 yet breakfast started at 630.

5 minutes later true to their word they called me in my room to let me know it was handled. Can’t fault that. The gold amenity was already set up in my room, it was some form of tart and mineral water. Room was spacious, bathroom was clean and modern, what more could you want.

Went out for a while to find some internet (to fix an issue with my phone), some supplies and some food. Staggered the CBD for a while, found an awesome Chinese restaurant down a back street full of people (good sign).

Crashed out earlyish

Saturday 23rd April

Up at omg o’clock, lots of time for fun today. Breakfast was ordered for 530, pick up at 605. Breakfast was 20 minutes late, pick up was 10 minutes early so I was mega rushed but I managed to down a cup of coffee and some fruit while eating toast on the run.

Another quick shuttle ride back to the airport and I was the only one let off at domestic. With no bags to check just my Hoax with me, i must of seemed crazy to the driver let alone the other people in the shuttle and when quizzed by the driver about the VIP tags on my booking, I explained and got a quick salute before he headed off… weird.

First duty today was the collection of boarding passes (not cause I was going to use them but to add to my collection). Epass worked a treat and that process was over quickly. Strolled around the terminal for a bit, lost track of time trying to choose a book before seeing “Go to Gate” on a monitor. Whoops!

I cleared security and forgot my belt again but instead of a rescan, they just wanded me and had a quick chat. Kiwi hospitality! The gate area was pretty small and empty, a Koru Lounge was off to the side, and o how I wish I could have been in there. Managed to see the new domestic config NZ 320 all blacks as it headed to wellington I think. Pretty soon boarding was called and I was first to board.

Air New Zealand
NZ513
Auckland to Christchurch
0750-0910
Boeing 737-300 (ZK-NGD)
Economy Class – Seat: 19A

Boarding: 0725 (Gate 29)
Push Back 0751
Take Off Roll: 0802 (Runway 05R)
Top of Descent: 0850
Touch Down: 0910 (Runway 02)
Shut Down: 0913 (Gate 19)

Domestic NZ uses mainly 737-300’s and I had not been on one in many years. They are pretty Spartan onboard. About what you would expect with most airlines in the region really.

Plane filled slowly till not a seat was free, doors were shut announcements made and we pushed back dead on time. Safety demo played and this time it was the ‘Fit to Fly” version which had giggles and weird expressions going around for everyone. Pretty soon we joined the line taxiing out behind a new Jetconnect (Qantas) 738 bound for somewhere in Aus.

When it was our turn we were held for a little while before finally heading out and up we went heading for the skies. In a first for me the seat belt sign was off within 90 seconds and out came the iPod since there didn’t seem to be any other entertainment.

A light refreshment was offered onboard. Tea, coffee, water and a choice of snack being Cookie, Lollies or BBQ Cassava chips. Took the cookie and stashed it since it was still early but definitely had some coffee and was happy to see it wasn’t instant but plunger coffee.

Had plenty of time onboard to read, along with take photos out the window, it was a pleasant flight. Before you knew it we were on descent into Christchurch heading in over the Canterbury plains. As we were coming into land, I was now starting to worry, At time of touch down I had very little time to change flights but since i was up the back it was not going to be easy.

When we finally pulled up to the gate, everyone else onboard seemed to take forever to get off, so I walked as fast as I could to get to the main terminal. Didn’t need to worry as the gate was right next to mine.

Air New Zealand
NZ627
Christchurch to Queenstown
0930-1020
Boeing 737-300 (ZK-NGG)
Economy Class – Seat: 17A

Boarded: 0920 (Gate 18)
Push Back 0927
Take Off Roll: 0932 (Runway 02)
Top of Descent: 0952
Touch Down: 1010 (Runway 05)
Shut Down: 1014 (Gate 3)

The Fids at the gate was showing final call so I know I was definitely one of the last onboard but not the last. Found my seat and got settled as quickly as possible. This was going to be a very quick hop down to Queenstown and was meant to be an amazing flight in threading through the mountains.

Again same as before, it was a basic simple flight. Up for not long before seatbelts are off, and the crew were serving the same snacks as the last flight but no coffee or tea just water.

Stashed a second cookie as I was too interested in the scenery on descent into Queenstown. It was breathtaking. Such a magnificent part of the country as the approach threaded its way down through the valleys before coming in over the lake and city.

Such a brilliant view as you touch down of a small airport surrounded by mountains. Disembarked through the rear door and out onto the tarmac, it was clear and ‘crisp’ as I took a few more photos and made my leisurely way inside. I wasn’t in a rush as I had plenty of time to kill. Wandered around this well-appointed airport and then settled in by the big picture windows where I caught up on the trip report and read as well.

Before I knew it my next plane touched down and taxied in and it was time to get myself in order.

Air New Zealand (Operated by Mount Cook Airlines)
NZ5384
Queenstown to Christchurch
1200-1300
Aerospatiale ATR-72-500 (ZK-MCY)
Economy Class – Seat: 5A

Boarding: 1140 (Gate 1)
Power Out: 1153
Take Off Roll: 1157 (Runway 23)
Top of Descent: 1231
Touch Down: 1246 (Runway 02)
Shut Down: 1248 (Gate 47)

I was first to the gate but not the first onboard as I was overtaken by several people while I stopped to take photos of the other NZ aircraft on the ground (incl another domestic A320).

This was my first time onboard an ATR and only my second time onboard a regional turboprop (the other being a Dash 8 Q400 in New Guinea). What struck me first was the lack of head room. Holy cow was it tight, my head was skimming the roof and I am only 6 ft tall.

Got myself situated, saw not only is there no entertainment but also no recline either…o dear. The seats were ok, not slim line but leather old school chunky. For the first time today I had the seat next to me free (2×2 seating) which was great. This time we took off in the opposite direction to what we had landed and this made for an amazing departure. Bad news was that i was sitting next to the propeller which meant heaps of engine noise, my noise cancelling headphones helped though.

Thinking this would be another water only flight I was wrong. Tea, coffee, water and a cookie. Ah NZ, three flights, three different service levels. At least there was one constant, no instant coffee. So i sat, read and marveled at the scenery for the flight as we cruised along at 19000ft.

Soon we were on descent into Christchurch and the crew (only 2) were scurrying to get things done (even had time for a lolly run but someone nicked the last of the lollipops before I could get one for Kelly.

As we touched down we were quickly off and headed down past the aerobridges to what would in any other country be a bus gate. But here, you get to walk, what felt like forever! But the good part was it disgorged you at stage 1 of the new terminal and it looked good.

Went for a walk to explore a little but quickly realized, Christchurch airport is a dump! It makes the old Canberra airport look amazing, but I am sure by the time of the world cup at the end of the year it will look amazing (like the regional ramp did).

Found myself some lunch (although not as good as I would of liked it was healthy enough, although slightly more than I should of had however by now it was almost 2pm and my last real meal was at about 530am.

Managed to get a spot overlooking the runway and the domestic ramp and settled in to plane spot and work on the trip report. After a while of sitting in the sun decided to walk off lunch a bit and explore the terminal some more.

While i was out walking around a couple of young spotters came running past and they were in a rush so i knew something good was coming. Turned out to be the daily emirates flight. A lovely large 777-300ER, and it was pulling up right in front of me… Score! Got a number of photos there before heading to get a photo of the US Air Force hangers, commonly referred to as the deep freeze ramp. Unfortunately nothing was out 🙁

Continued my walking around past a few outdoor garden sitting areas, something that i think is a fantastic idea just aimlessly walking, taking photos of the rebuild in progress. The new tower at Christchurch looked good.

I ended up in the NZ regional terminal relaxing their and using some free Wi-Fi for 15 minutes or so to tweet and Facebook some updates but nothing substantial. Before long I was returning to the domestic terminal to my spot where I had lunch to chill and read my book. Lost track of all time again and soon it was time to clear security and head up to the gate for my last flight of the day.

Air New Zealand
NZ532
Christchurch to Auckland
1630-1750
Boeing 737-300 (ZK-NGF)
Economy Class – Seat: 17A

Boarding: 1610 (Gate 18)
Push Back 1627
Take Off Roll: 1633 (Runway 02)
Top of Descent: 1718
Touch Down: 1741 (Runway 05R)
Shut Down: 1744 (Gate 30)

Boarding was called in what must be the NZ style but is very different to anything I’ve seen before. It makes total sense though. First is star gold and koru club. You expect that. Then it’s anyone with an A or F seat then everyone else. It works a treat because I like sitting in window seats.

This was pretty much the stock standard domestic flight, another set of announcements more laughs at Richard Simmons (swear i saw Phil from amazing race). A quick take off and seat belt sign again really early (why can’t Aussies do this to). As we flew north, the view out my window was the sun slowly setting. It was great. A sunset, some hot, half decent coffee, an interesting book (Kingpin) and something to munch on (piece of fruit would be nicer though). These are the kind of reasons I love flying, relaxing in the sky. What more can you want?

As we approached Auckland it was sad to see the day of flying coming to an end, but I still had two days to go. The airport was busy at the international. All the long hauls getting ready for the America flights. Short hauls heading to Aus. and of course the EK whale dominating the ramp. As we pulled into the gate, the All Blacks A320 was parked as well but unfortunately no chance of a photo. No clean shot 🙁

Headed out of the terminal and jumped on the airbus express this time as I was going to grab some dinner in the CBD before heading back to the hotel. I had scoped out a Spanish place the night before but it was a letdown. Headed back to the hotel after a long day to crash out.

Sunday 24th April

After an awesome morning with an old Contiki friend exploring Auckland she dropped me off at the international terminal with heaps of time to check in for my emirates flight to Sydney. I had heard heaps of stories of Emirates offering cheap upgrades on trans-tasman flights so tried my luck at the ticket desk first, but was told the flight was sold out so even paid upgrades were out.

Waited in the check in queue about 10 minutes but even that was flowing fast and had no problems checking in. Had forgotten all about the departure card so grabbed one on my way to the departures floor. I had been told that there was a great viewing deck at Auckland airport so figured I would check it out. Auckland has had some major work done to the airport in readiness for the world cup this year and it looks amazing. The viewing deck though has not and in reality is pretty crap. But something is better than nothing. I figured I would get through and then relax somewhere quiet, work on the report and read.

Immigration was slow as I had assumed wrongly that they stamp passports on the way out. Wrong. Should have used the smart gate because it would have been quicker. I went for a walk through some of the shops but eventually started the long long trek out to the gate.

Auckland has 2 A380 gates (15 & 16) and they are the newest gates but they also happen to be on what feels like the other side of Auckland. Took me a solid 10 minutes to walk over there and I walk pretty fast. Not much over there though, one shop which is one stop shop for all food, drink and reading material. Grabbed a coffee and plonked myself in front of the windows to enjoy the scenery.

Outside this window though was “the whale”. My first A380 flight was approaching and I was pretty excited. After a while the flight attendants walked past me and then slowly but surely more passengers came to take photos. I figured at that point it might be good to move out of the way as I was in a spot that would get crowded soon, and frankly with a flight of 4-500 people the flight alone will be crowded enough.

Slowly but surely crowds came as boarding approached, they came in waves, but really they had not started really arriving yet. The passengers that were coming seemed to be a very different mix to what I saw on the flight over. Air NZ seemed to be mainly kiwis and Aussies but this looked like a very different mix especially a lot of Indians.

Emirates
EK413
Auckland to Sydney
1800-1925
Airbus A380-800 (A6-EDC)
Economy Class – Seat: 44A

Boarding: 1718 (Gate 16)
Push Back 1806
Take Off Roll: 1825 (Runway 05R)
Top of Descent: 1850
Touch Down: 1925 (Runway 16R)
Shut Down: 1935 (Gate 57)

Eventually boarding was called, however this time I knew I wasn’t getting on anytime soon. Hell boarding was called almost an hour before departure time. I was Zone F and things were going slowly. So I people watched a bit while I waited. More and more people flowed into the gate area but boarding went pretty
quick with about 6 lanes for economy open. Eventually Zone F was called and I moved into the queues and waited my turn.

I got to the front and as I presented my boarding pass it wouldn’t scan. I was thinking here’s my chance for an op up, but it was not to be, they just manually entered my details and invited me onboard. As I walked onboard it was not as I expected it. It feels so spacious inside.

As I settled into my seat I couldn’t believe the leg room it was pretty generous, whether this was just the seat I was in (2nd row of the first economy cabin) or if this was the emirates standard. As more and more people seemingly flowed on, I got ICE started. Emirates inflight AVOD is amazing. So much choice that it has its own guide. Crazy! I picked out a movie (Avatar) and settled in.

Doors soon shut and the announcements began, first in Arabic then in English. Same with the safety video. The main cabin screen had been showing an ad real for emirates but as we pushed back was changed over to the tail camera. It was weird watching the aircraft move as we moved on the screen. But I did realize on night short haul flights, window seats are a little pointless.

As we moved into our turn for takeoff and began our roll, there was no sense of any massive thrust. The whale just glided effortlessly and quietly down the runway. Hell I barely noticed we were in the air! Shortly thereafter service started to commence. First up, cold towels out of a packet so essentially a moist towelette. Then came the menus. A menu on an economy flight of 3 hours… what the hell (the menu was promptly placed directly in my bag).

After a little bit longer the meals were handed out for the special menu people, and then the cart service began. Choices according to the menu were either “Honey Roasted Ginger Chicken” or “Lamb Medallions”. Went with the Ginger Chicken. Both were served with an Appetizer of Smoked Salmon and Mustard Potato Salad, along with a roll, Cheese, Biscuits and also a Dessert of Sticky Date Pudding and a little chocolate to finish.

The Bar cart came around not to long after the meal so I was slowly eating things rather than just inhaling it like the lady in the aisle did. I wanted to enjoy the meal slowly while still watching Avatar. When the bar cart came around it was time for a diet coke. But then I was a bit stunned at the size of the can (tiny!) and also the design. The Cans must have been loaded in Dubai because Diet Coke was written on it in Arabic.

After what felt like forever, (probably a good 15 minutes) Tea was offered first, when I asked about coffee was told it would come through next. So I waited, and waited, and waited. Another 10 minutes later I finally got a cup of coffee and this is when I had the dessert (wanted to have some coffee with my dessert).

When the trays were finally cleared I excused myself to the rest room and used the ones that were up the set of steps just so I can say “yeah I went upstairs on an A380” (although in a matter of months I’ll be flying the upper deck of an A380 anyway). When I came back to my seat I had a look around at some of the panels in the area mainly just to stretch my legs but the spaciousness of the cabin is still a little mind boggling.

Settled back into my seat and just relaxed. Asked for another Diet Coke after a little while it finally arrived but the cup and can were never collected back, ever. So I landed with a cup and can dangling from the Cup Holder.

As we came in for final approach into Sydney again it felt like we weren’t moving at all and it was a quiet quiet approach over the city and into the Airport. A slow taxi to the terminal and we slowed to a stop at one of the A380 gates (not quite sure what pier it was).

Being in the first cabin meant I was toward the front of the queues when we hit immigration but it was PACKED! A couple of flights from China, Malaysia, and Pacific Islands also arrived around the same time so Immigration and Customs were bedlam.

Got through after 10 minutes or so (wanted a stamp) and my bag took a little while to come out this time. Thankfully since I had nothing to declare or anything Quarantine was easy, straight to the exit and out we go to the train. Within 45 minutes of landing I was on a train heading to the city and my hotel for the night, the Four Seasons.

Monday 25th April

I had planned on getting up today for the dawn service, but it was bucketing rain, so didn’t. Wanted to go for a run around the harbour as well but it was bucketing rain, so didn’t. This would set the tone for most of the day. Things just did not seem to go right at all. I had been having phone problems most of the night with data issues and after issues getting some breakfast from one of the local cafes I had to rush to get changed and get ready for the march.

After power walking across the CBD to the new meeting location, it was back to some relaxed state of mind for a while. Was a bit disappointed to not see Dick Smith on the march this year but there’s always next year. After the march I had to rush back to the Four Seasons to check out before heading off to the Anzac Day luncheon.

After lunch and an afternoon with a friend, I headed to the Airport really early as I knew it would be busy and figured that check in might be a bit slow and getting some food in the terminal might be a bit busy. Arrived at the terminal just as I finished my 2nd book of this trip, and made my way up from the station to Terminal 2 check in.

I was going to use one of the Virgin Self Check in Terminals then figured, nah, I want a real boarding pass. So jumped into the Queue for normal check in (Virgin still offers this service thankfully). After a minute or two I was in line and when called over I let them know I was on the 830pm flight to Brisbane (it was around 6pm at this stage). The check in agent asked me if I would like to go on an earlier flight if the seats were free. Hell Yeah!

As I checked in I had to run my photo ID gambit with pre warning before handing it over (hurry up new driver’s license) and had a bit of a chat with her. She asked me if I would like window or aisle and I said “Exit Row would be nice, but I know since it’s a new flight and all I’ll take what I can get.” She replied with “I don’t have any exit row windows, but how about an Exit Row Aisle” I thought for approximately 1 second before answering “yes please.”

Seconds later I was on the flight to Brisbane boarding in 30 minutes. Plenty of time to grab a drink, pick out a new magazine and make my way to the gate. Called home to let them know the new flight info and checked out the food options as well. Food options were pretty busy and didn’t appeal at that point so called home again and pre warned I would be hungry.

Grabbed an Australian Aviation from the newsagent (kind of a flight tradition when I don’t have a book to read almost), and headed to the gate. Within 10 minutes of our scheduled boarding time, there was still no inbound aircraft and then the delay advice was given. 20 min boarding delay.

Waited some more, read away, was not really worried as either way I was still getting home earlier than planned. After about 25 minutes the inbound aircraft arrived and the people kind of flowed off. But this is when it happened. The boarding scrum had begun. People just lined up because they could. When they announced priority boarding for Premium Econ and also for Elites everyone rushed the gate and I could hear the gate agent having to calm people down.

General Boarding was called and the line snaked quite a bit so I jumped in early to make sure that I could get on eventually. I was heading for the gate, for my final of 7 flights.

Virgin Blue
DJ981
Sydney to Brisbane
1900-2030
Boeing 737-800 (VH-VUT)
Economy Class – Seat: 15C (Exit Row)

Boarding: 1900 (Gate 31)
Push Back 1918
Take Off Roll: 1934 (Runway 16L)
Top of Descent: 2025 (Guessed)
Touch Down: 2046 (Runway 19)
Shut Down: 2050 (Gate 41)

Headed down the Aerobridge to the final flight of the trip and boarded onto VH-VUT. This seems to be one of the rogue aircraft that doesn’t have proper premium economy seats or any inflight entertainment (thankfully I have an iPod and a magazine). Settled into my seat and as we pushed back shortly after I was advised by the inflight crew that I need to take off my headphones (even though they were plugged into their radio system) because they were noise cancelling. I explained that the noise cancelling is not active and I can hear perfectly fine at the moment. She let that slide.

It was a long slow push back and taxi out to the active runway. All the way out to runway the furthest from the terminal. Felt like we taxied forever, but that seems to happen in Sydney. This flight was pretty uneventful like most Virgin Flights I take. Up & Down. Don’t buy anything, just read what’s in my hand and conk out really.

We got a nice little announcement from the pilot about 15 minutes into the flight telling us that it was going to be a total flight time of 1 hour 5 minutes so should be touching down in about an hour, he then told us to track along by watching the Airshow on Channel 13 on our seat back screens. Hold on a second, what drugs is this guy on! Firstly we had been in the air almost 15 minutes by this stage, and we still had an hour to go (that’s weird). He also doesn’t know what aircraft he is on because we don’t have screens. Puzzling! Turns out that we were slowed down by Air Traffic control so I didn’t even realize we had started our proper descent into Brisbane till we punched out of some clouds on final into Brisbane.

After a very rough landing into Brisbane and then taxing to the gate, got to chat with the same flight attendant who told me I couldn’t use the headphones and she explained they were borderline not going to make their next flight as they were due to head back to Sydney again and things were not looking good for the curfew. So gave her some comforting words of “$10 says you don’t make it” as I deplaned.

I was home free now! Off the flight, through the mess that is the upgrades to the new Lounge at Brisbane and down to get my bag which arrived after not to long of a wait. Soon I was in my parent’s car heading home.

Aftermath

This was an amazingly good trip. I had the best time, caught up with some friends and family and enjoyed myself immensely. I worked this out that all up for flights and accom this trip set me back roughly $700 however I flew a total of 4598 butt in seat miles and managed to still pull some points out of this trip (with both Emirates and Virgin).

All in all, I deem this a success, I was relaxed for most of it, in my element with a nice big grin across my face. What more can you want from a short break, ready to get back to the grind tomorrow.

Anzac Day & Easter Weekend 2011

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So its a very long easter weekend, coupled with Anzac Day. Now most people who know me know that I always travel to Sydney for Anzac Day over the last few years to spend some time with relatives and also pay tribute to the fallen at the morning service. The last two years though I have done something different. I have marched in the Parade to honour my Grandfather. This year I will again do the same, with a bit of a difference.

Since my parents are not joining me in Sydney this year (since it falls over easter and they are themselves away on the Gold Coast) I am heading off to New Zealand. Why go to Sydney via New Zealand, put simply, Because I can.

I will be posting a full Trip Report including planning and everything upon my return but this way you will know why I am a little bit quiet over the next few days. I am switching off Data on my phone so will only be hitting up Twitter etc if I can find a free WiFi hot spot around the place (which I am sure won’t be that common). Luckily I have my (new) ipod synced with heaps of music, movies etc and a good book to finish (and an excuse to buy a new one if i finish this one while away).

Otherwise I will be back in touch with life on Sunday night when I get into Sydney.. Till then… Catch ya on the flip!

by ·Comments Off on Busy Busy Busy

Well, it seems all I’ve been doing lately is posting about movies, books or food. Hah! Well I thought I would post a little about life for the last month or so. Things have been busy busy busy. I feel like I am on the go non stop day in day out. It feels like I haven’t taken a breath and rested for more than 20 seconds for the whole month and it doesn’t look to change much at all for the next week or so.

I’ve had the bike for just on a month now, (been riding for 10 weeks now and I think I can cross it off my bucket list as I know how to ride now). I am getting more and more confident each time I get on the bike and don’t in any way regret any decision to buy it. It was well worth the investment, even though I have fallen off it about a billion times already.

It feels good sometimes to get out and ride but I am still not at the point where I am able to switch off and do things instinctively like I can with my running. When I run at the moment, my brain switches off. I am able to just run and run without thinking, my brain goes off and I can relax I guess you could say. With riding I have to constantly think about what I’m doing, concentration is always at a peak. But I guess with that it means that my heart rate stays up there and it means I can burn a hell of a lot more calories (11k ride on Sunday morning burnt like 1200 calories which is roughly 2/3 of a daily intake).

In life outside of the bike, work has been pretty good, but I have been having to focus pretty damn hard, make sure I am getting every single booking and every single dollar so that I can make my goal of top consultant. As of this morning I was sitting in first place but I am holding onto that position by the skin of my teeth ($60.. yes that’s right $60). I have to work my butt off to stay in first place and the thing is, It is going to take major effort to stay there.

The trip planning is pretty much done now. I have like 2 things left to organise but they both can’t be done till very last minute (JR Pass and rail in France both don’t allow bookings till like 2 months prior) so you could say I am pretty much done. I have to organise some insurance thanks to lovely difficulties I am having with my current policy (won’t cover me due to a clause on the length of trip) so after the Travel Expo on Sunday I am hoping to have this all worked out. With the Trip pretty much done all that’s left in my check list is really to organise the spending money, insurance and those train bookings and its all done, and with less than 3 months to go, I would have to say its all going to go swimmingly.

What more can I say. It has been a pretty full on last month or so, and with more full on times coming I don’t see things quieting down any time soon. I travelled to Canberra for a weekend last month to catch up with Stuart, Michelle and see Daniella again which was an awesome weekend. Qantas stuffed me around on the way home and still haven’t given me the credit that I wanted for the flights (giving up on that I guess). Next weekend (easter) is going to be some fun travelling. I might post about it just before I go but will be doing some travelling for the hell of it and acting like a Plane nut for the first time in a while (essentially flying to Sydney for Anzac Day via New Zealand).

Guess I should probably get back to work now… slacked off enough

by ·Comments Off on What a Day

What a day to be an avgeek (Aviation Geek). Two big things happened today that both happened before I even got to work.

First thing to happen was the final launch of the Shuttle Discovery. Shuttle Discovery took off this morning (our time anyway) for its final flight into Space. Off to the ISS it goes to deliver its last payload of random stuff to help the station but I tell you what, it is an impressive site. STS 133 headed into the bright blue sky trailing a massive fireball behind it. Seeing that launch live on CNN this morning just made me want to see one in real life, but unfortunately that just won’t happen as I am pretty sure there are not enough shuttle launches left.

What I have done though is added to the bucket list. I wanna see a Space Launch of some kind. Be it rocket or the new replacement to the shuttle, I wanna see that plume of flame launch into the sky, see the smoke trail behind it as it reaches for the heavens. It would be a site I wanna see, just once in my life in real life.

The 2nd big thing today was the US Air Force finally deciding on a tanker to replace their ageing fleet of KC-135’s. These tankers have been flying since the 50s. I mean seriously there are planes their with more hours than some United Flight Attendants (inside Avgeek joke), but the journey to this day has been an epic feat of stupidity. Backwards and forwards, claims of corruption and mishandling. Stupid moves made by not only the companies involved but also the US Government. I mean seriously who takes a freaking decade to make a decision on an aircraft that is essentially an airliner (767/A330 in this case) with a hose out the back.

So Boeing won the contract (first time around it was EADS, then it got contested) with their Bid of a Tanker based on a 767. Only time will tell how long and if this contract ever goes ahead. Personally i give it a week before the problems start all over again and the claims of wrong doings start to fly left right and centre. If they finally do start to build these things, it will be fantastic to see something new flying around and the chances of seeing them in Brisbane are really good as we often get them escorting over here for exercises or stopping off on their way around the world. Cross my fingers we get to see one in the next decade or so.