Well the trip is less than a month away (3 weeks & 2 days to be exact) and today i picked up all my documents and sorted them all out. I had to print off what felt like a tree with back up copies of all my hotel confirmations and tour bookings etc.

As you can see here there is a hell of a lot of paperwork I need to take with me. Flight itineraries, hotel vouchers, tour vouchers, train itineraries, car hire bookings, hotel bookings, vouchers for accommodation, vouchers for tours, insurance, travelsim stuff, financial stuff, it is just never ending.

But the good news is with this trip now pretty much all but paid for, foreign currency converted (that is the topic of another blog post for another day) and all the documents picked up. This trip is now just about ready to go. The only thing i can’t plan 100% right now is the trains in Japan. I have my JR Pass but the only thing is the timetables only come out one month in advance pretty much, so most of that will be done on the fly, although as you can see below there is a rough outline of what trains I need to catch. So here it is, the full and final listing for this trip.

5th July 2011 – Last Day at Work
6th July 2011 – Prep, pack, get ready to leave
7th July 2011 – Goodbye Australia.
Brisbane to Auckland to Los Angeles to Vancouver (yes thats all in one day. Leaving at 12pm arriving into vancouver same day at 9pm… hello JETLAG!)
Brisbane to Auckland – Air New Zealand – NZ136 – 1225/1725 – Boeing 777-200ER – Business Premier
Auckland to Los Angeles – Air New Zealand – NZ2 2130/1445 – Boeing 777-300ER – Business Premier (New Aircraft for airline, new type for me)
Los Angeles to Vancouver – Air Canada – AC557 1855/2136 – Embraer 190 – Executive Class (New Type, New Airline, New Airport)
8th July 2011 – Vancouver – Meet Up with Brad – Vancouver Hotel – Sandman Hotel Vancouver City Centre
9th July 2011 – Tour Begins – Contiki Canada & The Rockies with Calgary Stampede – Link to tour here
21st July 2011 – Tour Finishes – Vancouver – Vancouver Hotel – Sandman Hotel Vancouver City Centre
22nd July 2011 – Vancouver – Plane Spotting with @Pacificairphoto (from Twitter) a fellow #avgeek
23rd July 2011 – Amtrak Cascades – Vancouver to Seattle – 0640/1105 – Seattle Hotel – Holiday Inn Express Seattle City Centre
24th July 2011 – Seattle
25th July 2011 – Seattle
26th July 2011 – Seattle
27th July 2011 – Pick Up Car start driving south – Overnight Portland Oregon – Portland Hotel – La Quinta Inn & Suites Portland NW
28th July 2011 – Portland to Roseburg – Roseburg Hotel – Holiday Inn Express Roseburg
29th July 2011 – Roseburg to San Francisco – San Francisco Hotel – Holiday Inn Golden Gateway
30th July 2011 – San Francisco
31st July 2011 – San Francisco
1st August 2011 – San Francisco
2nd August 2011 – San Fransisco – Morning Visit to Alcatraz/Plane Spotting Day – SFO Airport Hotel – Millwood Inn & Suites
3rd August 2011 – San Fransisco to New York City – Farewell to Brad this morning
San Fransisco to Chicago O’Hare – United Airlines – UA972 1010/1625 -Boeing 767-300 – Business Class – (International Configuration Aircraft, 2 New Airports)
Chicago O’Hare to New York City La Guardia – UA692 1730/2046 – Airbus A319 – First Class – (New Airports)
New York City Hotel – Element New York Time Square West
4th August 2011 – New York City – UN Guided Tour Booked
5th August 2011 – Morning New York City – Birthday – Evening Flight – New York City to Zurich
New York City John F Kennedy – Zurich – Swiss Airlines – LX17 1800/0805+1 – Airbus A330-300 – Business Class (New Airline, New Airport)
6th August 2011 – Zurich to Paris
Zurich – Paris Charles De Gaulle – Swiss Airlines – LX634 0905/1020 – Airbus A320 – Business Class (New Airports)
Meet up with Yena – Explore Paris – Paris Hotel – Paris Marriott Hotel Champs-Elysees
7th August 2011 – Paris to Bayeux – Train – Intercités – 0910/1115 – 2nd Class
Explore Bayeux – Bayeux Hotel – Château Hôtel de Bellefontaine
8th August to 10th August 2011 – Explore Normandy Region – WW2 Invasion Tours – Overlord Tours – Neptune Tour (2 Days), 101st Airborne Tour (1 Day)
11th August 2011 – Bayeux to Paris – Train – Intercités – 0841/1046 – 1st Class
Explore Paris – Paris Hotel – Paris Marriott Hotel Champs-Elysees
12th August 2011 – Explore Paris
13th August 2011 – Farewell to Yena – Paris to Berlin
Paris Charles De Gaulle to Berlin Tegel – Lufthansa – LH3241 0930/1105 – Boeing 737-500 – Business Class (New Airline, New Aircraft, New Airport)
Berlin Hotel – Hotel Pullman Berlin Schweizerhof
Meet up with Melissa
14th August 2011 – Berlin
15th August 2011 – Berlin
16th August 2011 – Berlin to London
Berlin Tegel – London Heathrow – BMI – BD842 1100/1200 – Airbus A319 – Business– (New Airline, New Airports)
Heathrow Express – London Heathrow to London Paddington Station
London Hotel – Park Plaza Westminster Bridge London
Ceremony of the Keys at Tower of London
17th August 2011 – London
18th August 2011 – London
19th August 2011 – London
20th August 2011 – Explore London Morning – Evening Flight – London to Tokyo
London Heathrow – Tokyo Narita – ANA – NH202 1935/1520+1 – Boeing 777-300ER – Business Class (New Product, New Airline)
21st August 2011 – Arrive Tokyo – Narita Express to Shinjiku – Tokyo Hotel – Hyatt Regency Tokyo
22nd August 2011 – Tokyo
23rd August 2011 – Tokyo
24th August 2011 – Tokyo
25th August 2011 – Tokyo to Yokohama to Kyoto
Morning Shinkansen to Yokohama, explore city, Late Afternoon Shinkansen to Kyoto
Tokyo Station to Shin Yokohama – Hikari 505 – 0833/0852
Shin Yokohama to Kyoto – Hakari 519 – 1552/1815
Kyoto Hotel – Citadines Kyoto Karasuma Gojo
26th August 2011 – Kyoto
27th August 2011 – Kyoto to Osaka – Morning Shinkansen from Kyoto to Osaka
Kyoto to Shin Osaka – Hikari 503 – 1016/1030
Osaka Hotel – Ritz Carlton Osaka
28th August 2011 – Osaka
29th August 2011 – Osaka to Hiroshima – Morning Shinkansen from Osaka to Hiroshima –Hikari 495 – 0835/1019
Hiroshima Hotel – ANA Crowne Plaza Hiroshima
30th August 2011 – Hiroshima
31st August 2011 – Hiroshima to Narita – Morning Shinkansen from Hiroshima back to Tokyo then NEX from Tokyo to Narita.
Hiroshima to Shin Osaka – Hikari 543 – 0715/0854
Shin Osaka to Tokyo Station – Hikari 510 – 0913/1210
Tokyo Station to Narita – Narita Express
Explore Narita, Plane Spotting, Exploring the Temple – Narita Hotel – Hilton Tokyo Narita Airport hotel
1st September 2011 – Tokyo to Hong Kong
Tokyo Narita to Seoul Incheon – Asiana Airlines – OZ103 1530/1810 – Boeing 767-300 – Business Class (New Airline, New Airport)
Seoul Incheon to Hong Kong Chep Lap Kok – Asiana Airlines – OZ723 1945/2230 – Boeing 747-400 – Business Class (New Airport)
Hong Kong Hotel – Novotel Hong Kong Nathan Road
2nd September 2011 – Hong Kong
3rd September 2011 – Hong Kong
4th September 2011 – Hong Kong
5th September 2011 – Hong Kong
6th September 2011 – Hong Kong to Singapore
Hong Kong Chep Lap Kok to Singapore Changi – Singapore Airlines – SQ861 1540/1920 – Airbus A380-800 – Business Class (New Airport, New Airline, New Aircraft, Bucket List)
Meet Up with Cat – Singapore Hotel – Royal Plaza on Scots Singapore Hotel
7th September 2011 – Singapore
8th September 2011 – Singapore
9th September 2011 – Singapore
10th September 2011 – Singapore to Brisbane (Home) – Fly Home with Cat
Singapore Changi to Brisbane – Singapore Airlines – SQ245 0955/1930 – Airbus A330-300 – Business Class (New Product)
11th September 2011 – Rest
12th September 2011 – Back to Work

So there it is guys, plenty of things to read about, the trip is a big one, some changes here and there but shes all good 😀