Have you been watching that new show ‘Ready for Takeoff’? It’s a fly on the wall documentary about Qantas and the inner workings of the airline. I loved the second episode with Qantas mega Frequent Flyer John Martin, who hails from my hometown the City of Wollongong who during the episode took his 1000th Qantas flight….
Category: Australia
QANTAS Airways, Sydney to Brisbane Business Class
“Tonight we have the traditional lasagne with steamed greens or the seared beef on glass noodles.” the cabin crew member discretely repeated to each passenger as he made his way down the centre aisle of the secluded Business Class cabin. The food, it is the thing I get most excited about when taking a short flight in Business…
Melbourne to Perth – QANTAS Airways Business Suite.
Mints and mince, although sound similar are two very different things – especially to a vegetarian! I was at a party once, enjoying a delightful array of finger foods while chatting to a vegetarian over the loud pumping music. The lights were low and she was relying on me to let her know what each of the…
QANTASLINK Sydney to Dubbo Bombadier Dash 8 – Q400
It was to be a sequin and glitter free weekend when my friend Bert and I decided to get out of Sydney over the Mardi Gras weekend. Yes, we were heading to Dubbo in Regional New South Wales and we flew on one of the Qantas group of companies smallest aircraft a Bombardier Dash 8 Q400, operated…
Wandering Through Hyde Park Barracks, Sydney Australia
“Dog must not steal from dog” – Convict saying. Recently, I decided to become a tourist in my own city of Sydney and visit one of Australia’s oldest European buildings, The Hyde Park Barracks Museum. Listed on the New South Wales and Australian National Heritage registers and listed as a UNESCO World Heritage site…
Moorilla Estate Cellar Door, Hobart
“I cook with wine, sometimes I even add it to the food.” – W.C Fields. I often cook with wine. After a short flight on Virgin Australia from Sydney to Hobart, my friend Bert and I were amazed that the hire cars GPS knowingly directed us to Moorilla Estate Cellar Door located in the northern suburbs of Hobart….
Barilla Bay Pacific Oysters, Hobart Tasmania
“FreakyFlier, the world is your Oyster!” Where does that saying come from and what does it mean? O.K, forget the FreakyFlier bit (although some have said it 😉 It was first penned by Shakespeare in his play The Merry Wives of Windsor: Pistol: “Why then the world’s mine oyster, Which I with sword will open.” Modern times may have changed…
A Little Taste / Piece of GERMANY in WOLLONGONG at the A.G.A GERMANIA Club
Pork Knuckles, Schnitzels and Sauerkraut, Wheat beer and Riesling wine. Like my Dad, I love German, Japanese, and Seafood, my Mum and brother love Indian, Mexican and Italian so when it comes to family birthdays or get togethers at restaurants, it’s usually the person celebrating that makes the decision of where to go and we are…
An Aircraft fit for a Duke, a Duchess & a Baby Prince
“This is it! This is them! WAVE!!!” A couple of work colleagues and I went to the best viewing point of the airport, the 8th level of the International Airport Car Park, to witness today’s arrival of the Duke & Duchess of Cambridge, William and Kate, and baby Prince George to Sydney. Us three loyal subjects…
Review: Air Asia X – Adelaide to Kuala Lumpur – Economy Class
The Frugal Flyer – How little can I spend to get from Australia to Asia without going hungry? To celebrate low cost carrier Air Asia X announcing new services between Adelaide and Kuala Lumpur, they released a limited number of introductory fares between the two cities from AUD$99. I managed to purchase one of these…
Introducing Australia’s First Dreamliner – Jetstar’s Boeing 787-8
I was excited when I saw the first 787 Dreamliner on the ground at the Boeing factory in 2009 and equally delighted when I saw an Air India Dreamliner take off as the first commercial 787 in Australia, so you can imagine how thrilled I was to get up close, really close, and tour Australia’s newest aircraft before it…
Air India returns to Sydney with the Boeing 787 Dreamliner
After years of speculation, the return of Air India after a 16 year hiatus AND the first scheduled, commercial service of a Boeing 787 Dreamliner happened recently. I’d only ever seen the Boeing 787 Dreamliner once, that was in 2009 at the Boeing factory near Seattle when the first few had just rolled off the…
Monorail! Monorail! Monorail! – Farewell Sydney Monorail
“There’s nothing on this earth like a genuine, bona-fide, electrified, six car monorail!” “What’d I say?” “Monorail” “What’s it called?” “Monorail” “That’s right, monorail!” “Monorail! Monorail! Monorail!” Marge vs The Monorail. Episode 71 of The Simpsons, 1993 It would have to be my favourite Simpsons episode, Marge Vs The Monorail, it centres around a crook…
Sydney to Wollongong via The Royal National Park and Sea Cliff Bridge
From central Sydney to the south coast city of Wollongong, approximately 85 kilometres south of the CBD, there are two main routes you could drive. The most direct being the F6 freeway taking around an hour and a half or there is the picturesque slower route via The Royal National Park (the second oldest in…
Fancy Sandcastles – Australian Sand Sculpting Championships 2013 – Part II
Continuing on from part 1, I was staying in Surfers Paradise on the Gold Coast during the weekend that the 2nd Annual Australian Sand Sculpting Competition was being held. This years theme was Sand Safari, and I swear some of that sand followed me back as weeks later I found sand on my balcony –…
Fancy Sandcastles – Australian Sand Sculpting Championships 2013 – Part I
I’ve never been a big fan of the beach, dumping crashing waves, eye-stinging saltwater and the sand – sand that would hide and follow you home then turn up months later in the uncanniest of places. In fact, not long ago, I found some on my balcony thinking it had followed me back from the Gold…
REVIEW: Virgin Australia VA543 Sydney to Gold Coast
Dashing straight from work, I arrived at Sydney Domestic Airports Terminal 2 for my 19:10 flight, with self printed boarding pass in hand, at 17:40 exactly an hour and a half prior to departure, half an hour earlier than the standard recommended time. With a silent sigh and roll of my eyes I could see the bag drop line for those…
Review: CountryLink – Sydney to Nyngan (via Dubbo) First Class
International first class air travel can sometimes be up to 15 times the price of a discounted economy class ticket and so is commonly reserved for the elite, heads of state, those with very deep pockets or the frequent traveller being savvy with their reward points. With limousine transfers, discreet check in areas (even exclusive…
REVIEW: St Tropez Apartments – Surfers Paradise, Gold Coast, QLD
Sometimes you just need to get away from it all and it doesn’t matter where you go or where you stay you just want to relax, put your feet up and do nothing. My trip to the Gold Coast was one of those weekends where I wanted to do just that, nothing, and booking my accommodation at the last…
Welcome to Nyngan – Bogan Shire – Central New South Wales
When I said to friends I was going to Nyngan for the long weekend, most said “you’re going all that way to smoke weed?”… “No, thats Nimbin on the NSW North Coast” I stated with a sigh. Nyngan is located in outback NSW on the Bogan River in the Bogan Shire. I was off to…
Sydney Harbour & Manly by Manly Ferry (Part I)
A few years ago, I worked in a backpacker travel agency with a girl who was on an overseas working holiday/gap year from Ireland. Chiara (pronounced ‘Kee-ra’ – I always got it wrong) had a slightly warped sense of humour… we got on well 🙂 Whenever students, backpackers or visitors to Sydney would come in…
Matty Somewhere 