A few days prior to my departure for Beijing, I was on my way to work and I tripped on an uneven footpath. I was fine, no injuries – except my pride from the school kids behind me laughing – but upon picking myself up I suddenly had this huge grin on my face and…
Category: freakyflier.com
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…
McDonald’s DC-3, Lake Taupo, New Zealand
Whenever I travel, although I love the excitement of new sights and tastes of exotic food, I sometimes use McDonalds as a comforting place of familiarity, a place where I don’t have to worry about what the food may taste like, a place where it is affordable – even in Sweden where a McHappy meal…
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: Virgin Australia VA536 Gold Coast to Sydney – Economy Class
Phew! No lines to check in at either the check in kiosks or counter and no lines for the bag drop. Ok I was early, I’d checked out of my apartment at around 11am and with the clouds opening up and it pouring rain yet again during my stay in Surfers Paradise on the Gold…
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…
Tamun Ayun Temple (Mengwi Temple) Bali, Indonesia
If like me, sometimes when travelling in Asia, you may have a moment where you feel ‘templed out’, in other words, after looking at temple after temple, often in repressive heat, they start looking all the same, you have seen enough and can’t bare to see anymore! When I was in Bali, this didn’t actually happen…
Palaces, Queens, Dikes and Bikes, (Part II) Het Loo Palace & Gardens, The Netherlands
If you have read part one of my royal journey in The Netherlands, you’ll know I just missed out on meeting Queen Beatrix at Noordiende Palace in Den Haag ;)…..and, so, my dear friend Brett and I headed to the north of the country to visit Het Loo Palace in Apeldoorn, once home to sovereigns,…
A Tale Of Two Lighthouses, Wollongong, NSW, Australia
I grew up in Wollongong and during the school holidays or on a long weekend, my dad would sometimes take my brother and I fishing, much to our delight, and I think my mum’s as she had a few hours respite from her noisy and sometimes over-energetic boys! The very first time, when we were…
The Temple of Heaven, Beijing, China
What: Temple of Heaven Where: Beijing, PR China When: 15th – 20th Century One Christmas, when I was about seven or eight years of age, Santa Claus left my brother and I a board game called Chinese Checkers under the Christmas Tree. I don’t think my brother and I ever learnt how to correctly play…
Palaces, Queens, Dikes and Bikes – The Netherlands (Part 1)
What: Noordeinde Palace & Het Loo Palace and gardens Where: The Hague & Appledoorn, The Netherlands Other than my passion for commercial aviation and travelling (oh and cheese) I have a sincere interest in the Kings and Queens of Europe, the royal households and their history. I do, in fact, have a portrait of my…
Tanah Lot and the Balinese Festival of Buda Wage, Bali, Indonesia
What: Tanah Lot, A picturesque Hindu Temple built on a coastal rock formation Where: Bali, Indonesia, about 45 minutes drive from the tourist centre of Kuta When: 15th century, restored in the 1980’s I’m not one that enjoys large crowds, I avoid the hoards of people around Sydney Harbour on New Years Eve and the thought of shopping…
Virgin Blue (DJ) E-Jet in AFL Livery
New uniforms, new aircraft for regional routes and new branding and livery expected soon, in the meantime, the newest aircraft to join the Virgin Blue fleet (this Embraer 190 and a Boeing 737) have been painted in this quite plain AFL (Australian Football League) livery, with an all white tail. Virgin Blue recently won the AFL contract….
New Chinese airline arrived in Sydney this morning
Today marked the start of another Chinese carrier serving Australia. Hainan airlines (HU) will fly an Airbus A330-200 three times a week between Shenzhen and Hangzhou and Sydney. Shenzhen, located on mainland China near Hong Kong and Hangzhou, also on the mainland near Shanghai are both important financial, trade and industrial cities and with populations…
Retro: Sydney Airport circa 1992
Picture taken mid1992. Notice the old liveries. On the the left, Boeing 747-100, Continental Airlines. Nex to that, the ‘Tulip’ liv ery of a new Boeing 747-400. In the foreground, is an Air Pacific (known locally as ‘The Flying Fruit Tingle’) Boeing 747-200, which has the same ‘fruit tingle’ livery but with a different tail (now…
Baggage Fees
I travelled in the US recently and travelled with US Airways and Continental Airlines for my internal domestic flights. Both are full service airlines and I enjoyed flying with them, they were great. These days, most of the domestic ‘full service’ airlines charge for checked baggage. They charge US$20-25 for the first bag and up from…
Matty Somewhere 