Trip Notes: Jetstar JQ605 Sydney to Melbourne Avalon

Not so long ago I took a trip to sunny Melbourne flying Jetstar from Sydney to Avalon Airport located 55 kilometres south of the city. I’ve reviewed Jetstar’s services before which you can read here so I won’t go into the flight experience except to say, on the uneventful 1hr 35min journey I had that…

Getting From Buenos Aires to Montevideo

On my recent trip to Buenos Aires, I decided to spend a few days in the neighbouring city of Montevideo, the capital of Uruguay. There were a few options on how to travel the 300 or so kilometres. Of course I checked flights first and the lowest fare was on Air France, who operates a…

Exploring Explorer of the Seas with a Beautiful Lunch

Food, it’s the one of the main enjoyments of cruising. Sure there’s the fact that you unpack once and visit many destinations, but  food is one of the many highlights people choose to cruise. As you know its been something I’ve been enjoying of late after cruising on the Sea Princess and Golden Princess.  I…

Jetstar, Queenstown to Auckland

“Would you be able to assist the crew in the event of an emergency?” “Yes I would” These are the words that get you upgraded when flying on a narrow-bodied Jetstar Airbus A320. With Business Class being only available on their Boeing 787 Dreamliners, this is the closest you will get to a seat with…

Golden Princess – The Food, Oh The Food.

“How come you got a Gold Cruise Card? Mine’s blue?” Said my friend Nova as we checked in for the Golden Princess. “Yeah mines blue too” Bert pipped in looking slightly confused. “‘Cause I’m a Gold member!”  I replied. After my previous short cruise on the Sea Princess I was hooked. I was hooked like a…

QantasLink, Sydney to Maroochydore (Sunshine Coast), Boeing 717, Economy Class

“What time will you arrive? I’ll pick you up” My old mate Daz texted me. “I’ll be landing at 10:35” I texted back. “Ok, see you at 10:30” was the reply. “No, its 10:35!” I responded. “Yeah, 10:30!” “No, 10:35!”….. The banter went on for weeks, “10:30?” “No, 10:35!” we laughingly texted each other. The 1 hour and…

Jetstar, Sydney to Bali on the 787-8 Dreamliner, Economy Class.

“Pop the butter on top of your meal, it will soften it” After all my years of flying,  I’d never heard something so simply ingenious when it comes to that hard frozen butter sometimes served on board a flight. I was heading on a last minute trip to Bali, partly birthday celebration, partly Christmas shopping trip but mostly…

Qantas First Lounge, Auckland

“No, this way!” Bert said as I bounded into the Qantas Business Class Lounge. He was pointing to the ‘By Invitation’ door. On our recent trip to New Zealand, I flew Emirates Business Class on a Qantas flight number between Auckland and Sydney. I was travelling with my friend Bert, myself in Business Class and Bert…

Emirates, Auckland to Sydney Business Class

“Welcome on board this Emirates flight to Brisbane” Brisbane? Am I on the right plane? “Ladies and Gentlemen, please disregard the menu stating Auckland to Melbourne, we are in fact off to Sydney” Melbourne now? “Ladies and Gentlemen, Welcome to Dubai” Either Dubai now has a harbour with replica bridge and Opera House or I’m…

Emirates Lounge, Auckland, New Zealand

“Excuse me, Is this the way to the Emirates Lounge?” I asked asked an elderly lady coming down the escalator. “Oh, I don’t know I’m from Canada!” she replied. When my friend Bert and I reached the top of the escalator, we found not only the Emirates Lounge but the Qantas Business and First Class lounge. I dont…

Spice Temple by Neil Perry – Melbourne

While this post is about a restaurant and its food, its also about one of my now favourite Melbourne restaurants which has a link to Qantas and therefore it is about travel and planes….Right? Recently on a quick trip to Melbourne, my friend Bert and I visited Spice Temple , one of Neil Perry and The Rockpool…

Melbourne to Sydney, Qantas Airways Business Class

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….

The Qantas Club, Brisbane Domestic Airport

Is there a better way for a FreakyFlier to spend a lazy Saturday afternoon in an airport? Yes, at the Qantas Club of course. On my recent trip to Brisbane with my friend Bert, we were heading back to Sydney on a flight at around 5:30 pm on a Saturday afternoon. After we checked out…

The Sea Princess Diaries – Brisbane to Sydney – Day One

Dear Diary, I’m in Brisbane with my brother Aaron. We arrived late last night on a Jetstar flight which was quite good and stayed in Spring Hill. The hotel was a little dreary but close to a pub where we went for a quick drink. After checking out of the hotel and having a fast…