travelling allrite

The captain would like to make an announcement that he is now that father of a baby boy, Alex. It's a bit of a late announcement, but things are kind of busy here now. See my other blog for more information. I'll stick to writing travel stuff here.

This was the trip that changed everything, the trip by which all future overseas journeys were measured. After a couple of horrible flights during my second overseas holiday to Malaysia in early 2000, I doubted whether I really wanted to travel overseas again. However, B was adamant that she wanted a honeymoon overseas and how could I deny my true love her dream wedding? We thought about Los Angeles, holiday packages to Disneyland were reasonably priced. But where was the romance in that? New Zealand was reasonably priced and reputedly beautiful, but it was so close! Surely we could visit it later. Where could be more romantic for a honeymoon than the city of love: Paris? We found an excellent deal with Qantas and, amidst the myriad other wedding preparations, booked it. Through Qantas Travel, their headquarters at the time just opposite my previous place of work, we arranged a hotel room, a tour to Mont St Michel and some museum and travel passes. Now we usually book everything ourse...

Realising that this would probably be the last anniversary for a long time that we could spend alone as a couple B and I stayed Sunday night in a hotel at Brighton Le Sands. The Novotel Brighton Beach has a pretty poor reputation amongst my work colleagues, but it was there that B and I spent our wedding night. That time, along with our subsequent visits, have always been enjoyable experiences. Indeed we have a great fondness for the beaches around Botany Bay. I will admit that one of the attractions for me is that Sydney's major airport juts out into the bay's otherwise serene waters and I can watch and dream as the big jets fly over the bay. Our hotel room was high up on the cornered ziggurat building, overlooking the bay, the airport and the city. Sadly the hotel had changed since our last stay. The large Balinese-style decorative pool and waterfall had gone, converted into additional outdoor bar seating. So too has the waterslide disappeared, now a children's playground...