Travel highlights from 2013

I've been trying to think of my travel highlights for 2013. It's a difficult task as there are so many to choose from. This has been a massive year for travel, with three overseas trips for me and a few domestic travels scattered in between.

March

A 25 day journey through Singapore, Malaysia, Taiwan and Japan. There were so many highlights, orangutans outside of languid colonial Kuching, amazing Taiwan, early cherry blossoms and onsens in Japan, but what sticks in my mind is the simple ryokan at the quiet but beautifully isolated town of Gujo Hachiman.

April

My first ever black tie event as I was invited to the Qantas-Emirates Gala Dinner. It's so saddening to hear of Qantas' recent woes.

June

In June we said goodbye to that unloved icon, the Sydney Monorail and a premature farewell to the service of the Boeing 737-400 at Qantas with return flights to Canberra on a tumultuous day in the capital.

July

I flew by myself to Japan to revisit the island of Shikoku and finally complete my dream of riding the entire length of the Sanin railway line.

August

My turbulence nightmares returned flying back from Canberra on a Qantas 737-400 through very bumpy skies.

September

Alex and I were invited aboard a specially decorated Qantas Boeing 767-300ER for the premiere of Disney's Planes, complete with a water canon salute and a flight to nowhere and return.

October

It was back to Asia with 10 flights in 11 days as we raced through Malaysia, Singapore, Japan and Vietnam, a new country for us. Despite the rush we had time to enjoy each destination, including beautiful Hoi An.

I've created a four minute montage of photos from this year's travels. Why not watch it at full HD at YouTube. Enjoy!

Aviation stats for the year

Visited 6 countries
Passed through 16 airports
Flew on 12 airlines
9 aircraft types
26 flights (28 including transits)!
Days travelling 47 (including work, domestic travel).

Comments

Springs, castles and the end of the line

I am never happy to stop before the end of the line. It irritates me to know that there is still somewhere unexplored lying ahead. So when I only got as far as Gujo Hachiman on the Nagaragawa Railway last year I knew I needed to return for more. Especially as this private third sector railway is, by its very nature, always at threat of closure due to low patronage. But did Gujo Hachiman deserve another visit? Sure it's a nice enough town, but had we missed out on enough last time to return? Mum's trip provided the excuse. I originally planned the Oito line, which wI'll be partly closed when the Shinkansen line is extended to Kanazawa. However, when I thought of special places in Japan that deserved to be shared Gujo Hachiman was at the top of the list. Before we could go anywhere Mum needed her coffee. There was a Tully's Coffee opposite the hotel entrance, so I parked her there while I booked our seat reservations. Mum got her fast train ride on a ...

One night in Canberra

It's the April school holidays and we are too busy to have a break but need one because of that. And because it's the Easter weekend the options are limited, so we just drive down to Canberra for the night. No, this isn't our first trip for 2023. I wrote about Japan on another site . I refuse to wake up early so we depart after 8.30 AM. There is not much to say about the drive except that the clouds seem so low and Lake George is very full. We stop at a rest area and at the lookout up the hill to take it all in. Everyone is hungry so we first stop in Dickson and then can't think of anything to eat, so I drive us to Civic, where we can't decide and end up eating at the Singaporean Killiney Kopitiam branch. The Canberra Centre has nice shops. I dream of getting an iPad from the Apple Store, we buy a blanket and toothbrushes from Muji and wish that Lego wasn't so expensive. Nothing we can't get in Sydney, but then we rarely go out shopping in the city. It...

The Carlingford Line

We close the year and the decade with a local adventure to mark the closure of a railway line. On the January 5, 2020, the Carlingford Line from Clyde will close to be partially replaced by the Parramatta Light Rail. This is Sydney's quietest line, a single track branch for most of its length from the industrial centre of Clyde to the northwestern suburb of Carlingford. According to Wikipedia, power supply and signalling issues mean that only a single four car train can utilise the line at a time. Newer Sydney trains run in fixed eight car configurations. This will be the first and last time I traverse the Carlingford Line in its current configuration. The weather of the day is certainly appropriate for an ending, the brown smoke haze lending an apocalyptic air to proceedings. I drive to Padstow and catch the T8 line to Central, followed by the T1 towards Parramatta and Penrith. The historic homes of the Inner West give way to industrial complexes, rail storage yards and t...

travelling allrite

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