travelling allrite

It's the sound of those jets at high altitude that does it. I woke to the sound this morning and was instantly transported into the aircraft, looking down at the clouds and landscape below. I can't wait for our next trip to begin, though it is two and a half months away. We booked our hotel in Kuala Lumpur for four nights. Then what? We are thinking of Bangkok. It's sounds fascinating and exciting, though not an easy relaxing city. The other idea we were thinking of was staying in a beachside resort at Penang. B was born there and her family had holidays there as well. I was not particularly impressed when I visited, although the walk up to Kek Lok Si temple was fun, if sweat-inducing. Still, a real resort holiday would be nice as we haven't had a real relaxing holiday in years, and the prices are quite decent. An episode of Jetstar's Going Places documentary was screening today. It featured Osaka and the scenes were instantly recognisable to me. They were up at th...

When it comes to international travel Australia seems like a long distance away from anywhere else. Actually, that's not strictly true. New Zealand is about 3 hours away from Sydney. Papua New Guinea is not far off the northern tip of Queensland. And Darwin is closer to Asia than much of Australia's South. And that latter fact is why Jetstar is setting up a base in Darwin for shorthaul flights to Asian destinations . For those of us in the south almost all international flights other than to New Zealand and the Pacific islands involve big "widebody" aircraft ranging from Airbus' A330 to Boeing's 747. Internally we usually catch the much smaller "narrowbodies": Boeing's 737 and Airbus' A320. Jetstar's plan is that we could now fly the narrowbodies all the way overseas from Darwin and Perth to destinations that could not support a larger aircraft's worth of passengers. Jetstar Asia already to fly to quite a few destinations in Asia from...

Many accommodation booking websites now include guest reviews on their advertised hotels. The reviews can be a really useful tool in selecting accommodation that is appropriate for your needs, telling what the hotel advertisements leave out. When reading the reviews you will often find that a common theme often emerges for accommodation in a given country. I tend to discount the Americans and Australians who whine about tiny rooms in Hong Kong, Japan (pictured), Europe and London. It's just a fact of life for those high density locations and you could say that our rooms are often too big for our needs. Though I do admit that the hotel in London was at the lower limit and as expensive as hell! I'm noticing another theme for hotels in Kuala Lumpur: bad service. Across the boards there are complaints about rude or lacking service from hotel staff and shoddy maintenance of facilities. I'm not going to pass judgement until I've been there myself. I don't remember any hu...

On the sixth anniversary of our first flight to Europe B and I visited the Flight Centre Europe Travel Expo at Darling Harbour. We knew what we were looking for: cheap flights to Europe. It wasn't until the end when we discovered the China and Korean Airlines stands tucked away to one side. The next day we put down a deposit for flights to Europe with Air China. Korean Air was cheaper, but the deals were only advertised for the October/November period and Air China allowed two weeks for us to make the final decision. I admit that I don't really feel like flying with Air China right now. There's nothing wrong with their flights that I know of, apart from their ancient livery, but the prospect of passing through China again didn't excite me after our trip there earlier this year. Unlike most other Asian transit airports it is compulsory to pass through immigration in China, which means spending more money on a visa as well as presumably collecting and rechecking in your ...

I was watching Getaway last week when they showed a segment about drifting down a Daintree rainforest creek. The background music was Enya's Storms in Africa , last heard during the Ansett television commercials in the late 90's. Those were the kind of airline advertisements that really made you want to fly, featuring aircraft flying through evening clouds to Enya's dreamy music. I was quite sad when they replaced those advertisements. A search of the net has revealed that I'm not alone in my opinion, nor in my hope that someone will put the ad on YouTube. I went ahead and purchased Storms in Africa online for the memories of the now defunct airline and to listen to on future flights as well. Music is an important component of my holidays, providing a soundtrack to the experience. Years later I can listen to the music again and recall what I saw and felt on the holiday when I played that music. Music is a matter of personal taste. When it comes to flying I prefer ...

As I stood on the beach at Kurnell and watched the aircraft fly overhead on descent to Sydney Airport I felt my travel addiction stir. I felt like attending one of those Flight Centre travel expos (next one November 4 in Sydney, a fortuitous date for us!) and booking a holiday to Europe right there on the spot. Despite the fact that it's mostly tour packages on offer there's something seductive about the expos. Maybe it's the airline stands with their glossy aircraft brochures promising all sorts of comforts and the photocopied special deals. To make a snap decision, then to spend the time until departure fitting in an itinerary. It's a thrill! I feel like finding some way to combine my love of travel with my work. I must look into Operations Research further. It's one reason I am sad to leave one division now as they had an OR group. To combine travel and mathematics. What a dream!

It's been quite a few years since we last visited Floriade. When I lived and studied in Canberra the tulip festival marked the end of the dreary colourless winter and the beginning of the far more pleasant spring (albeit one with the hazard of the swooping magpie). The effect is lessened by living in largely seasonless Sydney but I'll take any excuse to visit one of my favourite cities. It is only a two and a half our drive from our house and dual carriageway the whole route. We have travelled this route countless times, but there are always differences to spot in the landscape. As a whole, the fields were quite green, although the poplars lining the start of the Federal Highway were still empty of leaf, despite the looming arrival of the second month of spring. And Lake George was still an empty expanse of green pasture, though I thought I could see some water in the distance. I love that stretch of the highway, steep hills on the right and the mysterious lake on the left. I c...