Flying China Eastern to China gave me some trepidation. It’s customer service rep is not good. Overall, I was pleasantly surprised but it was a unique experience in a couple of ways… Booking: 7/10 We chose China Eastern to Shanghai because I could easily use some Delta points I had sitting spare in an account. Travel out of Australia in December is very expensive so being able to cash in 35,000 points plus taxes was a great opportunity. The points value plus taxes meant the fare cost the equivalent of around $US500 with taxes compared with the…
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How Big is that Island? The World’s Top 25 islands mapped.
I love gazing at maps. This map of the world’s 25 largest island nations and territories hooked me in. Seeing the actual sizes to scale makes you realise how big some island groupings are. Take Indonesia, for example. It is eight times bigger than New Zealand! The difference in size between the UK, home to 65 million and NZ, home to 4.5million, is not that much different. That tiny smudge on the north of most maps is Greenland, and yet it is about one-third the size of Australia! I have been to 12 of the top 25.…
A 787 called Quokka could continue a long Qantas tradition
Quokkas are a small marsupial, found on some small islands off the coast of Western Australia. Related to the kangaroo and Wallaby, the cat sized Quokka was voted the “world’s happiest animal“. Now this animal’s name may grace the side of a Qantas plane. Earlier this month, Qantas Airways called on Australians to suggest names which reflect “the true spirit of Australia” for its first eight Boeing 787 Dreamliners They got 10,000 entries with 40,000 names! Just 20 names were shortlisted: Boomerang, an aboriginal hunting weapon Cooee: a shout used in Australia, usually in forest areas to…
Who is the best One World airline?
It’s an interest obsession of mine to “collect” airlines flown. I am inching closer to 100 different airlines flown. Some of those carriers are no longer flying. In most cases this a tragedy (eg Pan Am, Ansett Australia, Malev) and in others, probably a good thing (Air Australia). I’ve flown airlines that belong to all of the three major airline alliances (One World, Skyteam and Star Alliance). Truth be told, 40% of my flights have been with One World carriers, however. So I pricked up my ears when on Wednesday, the CEO of IAG (Iberia/British Airways) suggested…
Exploring the Red Centre of Australia
Uluru (also known as Ayers Rock) has a deeply special significance for me and thousands of others. Along with The Sydney Opera house and the Sydney Harbour Bridge, it would have to be the three instantly recognisable symbols, of Australia: If coming to visit, I recommend at least three days in the Centre. Many of the 300,00 annual visitors come in and out for one single day as part of a “whistle stop” Australian tour. One day at Uluru is not enough time to experience this magical place. This last visit was my fifth and I could come back another fifty.…
I’ve Visited Airports starting with 23 letters of alphabet
As air travellers are aware, airports are marked by a three digit code managed by IATA. This system allows for 17,576 airport codes with all the combinations. Apparently there are 43,982 airports in the world so many apparently do not have commercial service! Some of these three digit codes are “logical” eg SYD for SYDNEY, SEA for Seattle and EDI for Edinburgh. Some are less so EZE for the Buenos Aires suburb that the airport is located in. Toronto Pearson, Canada is YYZ for historical reasons and IAD is Washington-Dulles. I was struck by a post on Boardingarea site: Pointswithacrew about…
Second Run for 2016 in Melbourne, Australia
My second 10km run for 2016 was along the coast of the beautiful Mornington Peninsula, outside of the city of Melbourne. The Australia Day Fun Run starts at Safety Beach and hugs the coast before going through a semi forested campsite and ending at a Village Green. I knocked off three minutes from my last time to come in at 1 hour 2 minutes 15 seconds. Related Posts First Run for 2016 in Hobart, Australia
Qantas 747 flies with five engines
In an exciting manoeuvre, last Wednesday, Qantas flight 63 took off from Sydney, Australia to Johannesburg, South Africa with five engines on the 747 instead of the usual four. The extra engine was not used to power the flight. It was merely being transported to Johannesburg to be swapped with a defective engine on a 747 which then operated QF64 back to Sydney. I never knew that the 747 could be used in this way. Its wing, apparently, has anchor points under it, which allow for a supporting strut to be attached. A winching mechanism added to the strut lifts the extra engine…
First Run for 2016 in Hobart, Australia
I am attempting to do a fun run in a different city each month for 2016. The first run was a 10km (six mile) run in Hobart, Tasmania which is part of the Cadbury Marathon. The Cadbury Chocolate Company are a key part of the city’s economy with a presence there since 1922. They have sponsored this race for about a decade, I think. The 10km run starts and finishes at the Cadbury factory and runs past the famous Museum of Old and New Art (MONA). The last section of the race includes a steep climb back…
The MH 17 Full Report (and summary)
As many have speculated, the Dutch Safety Board Report have found that a Russian made BUK missile brought down the plane. The missile travelling at three times the speed of sound exploded just above the cockpit of MH17 at an altitude of 10.1km (33, 000 feet). Eight hundred pre-formed fragments in the missile punctured the plane bringing it down in one and a half minutes. The three crew members in the cockpit were killed immediately. The Board found multiple missile fragments in their bodies. This video shows the painstaking reconstruction of the Malaysian 777: The speed…
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