A Friend’s Road To Marriage

Posted on August 18, 2017 by

My best friend Jonathan is a guy I greatly admire.  We have known each other for 30 years when we meet in high school (I’m showing my age here).

Jonathan is more of a risk taker than me.  He travelled the world after high school before me which then led to us both backpacking around the world for 118 days to celebrate the millennium back in late 1999.  Jonathan changed careers several days taking big risks that at one point had him teaching in England.

Last year my best friend meet someone very special, someone who would become his wife but which we had no way of knowing at the time.  Jonathan never really thought he would get married, he is very independent and focused and set very high standards of the person he might married.  He often comments of why marry, what’s wrong with just being partners. Continue reading →

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World Journal – All Trips

Posted on July 3, 2017 by

Flight Journal PDF <Updated 3 July 2017 to include Bali trip>

With a lot of help from family members I’ve now reconstructed my first and second overseas trips from 1986 and 1998 which means I’ve been able to finally compile a listing of all trips.  This excludes any domestic Australian flights, which I’m guessing would be around 580-600 at this point, so positioning flights to Sydney or Brisbane from Melbourne to fly overseas aren’t included.

I have undertaken 94 flights outside of Australia (2 first, 16 business, 2 premium economy, 74 economy), flying for 549 hours 20 minutes and 417,091 kilometres (259,168 miles) across 27 different airlines. The airport I’ve traveled the most though is Los Angeles (11 times) with Auckland second (5 times).

Continue reading →

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Lounge Review – Hobart Qantas Club

Posted on July 3, 2017 by

ACCESS RULES
– Flying Business class on a Qantas, QantasLink or Jetstar flight later that day.
– Qantas Platinum member or Oneworld Alliance
– Emirates Skywards Platinum member whose next onward flight that day carries a QF or EK flight number and is operated by Qantas or QantasLink
– Individuals under 18 must be accompanied by an adult given this is a licensed area.

I accessed the Business Lounge as a QANTAS Platinum member on the cheapest economy fare of the day. Continue reading →

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Bali 2017 Post Trip Summary

Posted on June 22, 2017 by
OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

Uluwatu Cliffs

So I had an amazing one week trip to Bali which was a very different trip to what I normally do. My normal trip is more adventure style tour, get out and visit the historic sights, do a homestay with locals, explore wildlife and the landscape.  This style of travel was something embedded in me since my backpacking days way back in 1999-2000.

This trip originally started as a great business class deal which I could use to get Qantas Double Status Credits and finally reach Qantas Life Time Gold Status (free lounge access, better ward seats, free seat selection etc) and visit the stunning Qantas Sydney First Class Lounge for the first time.

Continue reading →

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Bali 2017: Day 7 – Denpasar (Bali), Indonesia

Posted on June 14, 2017 by

Highlights:  Qantas Sydney Business Class Lounge, Returning Home

Wednesday 14 June 2017
Photos & Videos

The return home after each trip out of the country is always full of mixed feelings, sadness that your trip is over but excitement to see your home country again.  On this trip it was mostly just the sadness part as I’ve only been away for one week, Bali was full of Australians, and I was traveling with family members.

Continue reading →

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Flight Review – QF044 Denpasar to Sydney

Posted on June 14, 2017 by

Flight: QF044 Denpasar (Bali) to Sydney
Airline: QANTAS
Plane: Boeing 737-800
Gate: 9B
Seat: 2C (Business Class Aisle)
Boarded: 21.57 (Scheduled 21.35)
Departed: 22.20 (Scheduled 22.20)
Arrived: 06.07 (Scheduled 06.20)
Duration: 5 Hours 47 Minutes

This was the return flight of my international trip to Indonesia (Bali) with my two sisters and nieces Darby and Erin and nephew Harry (review QF043 here).  Before boarding this flight I had visited the average Premier Lounge (review here) as a result of traveling in business class. Continue reading →

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Lounge Review – Denpasar Premier Lounge

Posted on June 13, 2017 by

Premier Lounge Denpasar

When visited: June 2017
Time of day: Night (21.10 to 21.35)
Rating: 3 / 5

ACCESS RULES
This is an independent Lounge which many airlines uses for their business class passengers.

I accessed the Lounge as both a QANTAS Platinum member and as Business Class passenger on Qantas flight. Continue reading →

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