Nathan's Insights

World Traveller: 7 Continents, 90 Countries, 871 Days Overseas

Day 1 – Short Break: Perth, Australia

May 5, 2017

Friday 05 May 2017. Photos.
Highlights: Qantas Business Class Flight, Gloucester Park Harness Racing

Today saw the start of a short four day break to Perth just as the cold weather commences back at home in Melbourne. I booked a cheap economy class seat on Qantas back in January and used my Qantas points to upgrade to Business Class on the International standard A330-300 so a great start for the four hour transcontinental flight (see Flight Review Melbourne to Perth).

For this trip my Brother-in-Law Jason joined me, or more accurately I’m joining Jason. The trip was centred on seeing Essendon play Fremantle at Subiaco Oval on the Sunday.

Early morning I cleaned up my house before leaving given my nephew Andrew and his fiancée Danelle will be moving in shortly. For this trip I’m only taking a daybreak making packing more interesting but hopefully I have everything I need. From here it was a walk to Flinders Street Station for a train trip to Broadmeadows. Unbelievablely Melbourne doesn’t have a train to our major airport but Broadmeadows is fairly close and my mum happily picked me up from the train station and took me the 10 minute ride to the airport.

I meet Jason at the airport and quickly took him into the Qantas Business Lounge. A very late breakfast for both of us (11.20 am) and some drinks saw us set for the transcontinental trip. We were at one of the furtherest away gates and there was a big line in the economy lane but quick boarding for business class. Turning left on entry felt good and the Business Class seats have a large pitch of 78″ and are 21.5″ wide basically perfect for a long flight. I enjoyed the seat, the wine, the food and the entertainment system (see Flight Review Melbourne to Perth for more details).

The Perth Airport has done a bit of an upgrade over the last few years and lots good. After Jason picked up his checked bag we headed outside and caught the local bus (number 40) for a cost of $4.60 (you can pay in cash on board) and it took around 40 minutes to get us to the centre of the city (so great value). We are staying at Perth Ibis which is very central for our activities over the next few days. Walking to the hotel we passed a pub which was humming along at 4.15 pm – seems like the locals have no problems leaving work early on a Friday!

After a brief break at the hotel we headed off to Gloucester Park for a night of harness racing fun. This track is right next to the famous WACA cricket ground which I’ve watch many Test Matches on TV. Entry costed $12 with an extra $4 for racing book. The meeting started at 5.24 pm which is extremely early but I guess they are trying to line up with the East Coast which is 2 hours ahead of Western Australia.

Jason and myself positioned ourselves near the winning post and got on TV for most races according to my brother back home. The Harness racing here doesn’t have bookies so it was betting on the TAB only. Despite this the venue was magnificant, having been built in the late 1920s it’s smaller than most but that’s the charm, you are close to the action. The setup was good as well, lots of good spots to watch races, music act between races, kids having fun, the food cooked at the venue looked very tasty for reasonable cost. Maybe I’m a little bias since I left the night $5 up for the night when I expected at one point to loss everything I came with, so very happy :).
Flight Review – QF769 Melbourne to Perth

May 5, 2017

Flight: QF769 Melbourne to Perth
Airline: QANTAS
Plane: Airbus 330-200
Gate: 12
Seat: 2A (Business Class)
Departed: 12:47 (Scheduled 12:40)
Arrived: 14:47 (Scheduled 14:50)
Duration: 4 Hours 10 Minutes

As part of a short break in Perth to relaxed and see my AFL Team Essendon play Fermantle I booked a cheap economy seat back in January. I immediately requested an upgrade to Business Class for both flights which came though immediately to my surprise. I guess that’s a bonus of being a Qantas Platinum member, domestic upgrade requests get cleared immediately if there is inventory.

The A330-200 offers a pod business class seat, with the option of a fully reclined bed setting. This is actually better than most 6-7 hour international flight business seats so a real highlight.

I selected a window view seat at 2A. All Qantas Business Class seats on the A330-200 offer direct aisle access so no climbing over another passenger.

It is very rare for my to fly business class so it felt a little special to turn left towards the front of the plane instead of right for economy. The business seat / pod had a pillow and blanket waiting for me upon boarding using the priority lane. I was quickly offered a refreshment drink upon taking my seat. The cabin steward personally spoke to everyone in business class before departing, he seemed to know a few of the passengers personally. In the front section of Business class I believe 21 of the 24 seats were occupied.

Departure was delayed a few minutes as the airbridge wouldn’t retract and had to be rebooted. I took the time to hook up my iPhone was recharging using the USB port (there is also a power outlet). Take off was very smooth and the Captain assured us we would arrive either on time or slightly ahead of time and reminded us to change our watches back two hours for Western Australian time.

As we were departing at lunch time we were quickly served, first with another drink service, which I selected a white wine and was provided some nuts, and than second with the meal service. Business Class passengers are offered an entree, main and desert food options. I skipped the Entree (options Moroccan spiced chickpea and tomato soup, or Buffalo bocconcini with prosciutto) having eaten a light but late breakfast in the Qantas Business Class Lounge.

I selected the Roast Chicken with fried polenta, braised bitter greens and salmoriglio) with bread and salad. The meal, in particular the fried polenta, was excellent. I selected lemonade as my drink and it was quickly filled up again without asking during the meal service. For dessert I skipped the tea, coffee and wine service and just went with the Maggie Beer ice cream.

The seat / pod has a fairly large touch screen for the entertainment system. I selected ‘Rogue One’ and used the business class headset which are better for sound than the normal economy headsets. I watched the cabin crew who were very attentive to all business passengers, taking the time to talk and engage with those who wanted to have a small chat. It’s hard to imagine how much everyone would love traveling if economy had this type of service.

After my meal was taken away I played around with the seat settings. This is only a 4 hour flight so no need to recline to fully flat but still very comfortable reclining options that allows you to enjoy the HD display while watching your movie or TV show.

There only appears to be one toilet exclusively for the business class section, but I mean be wrong. I did stretch my legs at one point and saw my brother in law who was seated in 6F and was traveling on a staff discount ticket in business class. I feel if I had this staff discount option I’d be traveling in business class everywhere Qantas flew to 🙂

The last hour of this flight was spent watching TV shows. The flight landed a few minutes early on a beautiful day. We left the plane by the front door so I was probably the fourth person off the plane. Bags took around 8 minutes to get to the package area with bags tagged as Business the first off (I only had carry on package).
Bali 2017 – A Family Adventure

April 16, 2017

Well my idea for a quick and quiet getaway to Bali, Indonesia to visit my 57th country and at the same time qualify for Qantas Life Time Gold Membership has been radically changed for the better 🙂

First my sister Kara and niece Erin got in on the 6 day trip (8 – 13 June 2017) around the Queen’s Birthday Holiday – yes Australia celebrate’s the English Queen’s Birthday with a public holiday! But most unexpectedly my other sister Lana, niece Darby and nephew Harry will be joining us now for their first either international trip 🙂

We will be flying over on different flights, Lana, Harry and Darby will be flying by Perth and Kara, Erin and myself flying via Sydney but if everything goes to plan we will be arriving within 5 minutes of each other.

Harry, Erin and Darby about to destroy chocolate Santa

I’m hoping to get Kara and Erin access to the Qantas Sydney First Class Lounge. I get access to that lounge while I’m a Qantas Platinum member even if I’m only flying in Economy (although this time I’m flying in Business). This is one of the top 5 rated lounges in the world and I’ve never visited myself. I think a free massage, shower and a salt and pepper calamari should be a good way to start the trip!

Qantas SYD First Class Lounge – Here I come!

We will likely be staying in the Kuta region at the Bali Dynasty Resort Hotel. Should be a nice relaxing getaway for everyone involved.

Bali Dynasty Resort Hotel
World Trip 1986: Flight Journal

March 31, 2017

My first ever international trip was way back in 1986 with my entire family. We traveled between 27 November 1986 and 9 December 1986 (12 days) visiting the USA and Mexico.

To do this we flew on four flights (across three travel legs) and one airlines (Qantas). We were flying for a total distance of 25,942 km and 32 hours 50 minutes.

Leg 1
8,858 km Melbourne to Honolulu – 10 hours 25 minutes (Qantas Economy)
Transit time: 1 hours 40 minutes
4,113 km Honolulu to Los Angeles – 5 hours 25 minutes (Qantas Economy)

Leg 2
4,113 km Los Angeles to Honolulu – 6 hours 5 minutes (Qantas Economy)

Leg 3
8,858 km Honolulu to Melbourne – 10 hours 55 minutes (Qantas Economy)
World Trip 1998: Flight Journal

March 31, 2017

My second international trip back in 1998 was with my mother (Helen), sister (Kara) and nephew (Andrew) made possible using Qantas staff travel discount. We traveled between 31 October 1998 and 20 November 1998 (21 days) visiting just USA (with a transit in Auckland, New Zealand).

To do this we flew on four flights (across two travel legs) and one airlines (Qantas). We were flying for a total distance of 26,222 km and 32 hours 10 minutes.

Leg 1
2,644 km Melbourne to Auckland – 3 hours 35 minutes (Qantas Economy)
Transit time: 1 hours 10 minutes
10,467 km Auckland to Los Angeles – 12 hours 10 minutes (Qantas Economy)

Leg 2
10,467 km Los Angeles to Auckland – 12 hours 50 minutes (Qantas Economy)
Transit time: 1 hours 30 minutes
2,644 km Auckland to Melbourne – 3 hours 35 minutes (Qantas Economy)