Only a few days left in Australia

I have now been in Australia for some 3 weeks.

My most common activity would probably be going to the beach. I have had a decent run with the weather, and have spent the last few days in a small city on the Great Ocean Road called Warrnambool and even since coming back from Warrnambool yesterday have been at a Melbourne bay beach twice. It's just so easy to do in this country - feeling hot? Go to the beach!

Christmas was spent with family and it was nice catching up with everyone. It has been great chilling out in the sun and gettings some tan to take back to England with me.

Tomorrow is new years eve, but my friends and I haven't really planned anything. A hot day is expected, so it is likely it will all begin on a beach.

Happy new year!

Video of my flight from England to Australia

Further to my recent blog entry, I have made a video blog using some footage I took on my journey from London to Melbourne including getting up to take the tube to the airport, and flying with Malaysia Airlines.

A week in Australia

I have been home for just over a week now and it has been great.

Catching up with various friends, enjoying the sun, going to the beach and going out in Melbourne.  As always, the sun puts me in a good mood, and it has been sunny all except one really rainy day.

Some of the highlights of my visit so far:

• Going down the coastal town of Sorrento for a few days with some mates to enjoy days of lazing around on the surf beaches
• Walking around Melbourne and taking in all sights. After being gone for a while it really is easy to appreciate that it is a beautiful city.
• Catching up wth friends and family.  I had a small party at my parents new house to which I invited various friends to all catch up at once. It was a good night.

At first it really didn't feel like home - I have gotten so settled in in London. But as time passes I think yes - this is home - and its great. Having said that though, now that some of the excitement of being home is wearing off, I imagine that if I had to be back here permanently and had to find a job rather than having a holiday, I would soon get bored again.

London has long had a reputation for being expensive, but with recent economic conditions, exchange rates and general cost of living, I think Australia is definitely more expensive. Some things remain cheaper, like public transport and rent, but everyday costs such as food, drinks, clothes - it is all quite a bit more pricey than the UK.

A couple of weeks of Victoria left and then it's back to freezing London.

Half way to Australia: Kuala Lumpur

I am writing this sitting at Starbucks at Kuala Lumpur International Airport in Malaysia. On am en route from London to Melbourne.  My flight landed in KL at about 7am to a balmy 26 degrees outside. I am enjoying a Frappuccino for breakfast but I am stuck indoors.  The airport is modern and clean. I’m at the “Satellite Terminal” which is a large circular terminal some distance from the main one, connected by airport transit. In the middle of the round Satellite Terminal is a rain forest enclosure but it is closed for renovations. it’s a shame - I would have liked to have got some fresh air out there. It has been a while since I experienced over 25 temperatures….. Not since Malta.

 My flight with Malaysia Airlines has been OK. I had heard good things about the airline but I am a little disappointed. There is nothing wrong with the service per se, but I would expect more from a “5 star airline”. The fit out was ageing, the in-flight entertainment screens were small, they didn't give us any hot towels, the food is served with plastic cutlery (even South African Airways gives you steel) and I had to wait for over 5 minutes with my service light on before someone came and asked me what I wanted (a bottle of water).  Don’t get me wrong - I’m not complaining - there are worse situations to be in! But I thought I’d point out that Qantas service is superior. I don’t understand why people bag out Qantas.

Back at Heathrow I tried buying some cheap duty free alcohol to take back to Australia with me. I was delighted to see they had a 2-for-£15 deal which would have got me a 1L bottle of Gin and a 1L bottle of Bacardi. Both drinks my parents like and a pretty sweet deal. But the duty free guys said they wouldn’t sell it to me because apparently Australian customs hasn’t been letting in drinks from the UK!  I was worried that the bottle of Pimms I have in my checked baggage might not survive the baggage handlers but it may not survive Australian customs either!

Anyway, another hour to kill, another attempt to buy duty free liquor and then time to board for Melbourne.

POSTSCRIPT:

1. Between KL and Melbourne there was steel cuttlery.
2. The Malaysian breakfast was interesting. Rice with chicken curry and prawns.
3. Customs didn't have a problem with my liquor from KL but because I also had a bottle of Pimms in my suitcase, I had 3 litres in total. Because the customs limit is 2.25 litres, they wanted to charge me tax on all of the bottles of alcohol, not just the 1 litre I was over! Either that or forfeit them all!! Luckily I managed to get away with it in the end as their computer for calculating tax was broken!

I am going to Australia

I left Australia on 2 April 2008 and haven't been back since. Haven't seen my mates or my dad since then and it is almost 2 years.

This Friday morning I fly out to Australia for a visit of three and a half weeks.  I am really looking forward to it, especially as it is starting to get really cold here in London.

I have composed a shopping list of all the things I need to bring back from Australia for my friends. Requests range from Tim Tams to Band Aids.

I am getting really excited! It will be interesting going "home" for a "holiday".

How to cope with long-haul flights

I am getting ready to fly to Australia next week.

To get ready for the 24-hour-each-way-average-journey I have been thinking about the things I like to to do to cope with long-haul-flights.

I decided to vlog it in a video:



You might have to turn the sound right up, as unfortunately it comes through quite quiet.