South Africa, Mauritius and Italy.

[JohnM]

You've got the priority boarding sorted, John.

Saw you there as I headed for Row 17.

Missed out on an upgrade again, I see .

 

[Jacques Vert]

Missed out on an upgrade again, I see .

It's tough back here, but someone's got to do it

 

[JohnM]

It's tough back here, but someone's got to do it

What?! Here's a tip: you should join a mob called AFF and learn how to never do it again!

Enough of this jest - back on topic please .

 

[Pushka]

Noice!

 

[tgh]

We have two couples from opposite ends of the earth pondering the Hilton atm Tm.
One couple is thoughtful about the cost and one couple is thoughtful about the quality…
Looking forward to a summary of your stay.

 

[turtlemichael]

We have two couples from opposite ends of the earth pondering the Hilton atm Tm.
One couple is thoughtful about the cost and one couple is thoughtful about the quality…
Looking forward to a summary of your stay.

My view is that they might both have justifiable concerns. I'll give some comments when we come to the end of our week here after the weekend.

 

[turtlemichael]

On the best weather day so far in Mauritius we ventured north to the Botanic Gardens. They are not manicured like Melbourne or Sydney and seemed in places to lack a bit of TLC, which I suppose comes down to money, but they were very interesting and well worth an hour or two.

 

[turtlemichael]

One of the problems of a holiday in Mauritius is the difficulty of getting around. It is a small island only 65 kms long and 45 kms wide. It is jammed with traffic. Although the roads are in ok condition everyone seems to be on them at the same time. Today we decided to go to a recommended place for lunch. It was 30 kms away and it took 75 minutes to get there. Coming back, after the heavens opened, it too nearly 2.5 hours. So it was really only possible to do one thing in the day. I think I am too first world!


The lunch was at an old rum distillery and sugar plantation which still operates but has also now become an auberge and restaurant. It is called Domaine Saint-Aubin. They produced a very mean rum punch. The food was good and the setting was pretty.







Down comes the tropical rain.


The curtains are down to protect us from the rain.


An excellent seafood gratin.


And more rain -send it to Cape Town.


Very decent lager,

 

[turtlemichael]

The Hilton put on a function for its Diamonds and I imagine for its VIPs tonight for an hour. It is a once a week event. Wine and canapés were the order and were all pretty good. It as like a Hilton lounge but just one night a week.. We met a couple of the managers and they mostly seemed to want to move on from Mauritius. It was well done as a function. We also chatted to a couple other guests who, like us, were using points for their stay. As you do

 

[BAM1748]

On the way! QF440 was about 30 minutes late out of Melbourne and only slightly late into Sydney. It was the first flight we had taken where we would have had to pay for exit rows. We didn’t and were okay in 15C and D.

We overnighted at Sydney Hilton. Rates there and at the Curio we high from the time we booked and I figured it was a combination of Valentine’s Day and Chinese New Year. Most restaurants seemed to be full on Valentine’s night, but the Hilton lounge was very quiet. We were told the hotel itself was very full. There were no real upgrades to be had from our base room but we did get moved to a corner room which has an extra metre or so of width making it comfortable for laying out open suitcases and not breaking your neck heading to the bathroom in the middle of the night.

View attachment 118295



Corner room Hilton Sydney with plenty of room for open suitcase.

Hah, I went so school in that first photo !

 

[turtlemichael]

BAM1748 Assuming you weren't a priest, St Andrew's Choir School?

 

[turtlemichael]

Our last full day in Mauritius. It has been fun though I am not sure I'd come back. There are too many places in the world!

We had an interesting day visiting the Coloured earths at Chamarel in the south west, a very pretty part of Mauritius. The coast line and the waterfalls are impressive. The coloured earths are not very extensive but are apparently the result of molten lava cooling at different rates between 3.5 and 7 million years ago.

Back to Johannesburg tomorrow.

 

[turtlemichael]

Here's our route map over the next 9 or 10 days.

 

[turtlemichael]

The flight from Mauritius back to Johannesburg on the weekly BA flight was uneventful. There is a corporate lounge at MRU which seems to cater to all the major airlines. It must be a quiet time of day for long distance international flights as it was only a few BA passengers in the lounge when we were there.




BA takes the prize for the most unappetising business class meal, I think it was lamb but, in any case, the Lindt chocolate was really good.

 

[turtlemichael]

We are now in Johannesburg at the Saxon Hotel (in Sandhurst) for the one big lash out for this trip. We are also staying at the very decent Conrad Pezula in Kynsna later but that is using points.

The reason for the lash out is that it is my birthday! We stayed here two years ago (I'm detecting a trend!) and liked it. We booked it through Amex to take advantage of the Fine Hotels and Resorts Package (upgrade, late checkout and $US100 room credit). We certainly lucked out as we are upgraded to the Presidential Suite, the place being relatively quiet, and it is the best room I've ever stayed in. It is mammoth. Apparently Nelson Mandela also liked it.

The hotel is stunning and I'd recommend it to anyone.




















Oysters for breakfast.

Followed by a mixed grill.

 

[turtlemichael]

Some views of the public rooms, gardens and outside areas at the Saxon.

 

[turtlemichael]

The caravan moves on to Durban. To say we had an excellent stay at the Saxon in Johannesburg is an understatement. Not cheap but you got what you paid for in bucket loads.

We had a brief visit to the SLOW lounge in Domestic Terminal B at JNB. It is small but stylish and has excellent food which far surpasses any Qantas Club.




The flight down to Durban was on time and quick and, unlike BA in the UK and Europe, refreshments are included. We also scored spacious exit row seats on the only half full plane.


We are at the Durban Hilton which has had a significant renovation since they last time two years ago (also for another cricket tour but we won’t go there!) It certainly need it. We were upgraded from a standard king to a corner deluxe room which is very spacious and well renovated. For some reason they did not do the bathroom and that can only be described as grotty.





The Hilton is 5 minutes walk from the ground but you'd need to be tall to see anything from our window.

The Executive Lounge has moved to the ground floor since we were last here and the renovation there is very good. For some reason for drinks last night (which go from 6.30pm to 10.30pm – not that we were there all that time!) it was near empty as was breakfast.






The hotel itself seems busy and is full of both Australian cricket fans and commentators. I don’t think we have the team here, at least I haven’t seen any of them, but we have seen Mark Nicholas, Mike Proctor, Allan Border, Brendan Julian and Michael Holding. I guess they are all working for Foxtel.

If you don’t follow cricket all this will be meaningless.

 

[turtlemichael]

Wednesday was a perfect late summer morning so we tootled up the coast the 30 minutes to Umhlanga Rocks for a swim in the surf of the Indian Ocean. Great part of the world.

 

[craven morehead]

turtlemichael another spot a similar distance down the coast is Amanzimtoti. Had a lovely afternoon down there a few years back with a swim, lunch and obligatory beers AUD$10 for 6 stubbies at The Thirsty Whale. Enjoying your TR many thanks and looking forward to the cricket component!

 

[turtlemichael]

turtlemichael another spot a similar distance down the coast is Amanzimtoti. Had a lovely afternoon down there a few years back with a swim, lunch and obligatory beers AUD$10 for 6 stubbies at The Thirsty Whale. Enjoying your TR many thanks and looking forward to the cricket component!

Thanks cmh! We think we'll head down south on Sunday, depending on the state of play at Kingsmead. We are about to head over on a bright sunny morning for Day 1.