A few quickies for the Drrons..

[ozbeachbabe]

I said up thread that one of the things we were checking out was another hotel program to be secondary to SPG/Marriott.having lost all status in honors and really with few aspirational properties we will be ditching honors next year.

Now I joined IHG when we were visiting Japan last year.They at least have some properties outside the major city.With no status we were treated well at the CP niigata and earlier this year received a great upgrade at the HI SCL.

IHG then sent an email for a great bonus for staying at an Intercontinental.on top of that by staying at the IC Double Bay over a weekend and at the CP Newcastle on a bonus point rate I would nett over 40000 bonus points.The IC bonus though was if I bought Ambassador status.Seemed a no brainer to me.

I was going to suggest buying IHG Platinum Ambassador but you beat me to it.

You might be able to status match your SPG, Marriott or now IHG elite status to another hotel program.

 

[drron]

The Bears were playing the Newtown jets.Their mascot and the fellow who rides his not quite penny farthing bike around the oval everytime Newtown scores a try-

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The great thing about this grade of football is the atmosphere.At half time and full time everyone is out on the oval.Dads passing or kicking a ball to their kids.Plus you can talk to the plalayers.I had a long chat with the Norths CEO Greg Florimo.

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The important thing is we won-

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Henson Park is a great place for an AFFer.not only the home of the Jets but a great place for plane spotting-

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[drron]

I was going to suggest buying IHG Platinum Ambassador but you beat me to it.

You might be able to status match your SPG, Marriott or now IHG elite status to another hotel program.

Yes I bought ambassador but that only gets you gold.However with only 7 nights at IHG hotels I have more than half the points necessary for platinum so IHG is now my second program
Next year I make lifetime SPG so hopefully lifetime Marriott.I will keep staying at SPG hotels but don't have to make the 50 nights.The plan is to stay at more upmarket and boutique hotels.Some of the IC properties will fit the bill nicely.

 

[drron]

After the football it was back to the Paddington RSL for dinner.The food wasn't bad and certainly cheap.I can recommend it.Mrsdrron had the classic chicken parmy.In the words of Rex Hunt it came with a cough load of cheese and a bucket of chips-

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Meanwhile I had a sirloin.Slightly overcooked but still very acceptable-

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The grandkids had other social engagements on Sunday afternoon so it was another afternoon tea in the lounge and then Happy hour.Served a plate of the hot snacks-calzone with either beef or pumpkin as well as falafel-

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One of the best red wine complimentary selections I have had-

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With plates of sweets and in the fridge salads,cheeses and smoked salmon with caviar-

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We then went to do our babysitting duties.
The last morning we decided to order off the menu for breakfast.mrsdrron had the French toast and I the eggs benedict-

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Not bad though not the best.certainly though better than most lounge breakfasts.

 

[drron]

So time to leave the IC.I really enjoyed the stay and we will be back.Very convenient for visiting our family.As we checked out 2 NZ pilots checked in.
A quick run to visit Terrigal and my sister who is home from Devon for a month.Had lunch and a good catch up before going on to Newcastle and the CP.I had booked a bonus point rate so that I completed 4/5 of my accelerate items.
Once again good recognition.Booked standard king room and was upgraded to a king spa suite.However they are at the end of a very long corridor so we decided to have a king suite which was a lot closer to the lift.A reasonable room with good views over the Hunter river-

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And the room-

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[drron]

Unfortunately the hotel isn't quite situated for sunsets-

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But some visitors made up for that-

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We decided to eat in as the wind was blowing a gale and it was quite unpleasant outside.Mrsdrron had the barramundi with an oversized potato cake and I had steak and chips-

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The barramundi was cooked perfectly and the steak was cooked as ordered,tasty and tender.Service was also very good with a friendly and efficient waiter.so we felt we made the right decision.

 

[RB]

A rather amazingly sized potato cake! I am guessing the parking at Terrigal is still at a premium?-my parents lived there until 2008
We have friends who have just bought at Lake Macquarie so we will be visiting the area more often now.

I met Tommy Raudonikis a few times in 1979 when he was still at Wests-I was working with Roy Masters & Roy was not a happy camper to lose Tommy. A little story here re Henson Park Jets spirit won't die, Raudonikis says, and he's got the scars to prove it

 

[drron]

They certainly have spirit.Now the attendance at Henson park for any Jets home match is exactly the same.....as the attendance at their last ARL game in 1983.Never forget.

 

[Denali]

S......Now I joined IHG when we were visiting Japan last year.They at least have some properties outside the major city.With no status we were treated well at the CP niigata and earlier this year received a great upgrade at the HI SCL.
IHG then sent an email for a great bonus for staying at an Intercontinental.on top of that by staying at the IC Double Bay over a weekend and at the CP Newcastle on a bonus point rate I would nett over 40000 bonus points.The IC bonus though was if I bought Ambassador status.Seemed a no brainer to me..

FYI, I got an email this morning from IHG about a buy points/earn 80% more offer: https://storefront.points.com/IHG-rewards-club/en-US/buy

*back to reading*

 

[ABC1]

Great Photos.. those inner suburban grounds are the best. Can you tell me what image uploader you use. I had Photobucket, but they now want $400 US year.. So nope. Tried using Flickr, but you can't copy the code off an iPad. Looking for something I can use on an iPhone/Ipad.Thanks

 

[Denali]

Great Photos.. those inner suburban grounds are the best. Can you tell me what image uploader you use. I had Photobucket, but they now want $400 US year.. So nope. Tried using Flickr, but you can't copy the code off an iPad. Looking for something I can use on an iPhone/Ipad.Thanks

I had the same problem and currently using Imgur to post pics from my Samsung phone. I have to type in the / part but at least I can add photos from my phone again. If using my laptop, I can simply copy/paste the code inc the IMG tags.

 

[Pushka]

Great Photos.. those inner suburban grounds are the best. Can you tell me what image uploader you use. I had Photobucket, but they now want $400 US year.. So nope. Tried using Flickr, but you can't copy the code off an iPad. Looking for something I can use on an iPhone/Ipad.Thanks

Using the old app you can post direct from the phone but that's being killed tonight.

 

[drron]

Don't have an Ipad,iphone or smart phone so I can use Flickr.

 

[drron]

Time to finish a post in 30 minutes.
We woke up early for sunrise over the Hunter-

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The tugs were going out for their first job-

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But time for us to go as we had a long drive to home.Breakfast at maccas at Taree.Not long after we noticed an ad for an AFFer-

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No time to stop.Lunch again at Maccas at Grafton but home before 1900.
Another 5 days and we are off on another quickie.ADL and Kangaroo Island.Be back then.

 

[rainbowgirl]

Someone else posted an image of that sign. It looks great.

 

[amaroo]

Using the old app you can post direct from the phone but that's being killed tonight.

I stupidly updated the old app a month ago .... don't feel so bad now

 

[drron]

Well Wednesday arrived and off on our next short adventure-2 nights in ADL and 4 nights at Southern Ocean Lodge on Kangaroo Island booked through Luxury Escapes.
An early start to get the QF MCY-SYD flight.Drove ourselves to the airport and as usual pre paying for parking is much cheaper.Pleasant agent at checkin and through security.Asked why I am taking my shoes off-so you don't ask me to go back and take them off.Mrsdrron gets the secondary screening this time.An uneventful flight.
QF 1579. MCY-SYD. ETD-0735. Push forward-0735. Take off-0745. B 717. Seats 4A,C.
ETA-0915. Touch down-0908. At gate-0916.
Last part of flight down the coast.Nice clear day-

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Old haunts of Narrabeen Lakes and Dee Why-

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And the cliffs on approach to SYD-

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On time arrival and straight to the J lounge to await our flight to ADL.

 

[drron]

QF 1557. SYD-ADL. ETD-1130. Push back-1131. Take off-1146. B 717. Seats 5C,D.
ETA-1310. Landed-1313. At gate-1320.
Yes I was in a middle seat with both arm rests claimed.Otherwise uneventful.For lunch I had a chicken and mushroom pie.Correctly named as it had 1 bit of mushroom.Mrsdrron had a roast pork roll-a congealed mess.
In ADL it was freezing with a howling wind.Fortunately not raining as we walked without cover to the taxi rank.Priority baggage however worked!Soon at our lodgings-the Adelaide Hilton.
The ADL Hilton and I have history.It was where I first began falling out of love with Hilton.As a diamond I got the trifecta-no upgrade,no lounge access and no breakfast.I was pretty scathing on FT and TA so I thought maybe a bit of backlash for what is likely to be my last paid Hilton stay.I was not disappointed-room 422 on the lowest accommodation floor-though I have no status and stayed only to protect my points for hopefully an award stay next year.So if you consider you got a bad room at the Hilton here is what you could get-

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What a view.Soon after these pics were taken it began to rain.We were thankful we brought the jackets we got on our cruise to South Georgia along.Fortunately the Central Market is just next door and we had decided it was going to be comfort food in ADL as the next few nights were likely to be indulgent.We decided not to eat here-

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When we were in ADL last-a long time ago-we had eaten at City BBQ.It is still there and still as good.We had food from our youth-honey prawns,BBQ pork ribs and special fried rice-

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But we added a dish we loved last time-steamed scallops with shallots and ginger.Mmmm.

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So back to the Hilton and an early night.

 

[drron]

So our second day in ADL was walking up to the Rundle mall and giving mrsdrron a chance at retail therapy.Unfortunately she failed but I did,in between showers,get a few of Adelaide's buildings.

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Lunch continued on the comfort food theme being at a very busy sushi train.
As an old Goonsfan I could not pass up a picture of Queen Victoria-

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Back to the Hilton.I couldn't help thinking they were having a go at "Windmills"Weatherall with the name of their restaurant-

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[drron]

Reasonable sunset views from our room.Rex planes don't show up too well-first picture-

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For dinner mrsdrron felt like a Thai meal so it was Star of Siam across the road from City BBQ.Quite reasonable Thai food.Chicken and cashew nuts,Pad Thai with prawns and marinated pork.All good-

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