Australia to the Netherlands (via Cook Islands & Japan)

Mattg · Jul 11, 2018

The following day I headed to Miyajima, an island less than an hour from Hiroshima. It seemed to be a very popular tourist spot.

It was a half-hour train ride from Hiroshima Station to Miyajimaguchi. From there it was a short walk to the ferry terminal. The ferries leave every 15 minutes and the trip takes 10 minutes.

When I arrived on the island it was bucketing with rain. In a sense, this may have worked to my advantage as it wasn’t as crowded as usual. But the weather was bad enough to stop the cable car from running.

The main attraction was the Itsukushima Shrine.

There were also a variety of shops and restaurants predominantly there for the tourists.

I think 2-3 days was the right amount of time for Hiroshima. There was plenty to do for a few days, but I think I may have run out of things had I stayed for a week. The same can’t be said about my next stop, Tokyo!

Mattg · Jul 11, 2018

Flight 7: JL258 Hiroshima - Haneda
Boeing 737-800
Departure time: 13:10
Arrival time: 14:35

I flew back to Tokyo with Japan’s other full service carrier. JAL’s service was virtually identical to ANA. The only difference was that we happened to be on a smaller plane.

The JAL Sakura Lounge at HIJ was comfortable enough but it is bascially just a large, windowless room. It had a good range of drinks available but I had to bring in my own lunch. The highlight of the lounge was when the rice crackers were re-stocked with new flavours every half an hour.

This flight was completely full in both economy and “Class J”. I have previously opted for Class J for JAL domestic flights where the price difference was only 1,000 yen or so. You basically get a nicer seat with a bit more room, but no meal service and no extra Qantas points or status credits. In this case the price differential was high so I just booked economy, which was absolutely fine.

The flight ran 35 minutes late due to a delayed inbound aircraft. The cabin crew sincerely apologised for this fact at least 5 times.

When we boarded all of the window shades were down and it felt like night time, even though it was the middle of the afternoon. I believe this is JL policy as it saves energy.

As we departed the ground crew waved us goodbye, as is customary in Japan.

The crew were very friendly and served drinks, but again, no food. The flight had free wifi available.

Denali · Jul 11, 2018

Mattg said:
The following day I headed to Miyajima, .... But the weather was bad enough to stop the cable car from running....

I took the cable car and then stupidly hiked to the top of Mount Misen. Cute once you got there but I seriously offered a bunch of military guys $1000 to carry me at one point (they thought I was joking), meanwhile a small Japanese women in horse hoof heels toddled past in a Hello Kitty outfit, not even breaking a sweat.

Loving your photos.

drron · Jul 11, 2018

Mattg said:
I think 2-3 days was the right amount of time for Hiroshima. There was plenty to do for a few days, but I think I may have run out of things had I stayed for a week. The same can’t be said about my next stop, Tokyo!

You are right there.We have visited Tokyo for 2-6 days about 50 times.We have always found something new to see or do.

GarrettM · Jul 11, 2018

Loving this TR Mattg.

Mattg · Jul 12, 2018

Tokyo is a wonderul metropolis with so much to see and do. I only spent 4 days there on this visit so won’t pretend that I saw everything!

I’ll just post a few pictures from around Tokyo...

Asakusa

Akihabara

Ueno

Shinjuku - I did a night walking tour here which was quite interesting.

Shibuya

Mattg · Jul 12, 2018

I love Japanese food so ate pretty well!

A couple of the sushi train restaurants I went to had an iPad at every seat. You ordered what you wanted on the iPad and it was delivered to your seat on a conveyer belt. Very efficient, and the food quality at these places was excellent with low prices.

Mattg · Jul 12, 2018

This would have to be my favourite sign in Japan. In case there was any doubt, step by step instructions on how to use a toilet...

Mattg · Jul 12, 2018

Flight 8: LH717 Haneda - Frankfurt
Boeing 747-8
Departure time: 14:05
Arrival time: 18:45

I flew Lufthansa for the long leg to Europe in Premium Economy.

Before this flight I visited the ANA international lounge. This was a pretty nice lounge with plenty of seating, runway views, a selection of buffet food and a noodle bar.

This was my first time flying a Boeing 747-8. The interior was modern and it semeed a little quieter than the 747-400, although still a bit noisy. It might have been my imagination, but from looking at the economy seats I got the impression the cabin was a little narrower than the 744 - but I could be wrong.

For this flight I waa in 21A, an exit row seat at the front of Premium Economy. This seat had basically unlimited legroom.

The seat was wide and comfortable, with good recline and a fold-out legrest. That said, I’m not sure how I’d go sleeping in it as it’s still a recliner seat. As this was a day flight I stayed awake the whole time - so this was a great seat for my purposes.

Lufthansa’s 747-8 cabin has a bit of a strange configuration. Behind Business class is 4 rows of economy. The Premium Economy cabin is located behind there, and Economy continues after that. There are no curtains separating Economy from Premium economy and the toilets are shared. Here’s the seat map to explain what I’m talking about:

On some airlines, Premium economy is more like Business class but without the lie-flat beds. I consider the Qantas and Virgin Australia service to fall into that category. But I would say Lufthansa’s soft product is was more like Y+ than J-. The crew, entertainment, meals and overall service were all very good. But it wasn’t that different from Economy. Indeed, the only difference in the meals was that PE had them served on real plates with real cutlery. We were even served after the mini-economy cabin in front of us.

We did get a bottle of water and pre-departure fruit drink. Warm towels were provided prior to both meal services. A pillow, blanket, slippers and small amenity kit were also provided.

For each meal there was a Japanese and a western option. Here’s what was on the menu:

I had the pork ginger bowl for lunch:

...and the beef sukiyaki for dinner:

A choice of onigiri or cake was also served mid-way through the flight, and there were regular drink runs.

We arrived in Frankfurt half an hour early.

This was a very pleasant flight, although the main benefit of Premium Economy seemed to be the seat. The soft product could be better differentiated from economy, and it also wouldn’t hurt to offer priority check-in, boarding and luggage to Premium Economy passengers.

Mattg · Jul 12, 2018

My final destination in Germany was Hamburg. Although we arrived in Frankfurt at 6pm, that was 1am in Japan and I knew I would be tired so I decided to stay in Frankfurt for the night. I booked a room at the Park Inn by Radisson, which is around 2km from Terminal 1. There is a half-hourly shuttle bus between the airport and the hotel. This was my room:

I couldn’t fault the hotel. After a nice sleep I checked out at dawn and headed back to the airport.

Flight 9: LH2 Frankfurt - Hamburg
Airbus A320neo
Departure time: 06:30
Arrival time: 07:35

This was a pleasant short flight in Economy. There must have been around 40 people max on this very lightly-loaded flight!

Here’s a legroom shot from 14A:

We took off at 6.35am and the refreshment service had alread been completed - with rubbish collected - by 6.50am! I love the efficiency of the Lufthansa crew - they would be great on those CBR-SYD hops! This was the snack:

It was a beautiful morning in Germany.

We arrived on time. The plan from here was to spend 3 days with a friend in Hamburg before taking one final flight to the Netherlands.

Cool Cat Phil · Jul 12, 2018

Great TR so far Matt!
Sounds like Japan might be a destination earmarked for a return visit.

Best wishes for your next Adventure in Europe.

Monya Meow Meow · Jul 12, 2018

Awesome photos from Japan.
Will be visiting for 9 days in autumn and can't wait for it especially after seeing your photos!

LadyC · Jul 12, 2018

All the best for your European adventures! Have enjoyed your TR so far, thanks for posting.

Denali · Jul 12, 2018

Looking forward to the Netherlands! We're going there next year in April.

GarrettM · Jul 12, 2018

What exactly will you be doing in the Netherlands for the next year or so?

Mattg · Jul 12, 2018

GarrettM said:
What exactly will you be doing in the Netherlands for the next year or so?

Travelling around Europe, learning Dutch and enjoying life! Oh, and a bit of work as well.

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Mattg · Jul 13, 2018

I like Hamburg a lot. It’s not the prettiest German city, nor the most tourist-friendly. But riding around the Alster is pretty hard to beat on a sunny summer’s day!

I’ve already been to Hamburg at least half a dozen times so didn’t get to all the main attractions again this time around. But here are a few things I did see...

I did a one-hour harbour cruise, which included commentary from a German bloke that was way too enthusiastic about container ships. Along the way we sailed past the Elbphilharmonie.

And Landungsbrücken

My friend informed me that there’s a Russian submarine (O-Boot) docked in St Pauli, right next to the fish market, for some reason. Apparently it was used during the Cold War. We went and checked it out.

Mattg · Jul 13, 2018

We walked around Schanzenviertel for a while.

These plane seats were for sale outside an op-shop for reasons I’m not quite sure of.

It just so happened to be the 1-year anniversary of the 2017 G20 summit, which I got caught up in last year while visiting Hamburg. The protestors were once again out in force in Schanzenviertel for the anniversary. Thankfully they were dancing this time rather than destroying the city.

Mattg · Jul 13, 2018

Flight 10: EW7184 Hamburg - Amsterdam
Airbus A320
Departure time: 18:15
Arrival time: 19:15

The final flight of this trip was also the shortest - a 45 minute hop over to the Netherlands.

Once again my United status came in handy for this flight. Star Alliance status doesn’t mean anything when flying on Eurowings, but Lufthansa, United and ANA status does. United Gold gets you priority check-in and priority boarding. (Priority check-in easily saved me half an hour of waiting in line.) It also grants you access to the Lufthansa Senator Lounge, provided you have something other than a “Basic” ticket. I had a “Smart” fare (which includes checked luggage and an on-board snack) as was welcomed in.*

*only after the guy on the desk had a long conversation with his colleague about access for United Gold members.

The Lufthansa Senator lounge in Hamburg was quite nice. It had a small selection of hot food, a small selection of lukewarm food that probably should have been hot, a large selection of cold beer and lots of newspapers/magazines. But my favourite part of the lounge was the outdoor terrace overlooking the runways.

Our A320

This was another pleasant short flight. Passengers with a Smart fare were offered a choice of a cheese sandwich or carrot cake. Other things were available for purchase. This was the cake:

Wifi was available on the flight. Everyone had access to 10 minutes of free wifi. I was able to extend this for free using the Boingo account that came with my 28 Degrees MasterCard.

Approaching Amsterdam...