Bucket List Trip #1

[SimonM]

Today's the start of my RTW trip. I'm keen to cross some items off my bucket list, but feeling a little anxious about leaving the family at home.

Items to be crossed off are:
Maglev Train in Shanghai
Northern Lights in Tromso
Intrepid Museum, White Castle Burgers in New York
Kennedy Space Center and Key West in Florida

I was aiming to see a shuttle launch, but it was postponed. I've got another few items on the to-do list, but these are the main ones.

The route is: BNE-MEL-HKG-PVG-HEL-OSL-TOS-OSL-HEL-JFK-ATL-MCO / EYW-MIA-LGA / JFK-LAX-NRT-SYD-BNE. Most of the flights are J Awards.

Photos and observations to follow.

 

[hollydavid69]

Sounds like the trip of a life time .

 

[samh004]

I can’t wait to see the photos appearing and your observations!

 

[SimonM]

I can’t wait to see the photos appearing and your observations!

It's actually the photos that are the stumbling block. I bought a new phone to use as a camera while away, thinking it would automatically take great photos, but sadly a lot of them are blurry due to low light or have my finger over part of the image. There's also some great ones of me look quizzically into the lens, but I'm sure no one wants to see them!

Still, I've been practicing and the shots are getting better.

Also, yes, this is a trip a lifetime, the proviso that I'd like it be the first of many such trips of my lifetime and that the said lifetime is long, healthy and happy!

- Simon

 

[samh004]

It's actually the photos that are the stumbling block. I bought a new phone to use as a camera while away, thinking it would automatically take great photos, but sadly a lot of them are blurry due to low light or have my finger over part of the image. There's also some great ones of me look quizzically into the lens, but I'm sure no one wants to see them!

Mobile cameras are never great in low light, but if you work to the cameras strengths, and remember where the lens is, you'll get some good photos.

I'd all but discounted the iPhone 3Gs camera but used it extensively while in NZ last month and it took terrific shots in the day. I knew it wouldn't at night, and mostly didn't.

I hope to see some good photos though.

 

[Fantic125]

It's actually the photos that are the stumbling block. I bought a new phone to use as a camera while away, thinking it would automatically take great photos, but sadly a lot of them are blurry due to low light or have my finger over part of the image. There's also some great ones of me look quizzically into the lens, but I'm sure no one wants to see them!

- Simon

You have removed the protective film over the lens I hope? :?:
We (me, 17 yo son & 15 yo daughter) had a great time listening to my wife complain about the lousy photo's on her new phone until my daughter finally caved in and suggested she remove it...

 

[straitman]

You have removed the protective film over the lens I hope? :?:
We (me, 17 yo son & 15 yo daughter) had a great time listening to my wife complain about the lousy photo's on her new phone until my daughter finally caved in and suggested she remove it...

Some people are just mean :!:

 

[moa999]

If you're dong White Castle on the West Coast, you really should do In'n'out on the East coast. You can get to one branch quite easily from LAX

 

[SimonM]

You have removed the protective film over the lens I hope? :?:
We (me, 17 yo son & 15 yo daughter) had a great time listening to my wife complain about the lousy photo's on her new phone until my daughter finally caved in and suggested she remove it...

I haven't, but happily the guy in the Apple store must have. It's really just the first few shots I took that are really bad and I'm aware now that it works at some pretty slow shutter speeds, so try to keep as still as possible when taking the picture.

 

[SimonM]

If you're dong White Castle on the West Coast, you really should do In'n'out on the East coast. You can get to one branch quite easily from LAX

I'd love to, but only have about 90 minutes connection at LAX between my flight from JFK and out to Narita. I've read that In'n'out have great burgers and a secret menu too. Well worth trying on bucket list trip #2.

 

[SimonM]

QF635 BNE-MEL Seat 3c, Sched 17:55, act 18:10 Boeing 737-800.

OK, well, it all seems like such a long time ago now. As I started this trip, I decided to take notes on my new iPhone and just as well I did because the 6th of September now seems as far away as a previous life.

The first leg of my trip had an agonizing start. The check-in agent was very keen to make sure that my trip went as smoothly as possible and disappeared for about 15 minutes so that he could get flights opened up by a supervisor and check my bags all the way though to Oslo. He did manage that, God love him, but sadly, I was going to overnight in Shanghai and wanted my bag.

Once all that was sorted out, I popped into the lounge and chilled for a while before boarding.

On board, business class was pretty much full. The meal was a choice of smoked trout or chicken. I thought the trout sounded good and asked for it, but got the chicken. I know I should have asked for a change, but just couldn't be bothered and so ate the chicken. The wine was an 08 or 09 Grosset Rockwood Valley Riesling and I can tell you as a cask wine drinker, it was pretty good.

After a nice chat with the PowerPoint lady next to me, the flight was over and it hit me that I wasn't going to be home again for another two weeks.

 

[SimonM]

QF29 MEL-HKG 747-400. Seat 26a. On time departure.

I took a wander around MEL while waiting for my flight and it was busy. There were long queues of people and a general racket of a sort that I don't normally experience at BNE. Perhaps it's the acoustics or something.

I've written in this forum about my seat on this plane, but I think the photo bears repeating.


The base of the seat was just 15-20mm of soft foam over a steel rail and my bum could certainly tell what was what. I mentioned it to the guy next to me and he said he thought his seat was fine and even better for sleeping. As he travelled on this same flight every two weeks, I took his word for it and didn't complain. Wish I had now as this was easily the least comfortable seat of any of the 17 flights I took on this trip.

A meal was served pretty quickly and I decided on the fish with a bourbon and coke to keep it company.



The plate of food was smallish and looked pretty ordinary, but the fish was very tasty.

After reclining the seat, I was comfortable enough to doze off for a few hours, which I thought was OK. I had accepted the Morrissey pyjamas, but did not use them. An amenity kit was offered too. Apparently it is a new unisex type and although it looks great, it doesn't have the range of items in it that I remember from Business Class trips in the past.

Breakfast choices are pretty limited being toast/croissant/cereal type of thing. I had expected to get more of a bacon and eggs offering, being up front, but no.

Arrival into HKG was uneventful and my first challenge of the trip was to get through the transit area.

 

[SimonM]

CX368 HKG-PVG. Boeing 777-300ER.

For some reason I had trouble finding things at HKG. To start with, I wasn't sure I was in the right queue for my international transit. The guy in front of me looked OK, so I asked him if I was in the right place and he assured me I was. We got chatting and the time in the line passed quickly enough.

Once into the terminal area, my new friend and I went looking for a lounge. Couldn't find one. We ran into two other groups also looking and then as a group we finally came upon the Pier First Class lounge. As a mere NB, I would not have been allowed in normally, but my new friend turned out to be a WP and the lounge lady assumed I was his guest and let me in. Sadly, the rest of our group were turned away.



I've only been through HKG a few times as a QP member, but I'm sure I've been in this lounge before, so perhaps it wasn't always just first class.

There wasn't actually much on offer in the lounge, so after my WP host left for his flight, I decided to go looking at other lounges.

I walked the length of the terminal to the Wing Lounge. It was a lot further than I was expecting and as my flight departed from the other end, I just grabbed a bottle of water and started back.



Sorry the photo isn't clear, but it does give the gist of just how big this airport is. I reckon there would be about 10 of those walkways end on end and, I would say the round trip took about half an hour.

The Pier business lounge was fairly busy. I noted the noodle bar, but was feeling a bit stuffed after my walk, so just found a seat and had a nice sit down and read my email. Bad idea. I should have just left it.

The flight to Shanghai was my first with the CX herringbone layout. Having got on early-ish, I felt a bit self-conscious and exposed as everyone who walks past on the way to economy is looking more or less directly at you. Happily the seat was much more comfortable than the Qantas seat, but there seemed to be no personal air vent. I felt the width was a little cramped, but legroom and access was great.

At least one of the CX FAs had trouble closing the overhead lockers as she lacked the reach required.

Breakfast was fruit and yoghurt with pastries, followed by a choice of frittata, chicken on noodles or dim sum.

I got asked to complete a survey about the flight and got a 5% duty free discount voucher for my efforts.

So far the trip has been fine but stewing over work had my mood taking a dive before I reached PVG.

 

[samh004]

I've only been through HKG a few times as a QP member, but I'm sure I've been in this lounge before, so perhaps it wasn't always just first class.

Both the Wing and Pier have a F and J section, so it’s quite possible you recall the J section, though you wouldn’t get in as a QP member, as CX doesn’t have any agreements with QF for lounge access.

Anyway, TR so far looking great.

 

[Hvr]

CX368 HKG-PVG. Boeing 777-300ER.

The flight to Shanghai was my first with the CX herringbone layout. Having got on early-ish, I felt a bit self-conscious and exposed as everyone who walks past on the way to economy is looking more or less directly at you. Happily the seat was much more comfortable than the Qantas seat, but there seemed to be no personal air vent. I felt the width was a little cramped, but legroom and access was great.

I actually prefer the QF J seats, I found the herringbone seats to be a bit narrow.

CX368 HKG-PVG. Boeing 777-300ER.

At least one of the CX FAs had trouble closing the overhead lockers as she lacked the reach required.

Not actually unpleasant watching them climb up and step on the edge of the seats to gain some height. Don't think I've actually seen a CX FA with the height to reach the overhead lockers while standing on the floor.

 

[SimonM]

AY58 PVG-HEL. Airbus A340, Seat 7a.

I had decided not to take this flight and instead go home. I had worked up to the last minute before leaving on a project and the email had brought bad news about that. Combined with a couple of other factors and I just couldn't face being away for two weeks.

Happily, I met with a couple of great young guys. The pilot and first officer of a 747-400 freighter, they were in Shanghai to take a plane to Anchorage. Their enthusiasm for travel and life in general really bucked me up and I decided to carry on.

So, here's the first bucket list item, riding the MagLev train in Shanghai.



And the obligatory speedo shot.



Shanghai airport is another huge place. This shot is from the lounge looking one way and if you look the other way, it's about as far again.



The lounge was a peaceful place to spend an hour before the flight and used the time to get back on to the email.

Once on board the Finnair A340, I was very impressed by how spacious and airy the cabin felt. Business class is split into two zones and I was in the back section of that with just two rows of seats.



The seats are very low profile and that makes the cabin feel very open. I really liked it. The seat was very comfortable too.

In a sign of the times, the 'No Smoking' sign is permanent and now we have a special notice to turn off electronic devices.



The flight departure was delayed for a hour by congestion at Shanghai.

Meal choice was a beef tenderloin with blue cheese or grilled sole. I went for the fish as I can't stand smelly cheese.

Later in the flight a light tea of noodles or Caesar salad was offered.

I found this flight to be particularly enjoyable and would definitely fly with Finnair again.

 

[SimonM]

AY657 HEL-OSL, Embrarer 190, Seat 1a

Arriving into Helsinki as a transit passenger should have been easy, right? No forms, no customs, just go to another gate. Didn't quite work out that way.

First though, I spent an hour or so in the lounge. Very nice it is too, with plenty of snacks and iMac computers to use.



After a time in the lounge, I started the long walk to the other end of the terminal for my flight to Oslo.

Apparently I deviated from the marked path and ended up going out through customs and being outside on the footpath. Still, no form required and only a quick glance and stamp for the passport.

Finnish air breathed, I then had to go through security to get back air-side.

The flight to Oslo had about 20 pax and I was the only person in Business. Although the flight was only an hour long, a meal of meatballs in gravy with cranberry sauce and creamed potatoes was served.

We were told that we'd need to clear customs in Norway after collecting our luggage, but in actual fact this amounted to simply walking past a small group of officers. Again, no forms and this time not even a stamp.

Once outside, I found the shuttle bus for the Gardemoen Airport hotel and was on my way. For future seekers of the shuttle, you don't really need to call for it as it turns up pretty often and it leaves from the Arrivals level upstairs, not the ground floor, at the right hand end of the drop-zone as you have your back to the terminal. Also note that you don't need cash to pay the driver, as the hotel will add it to your bill. Very handy.

The airport hotel is basic and there are no shops anywhere nearby that I could see, so get any snacks and water at the airport. And while it is basic, it is also very clean, great for an overnight transit and for Norway, cheap.

 

[SimonM]

DY248 OSL-TOS, B737, Seat 7a.

Flying Norwegian this time, departing from my OneWorld J Award and into Economy. Discount Economy.



I was expecting things to be a little snug, but this was very snug. When the lady in front reclined her seat, I had to spread my legs apart and put a knee each side of the seat back.

Norwegian managed to smash one of the wheels on my suitcase. I would have complained, but couldn't see anywhere to complain and the last Flybussen for 2 hours was leaving within minutes, so I just left.

Not a brilliant experience, but the views made up for it.



And then finally, I was at Tromso, my first real 'destination' for this trip.

 

[Stuser]

Apparently I deviated from the marked path and ended up going out through customs and being outside on the footpath. Still, no form required and only a quick glance and stamp for the passport.

------
This vaguely happened to me years ago at the Adelaide domestic terminal. I walked a whole TWO metres past the door to the transit lounge while changing flights there and the big f...a...hole security guard made me walk out and have to go through security again. Sad excuse for a human being that one.... :evil:

 

[SimonM]

Tromso is a great little town. I can see why people choose to live here. I spent a lot of time wandering around the place and am already thinking about my next visit.

Bucket List Item #2: Northern Lights.

Sadly, the lights didn't make a showing when I was out chasing, but I had such a good time on the chase, it didn't bother me one bit. Sort of like they're playing hard to get

My guide was Guide Gunnar and he's a very pleasant bloke to spend an evening with. There were two couples along as well and the memory of us four men chatting by the side of the road at 2am while the women were asleep in the bus is one of my trip highlights.

Bucket List Item #3: See the view from above Tromso.

http://www.australianfrequentflyer..../people/roopaw/]Simon.Morris[/url], on Flickr Tromso Panorama by Simon.Morris, on Flickr

This view just seemed to perfect to me that I had to go see it. Hopefully my photo does it justice.