Hot and cold in Palau, Philippines, Mexico, Canada & Solomon Islands

[Mattg]

As some of you might be aware, I finished up in my previous role as AFF editor at the end of last year.

I'm currently taking a bit of a much-needed break before starting a new job. I didn't travel at all over Christmas and New Year, and enjoyed catching up on sleep and doing lots of cooking, reading and exercising. But once you've been bitten by the travel bug, there really is no turning back!

During the past month and a half, I did some of the things that I'd been wanting to do for a while, but never got around to. One of those things was to go to Mexico and do an intensive Spanish language course. Another thing I'd wanted to learn for years was how to ski. I'd also been meaning to visit Palau, and to return to the Philippines as I lived there for a year as a child and had never been back since.

Meanwhile, some friends had invited me to join them skiing in Canada. Another friend invited me for a long weekend in the Solomon Islands, right after I finished up in Canada. Thus, a trip to a mix of both very hot and very cold destinations was born...



The full itinerary was:

• Canberra-Brisbane in Virgin Australia Business
• Brisbane-Koror in Qantas Economy
• Koror-Manila in United Economy (with a side trip from Manila to Tagaytay)
• Manila-Hong Kong-Seoul in Cathay Pacific Economy
• Seoul-Vancouver-Mexico City in Air Canada Economy
• Side trip from Mexico City to Guadalajara on (what was supposed to be) Viva Aerobus
• Mexico City-Vancouver-Kelowna in Air Canada Economy (with side trips to Kamloops and Big White)
• Kelowna-Vancouver in WestJet Premium
• Vancouver-Sydney-Brisbane-Honiara in Qantas Business
• Honiara-Brisbane-Sydney-Canberra in Qantas Economy

I booked these flights as individual, one-way tickets using a mix of cash and points.

This ended up being a very interesting trip - mostly for the right reasons. Join me for this trip report as I tell the story of my journey to Palau, the Philippines, South Korea, Mexico, Canada and the Solomon Islands...

 

[craven morehead]

 

[Mattg]

The first leg of this journey was uneventful. I headed off from Canberra on a Virgin flight to Brisbane, which I'd upgraded using one of my complimentary Velocity Platinum upgrades. This was only the second time I'd actually managed to use one of those, so it was a nice treat.




It was a midday flight and lunch was served on board.



On arrival into Brisbane I had planned to catch the airport train to my hotel in the city. I arrived at the train station to discover the next train wasn't due to leave for 46 minutes! Apparently the next service had been cancelled.



I stayed at Ibis Styles Elizabeth Street for a few nights, which I found to be good value for the price. It's centrally located, has everything I needed and my room had a great view.



While in Brisbane I spent some time with family and also attended an AFF dinner.

 

[Mattg]

From Brisbane, I flew with Qantas on its direct flight to Koror, the main airport in Palau. This is the only flight between Australia and Palau, and it only runs on Saturday mornings, so there wasn't a lot of choice!

Direct flights between Brisbane and Palau began in May 2024, when initially Nauru Airlines launched the "Paradise Express" route. Qantas later took over the route, and currently has the contract to operate this until late 2026. I'm not sure if it will be extended, so I was keen to try out the route while it still exists. I just booked an Economy cash fare for this leg.

If you take the Qantas flight both ways, you basically have to stay either 1 or 8 nights as the return flight to Brisbane only runs on Sundays. In my case, though, I had planned to fly onwards to Manila. United Airlines operates Koror-Manlia as a fifth-freedom flight a couple of times per week, and I was able to book that flight out for the following Tuesday night.

A quick shout-out to @AIRwin for volunteering to drive me to the airport, and to @henrus who I met in the Escape Lounge while waiting for my flight.

I also popped into the Qantas international Business Lounge for some breakfast while waiting to board. While it's a nice space, I have to say that I was a bit disappointed by the food options - of which the highlight was toasted sandwiches.

The guy at security had never heard of Palau, but in total there were 99 of us excited to be flying there on this Saturday morning.

One of the Business seats was occupied by an engineer who came along for the ride. I assume that's a contingency so the plane doesn't get completely stuck on a remote island if there's a mechanical issue.




I've heard that this flight often has tons of empty seats, so I was surprised that there were even that many of us on board. Luckily, I managed to get an extra-legroom seat and happened to have the whole row to myself, so I had lots of space to spread out. Small mercies are welcome when you're flying for six hours on a Boeing 737 without seat-back entertainment screens!



The Wi-Fi worked for most of the flight.

The crew served lunch after take-off, which was a choice between a salad or a hot pasta box. This came with a choice of drinks, including beer, red and white wine. But Qantas didn't offer sparkling wine or spirits in economy, nor were there any accompaniments like bread or dessert to go with the meal. This is a six-hour flight, so I got pretty hungry towards the end of it.




Later in the flight, two crew members at separate times came through the aisle to warn everyone who would be flying back to Brisbane on Qantas about the limited catering for the return flight. Apparently, Qantas doesn't have a caterer in Palau so it has to double-cater shelf-stable snacks to be served on the return leg. The crew were adamant in their warnings to eat before going to the airport, and to bring extra snacks, as apparently they get a lot of complaints on QF166.

After almost six hours in the air, Palau appeared out the window and we descended into the airport.







I'd arranged a pick-up through my hotel and the driver was waiting for me as I exited customs.

 

[SYD]

I’m assuming this wasn’t a HLO trip?

 

[AIRwin]

A quick shout-out to @AIRwin for volunteering to drive me to the airport

With a quick pit stop at Sir Charles Kingsford Smith Memorial