I'd do anything to spend time with my kids. Even go to Bali.

[n7of9]

...I need to worry about....whether the water is safe to drink!

Spoiler alert - it's not, and that includes ice, brushing your teeth, and eating anything that may have been washed in water and remains uncooked - lettuce, tomatoes, unpeeled fruit.

 

[Human]

Spoiler alert - it's not, and that includes ice, brushing your teeth, and eating anything that may have been washed in water and remains uncooked - lettuce, tomatoes, unpeeled fruit.

I get the feeling that I'm about to go on a steep learning curve!

 

[Pushka]

I get the feeling that I'm about to go on a steep learning curve!

Stick to well cooked food and you'll be fine. Fruits you have to peel (outside the resort). In the hotel you'll be fine Keep your mouth shut in shower and there's always plenty of bottled water. You'll be fine.

 

[Human]

Once again, the day has begun promisingly. And as I write this from SYD, our flight to Bali is still on.

We started with a light-ish breakfast in the Hilton dining room -- it was crowded, but the quality of the buffet was pretty good. I particularly appreciated not having to pay extra for barista coffee. Apart from that I resisted the temptation to have a hot breakfast.


Then it was back to the airport. Virgin had given me a second $50 Cabcharge voucher on Monday, supposedly to be used when returning to the airport. Shame it expired yesterday. I'm not looking forward to trying to get reimbursements out of them...

I will spare you more photos of the Virgin Lounge in OOL.

Our flight to Sydney was happily uneventful. I haven't been able to secure seats in Row 3 for our flights today, but exit row seats are pretty good consolation. Not being able to recline during our 6-hour Bali flight might be a little tough, but that's a price I'm willing to pay if we can get there!



We are on the same 737-8, VH-8IF "Maroochydore Beach", for both our flights today.

Once we landed in SYD it was a straightforward walk to the T1 transfer bus stop, a short wait for the bus and a breeze through Security and Passport Control. Even better: there was no wait at the TRS office.

We made our way to the American Express Centurion Lounge. I'd never used this Lounge before (SYD is not my home airport). It's about half full, but not the most peaceful of spaces. There are lots of children (it is school holidays, after all), and it seems that everyone sitting around us is insisting on making loud video calls without headphones.



However, the food isn't bad, and I'm indulging in one of my favourite alcoholic beverages (please don't judge me!): a lemon, lime & bitters with a shot of gin!



All told, this is most definitely not my favourite international lounge in the world. In fact it's not even my favourite lounge in SYD. But given that Virgin doesn't provide international lounge access anymore, we're all just happy to be here and waiting for a flight that hasn't, as yet, been cancelled!

 

[Human]

About 3 hours into the flight and I’m temporarily giving this TR a new name: I’d do anything to spend time with my kids. Even fly 6 hours in 737 Economy Class.

Yes, first-world problems and all that. And yes, at least it’s not an overnight flight. And yes, the extra legroom seats do make a significant difference. And most of all, I’m unspeakably grateful that we’re finally on our way to Bali (on a flight with functional internet!). But I won’t pretend: It’ll be a relief to finally disembark!

The flight is totally full, which is expected given the cancellation of all flights on Monday (one of the staff in the VA lounge earlier told us that some people whose flights were cancelled on Monday were being offered re-bookings on Friday!).

My inflight meal, purchased for $4 from Woolworths on the Gold Coast earlier today:


For my inflight entertainment, I’m currently alternating between continuing the Classic 100 Countdown on ABC Listen (currently up to number 80, Clara Schumann’s Three Romances for Violin & Piano), and episodes of British Taskmaster…


If I do watch anything while flying, more often than not I’ll choose something that makes me laugh, and most of the time it’s some variety of British light entertainment. It’s funny, clever, a great distraction, not too long, and it doesn’t require much brainpower to follow along. And nobody does it better than the British!

As I write this we’re flying over Queensland, about to cross the NT border, and the queue to use the toilets is already back to about row 23. We’re due to land in three and a half hours.

Keeping our eyes on the prize!

 

[zig]

About 3 hours into the flight and I’m temporarily giving this TR a new name: I’d do anything to spend time with my kids. Even fly 6 hours in 737 Economy Class.

Yes, first-world problems and all that. And yes, at least it’s not an overnight flight. And yes, the extra legroom seats do make a significant difference. And most of all, I’m unspeakably grateful that we’re finally on our way to Bali (on a flight with functional internet!). But I won’t pretend: It’ll be a relief to finally disembark!

The flight is totally full, which is expected given the cancellation of all flights on Monday (one of the staff in the VA lounge earlier told us that some people whose flights were cancelled on Monday were being offered re-bookings on Friday!).

My inflight meal, purchased for $4 from Woolworths on the Gold Coast earlier today:
View attachment 456589

For my inflight entertainment, I’m currently alternating between continuing the Classic 100 Countdown on ABC Listen (currently up to number 80, Clara Schumann’s Three Romances for Violin & Piano), and episodes of British Taskmaster…
View attachment 456591

If I do watch anything while flying, more often than not I’ll choose something that makes me laugh, and most of the time it’s some variety of British light entertainment. It’s funny, clever, a great distraction, not too long, and it doesn’t require much brainpower to follow along. And nobody does it better than the British!

As I write this we’re flying over Queensland, about to cross the NT border, and the queue to use the toilets is already back to about row 23. We’re due to land in three and a half hours.

Keeping our eyes on the prize!

Great to read that you are on your way.
Love the inflight catering

 

[VPS]

About 3 hours into the flight and I’m temporarily giving this TR a new name: I’d do anything to spend time with my kids. Even fly 6 hours in 737 Economy Class.

Yes, first-world problems and all that. And yes, at least it’s not an overnight flight. And yes, the extra legroom seats do make a significant difference. And most of all, I’m unspeakably grateful that we’re finally on our way to Bali (on a flight with functional internet!). But I won’t pretend: It’ll be a relief to finally disembark!

The flight is totally full, which is expected given the cancellation of all flights on Monday (one of the staff in the VA lounge earlier told us that some people whose flights were cancelled on Monday were being offered re-bookings on Friday!).

My inflight meal, purchased for $4 from Woolworths on the Gold Coast earlier today:
View attachment 456589

For my inflight entertainment, I’m currently alternating between continuing the Classic 100 Countdown on ABC Listen (currently up to number 80, Clara Schumann’s Three Romances for Violin & Piano), and episodes of British Taskmaster…
View attachment 456591

If I do watch anything while flying, more often than not I’ll choose something that makes me laugh, and most of the time it’s some variety of British light entertainment. It’s funny, clever, a great distraction, not too long, and it doesn’t require much brainpower to follow along. And nobody does it better than the British!

As I write this we’re flying over Queensland, about to cross the NT border, and the queue to use the toilets is already back to about row 23. We’re due to land in three and a half hours.

Keeping our eyes on the prize!

British humour is the best. Greg Davies was on in Belfast when I was there and I had to tell my big boss who was taking me out for dinner that if I could get a ticket to Greg Davies then dinner was off. No ticket sadly so free dinner