Solo to Mauritius ( if you don’t count the 25 colleagues and their partners)

[GDSman]

Upstairs lounge...

 

[GDSman]

I’ve discovered the coughtails...

 

[GDSman]

MK440 MRU - PER 2240-0935+1

J Seat 1G

On checkin we were told that the flight was 1 hr late but by the time we took off it was 1.5hrs. The next surprise was that the scheduled 6.5hrs duration had become 7.5hrs. This puts my MEL connection in serious jeopardy, in fact as I type in descent I feel certain I’ll miss it unless there are so many connecting pax that VA delays their flight...

The flight was uneventful. I declined dinner and once seatbelt sign was off I pushed the chair to flat for a kip. Dozed on and off. Ate a little breakfast and am now preparing for a nervous wait. Not sure I can make it to HBA tonight if I miss this one...

 

[GDSman]

News is not good....missed connecting flights and nothing offered other than a ghastly 2200 flight to MEL sometime in the middle of the night (whose idea is that flight? Just because there’s no curfew and you can do something it doesn’t mean you should...).
Connection with 0810 flight to HBA. Already feeling cactus this is putting a disappointing experience onto the end of the trip... 10 hours in VA lounge.....kill me now....

 

[LaceyWanderlust30]

Thanks for sharing your trip, never considered Mauritius as a holiday destination until I saw your pics
Disappointing way to end the trip however by now you’d just be wanting to get home to your family! Hope the time goes quickly!

 

[GDSman]

Thanks for sharing your trip, never considered Mauritius as a holiday destination until I saw your pics
Disappointing way to end the trip however by now you’d just be wanting to get home to your family! Hope the time goes quickly!

Thanks Lacey....time has limped by unfortunately with no end yet in sight.
I would never have considered Mauritius either. It’s very viable from WA and has potential from east coast if you’re prepared for the travel, or have time to factor a stop in PER.

 

[GDSman]

VA 698 PER MEL 2200-0310

Y Seat 4C (and A&B)

The only thing worse than spending hours in the PER VA lounge is boarding the plane and being wide awake. Damn you, jet lag. Captain announces a 3hr 10min flight which means getting in at 3ish. I texted a colleague and asked him to book me a room for a few hours - I’ll see if he comes through on landing. If I’m honest I kind of stuffed up, forgot the time change and magically thought I was getting in at 0100...but 3-4 hrs will be better than nothing.

 

[GDSman]

As expected, 3-4 hrs was better than nothing. It was good to be flat out, it was good to have another shower (even if no change of clothes). Back in the VA lounge (MEL this time) trying to grab some food before flight called. I feel pretty knackered and probably look worse.

 

[GDSman]

VA 1316 7May 0825-0950
Seat 5A
The last leg. It has been a long week, made longer by some unfortunate circumstances.
Flight is very full in Y and strong winds in HBA May make for an exciting landing...

 

[GDSman]

And as it happens it was a calm and uneventful flight and landing. And that’s that!

 

[GDSman]

Time to start reflecting on the trip. It was brilliantly organised, generous and packed with activities. In spite of kind suggestions both on this site and from others I didn’t get to do anything outside the set itinerary. I did pass on ideas to colleagues though who loved the 7 colours of earth and the amazing French chateau/distillery.

I would go to Mauritius again with my family if we wanted a high end resort holiday with a few, but not loads of, extras.

The Four Seasons is a gorgeous resort and you would hardly need to leave it if you didn’t want to. Prices are very high - prepare to spend $50 pp for a burger and beer.

MK clearly has some reliability issues. Most of their flights I saw were late or cancelled (our colleagues going to UK and via SIN we’re both badly impacted). Their Y product was not praised by those who flew it and food was apparently particularly bad....J was ok, seats lay flat but were short for my 1.93m. Prices for both were very reasonable though.

For me, as you will have read if you’ve made it this far, the biggest issue was being in a group yet alone. I found it pretty challenging at times - I guess I haven’t done it for a long time - and it compromised the amount of enjoyment I experienced. Can’t wait to catch up with the family tonight!

 

[Pvcmenace]

Thank you for the Trip report. Nice to see something different!

 

[GDSman]

Thank you for the Trip report. Nice to see something different!

Thanks Pvc..... it’s an interesting place and worth a visit if you have a bucket list with too many items ticked off.... I’m now back to the real world - today was back to the grind of domestic travel and a trip to BNE and SYD.....memories....

 

[OZDUCK]

I had forgotten to also thank you for your TR. (As an aside I am sure that I saw something a day or so ago about MK increasing/upgrading their Perth flights but can't find it now.)

 

[drron]

Very good to hear about a place less visited by those of us from Australia.
thanks.

 

[JohnK]

Nice trip report @GDSman. Thanks for sharing.

The golf course looks nice. We stopped in Mauritius for a few hours ~46 years ago. Dad was the only one to go to port and I remember he came back with bananas. Novelty for us then. A little out of the way to go back and visit. Maybe one day.

 

[love_the_life]

Nice trip report @GDSman. Thanks for sharing.

The golf course looks nice. We stopped in Mauritius for a few hours ~46 years ago. Dad was the only one to go to port and I remember he came back with bananas. Novelty for us then. A little out of the way to go back and visit. Maybe one day.

Was that by ship when immigrating to Australia? MrLtL had some interesting stops on the way out from the UK (but he doesn't remember as he was only 15mths old).
Always liked the idea of going to Mauritius but haven't managed to get there so thanks for the TR. Made for good reading.

 

[JohnK]

Was that by ship when immigrating to Australia? MrLtL had some interesting stops on the way out from the UK (but he doesn't remember as he was only 15mths old).

Yes. Piraeus, Larnaca, Gibraltar, Capetown, Mauritius, Fremantle, Melbourne, Sydney.

You wouldn't believe Melbourne was raining for the 2 days we were there.