A short trip on Sea Princess and four days in Sydney. Sunday 8 March 2020 - Brisbane On board with minimal fuss and straight into our cabin - D623. We have only taken an obstructed Ocean View Cabin this time - the life boat is right outside our window so we do not get a good view but we do get light. A bit of lunch in the Horizon Court and back to the cabin to find our luggage has arrived already. Mr Ricardo from the Philippines is our cabin steward. Safety brief at 3:30pm and then the ship has just set sail about 10 mins late. The Captain said there is a bit of wind and it is likely to be choppy in the Bay and to hang on !! Smooth sailing in the river ... read more

Sunday 21 Apr 19 - Brisbane Testing the system to make sure the blog works on my Netbook computer that I am taking with me. Day of departure. Just about packed and a slow day of waiting ahead until we head to the airport at about 11pm tonight. Our flight departs at 2:35am tomorrow morning bound initially for Singapore and then to Dubai where we will arrive around 1pm tomorrow. The two legs of the flights are around 7.5 hours each and we have a 1.5 hour layover in Singapore. More once we get underway. Mon 22 Apr 19 - Departing Brisbane - 01:00hrs The departure from the unit (11:30pm) and the check in at the airport have gone well. Uber driver was very pleasant - but a lot more expensive coming from Indooroopilly than from ... read more

Tuesday 11 September 2018 On the eve of departure for the next rip to Dubai - with our friends Kathy and Graeme. Having sold the house, downsizing and moved into rental accommodation in a two week period, life has been a bit hectic and we are looking forward to the break. Fly at 10:50pm tomorrow night and arrive Dubai 7am on Thursday morning. Will see how I go with the blog this time around. Wednesday 12 September 2018 - Brisbane Megs drove us to the airport and had us there in plenty of time at 8pm for our 10:50pm departure. Met Graeme and Kathy as we were checking in. After a glass of celebratory wine, we boarded at 10:0pm taking up our seats neaer the rear of the B777 aircraft. We paid extra to get seats ... read more

Sunday 13 May 18 – Departing Brisbane Up at 5am and away from the house by 7.15am. Barry the Uber man chatted al the way to the airport – we couldn't get a word in. $46.50 for the Uber XL fare. Very busy Sunday morning at the airport. Struck the usual problems talking to a computer at check in and eventually got the job done with human intervention. Next stop - Tourist Refund Scheme (TRS) desk. What a shemozzle ! Just 2 operators for 50 + people in the queue – made slower by the language difficulties with Asian tourists. Finally served after half an hour waiting. Next stop – pick up some duty free perfume for Roz, leaving the grog pickup until return. Another delay while purchases were being made at the Collections desk. Talk ... read more

Tuesday 19 December 2017 - Brisbane One week to go !! Looking forward to getting on that QANTAS flight - albeit an early start with a 9:40am departure from Brisbane Tuesday - 26 December 2017 - Hong Kong The day has finally arrived ! Up at 4am and out to the airport by 7am for our 9.40 flight. Car booked into Andrews Airport parking for 8 days - $103. Departed a bit late from the gate at 10am and off the ground by 10.20am. but that did not seem to affect our flight time as we arrived on time at 4.35pm in Hong Kong. Good flight, good service, reasonable food offerings. Through Customs and Immigration in good time and found a maxi taxi that delivered us straight to the front door of the hotel in about ... read more