Whirlwind around the world flight - and so the adventure begins

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The day has finally arrived. This trip was totally unexpected, we just happened to be in the right place at the right time, unbelievable for a change. To coincide with Virgin Australia starting to fly direct to Hong Kong from Melbourne, they offered a truly amazing price for an around the world flight ( business class) with Virgin Australia, starting from Brisbane, Sydney or Melbourne and flying to Hong Kong, then London with Virgin Atlantic, then Los Angeles with Virgin Atlantic, then home with Virgin Australia. The special was only to be listed for 48 hours, however was withdrawn after 24 as Virgin Atlantic hadn't allocated enough seats on its legs. We were there as soon as the Travel Agent opened and thanks to the efforts of our travel agent Natasha and her persistence we managed to get seats on all four legs, for four of us. My cousins Lynne and John who were visiting at the time, will be joining us until we all get to Los Angeles, then they will travel to Alaska as they had booked an Alaskan cruise. We are all staying in Hong Kong for a week, Clem is the only one of us who has actually visited Hong Kong before. After Hong Kong we will stay in London for a week also. All four of us have been there before, but there is always something to see, and thankfully it is warm there at present. Clem and I will be only staying in LA for three nights this time, as we have been there before but mainly because four days after we get back home we will be on a cruise along the Queensland Coast ( this was booked earlier in the year before we even knew of the flight). That will be the subject of another blog 😊 Needless to say we have blown our travel budget for this year, but thankfully Clem has been able to work, practically full time to pay for it.

So here we sit, waiting for our lift to the airport, on a beautiful sunny WINTER's day, the temp is 26C, it is half that in Melbourne, no wonder we moved North. The SUMMER temps in London and LA are about the same as the temp here, Hong Kong a few degrees warmer, we will feel right at home.

A few days have passed now, we had a great trip on Virgin Australia, first from Brisbane to Melbourne ( haven't flown business class on domestic routes since the good old days of Ansett. We always worry that our bags are too heavy an we have packed too much. This time we packed more as we were staying in hotels and not doing house exchanges where we have the use of a laundry. However we did not pack much cold weather clothes as it will be summer where we are going. We didn't need to worry as Clem's bag weighed in at 14.9kg and mine at 15.6kg, and I think with business class we are entitled to have 32kg each.

Melbourne Airport has certainly become much bigger than when we used to fly out of there regularly (when we lived there 30 years ago) Trying to find the Ethiad Lounge (the Lounge Virgin uses was a challenge) but we eventually found it and were able to sit and relax for a few hours before our flight was called. John & Lynne's flight had been delayed from Sydney due to strong winds andthey arrived about 90 minutes after us.

The Flight from Melbourne to Hong Kong about 00.35. The new Virgin Australia A330 200 (I think) was very comfortable, we all had our own pods and the chair was able to be made into a flat bed, so much room that even Clem could lie down flat. A mattress topper was put on first, to make it really comfortable and we had a duvet for a cover as well as two cushions for pillows. We were also given pyjamas to wear, very comfortable. The thing I found amazing was the seat belt had an airbag in it. Maybe this was because on the hard lines of the pod, because I really don't think an airbag would help if the plane fell out of the sky and crashed 😊 We were served a lovely meal and I watched a movie I hadn't yet seen "Girl on a Train" and then had a sleep for about 4 hours. Woke feeling refreshed.

We landed in Hong Kong about 08.15am, wow what an impressive airport, so huge. Getting our bags and clearing customs was so easy, our bags were among the first out and as we didn't have anything to declare were able to walk straight through customs. It took us a little while to find the desk for the shuttle to the hotel and then we had to wait as they only ran every hour, but that was no hardship. In the end there were only the four of us and two other guys on the bus (normal size touring bus, very comfy seats and air con)

We arrived at our hotel "Butterfly on Prat" which I would recommend. Our room is very comfy and roomy by Hong Kong standards. The bed is excellent, mattress and pillows very comfy and good quality sheets. The bathroom is good, the shower amazing, such great water pressure and temperature. The staff are fantastic, very polite and extremely helpful. Although it doesn't have the usual foyer or lounge/ concierge are with tour brochures etc. it is very well positioned so close to Nathan Road shopping district and walking distance to the harbour, plenty of bars and restaurants around and the best thing a little Chinese laundry around the corner which we are making use of ( 2 pairs of shorts, 2 shirts, underwear, socks etc. for about $6 AUD). I would thoroughly recommend this hotel.

After walking around for a few hours and having something light for lunch when we could finally check in, we tried to have a bit of a "nana nap" and then we had an early dinner at a local restaurant where we were the only "tourists" there and put in a window table, sort of like "look tourists eat here too". the people were very attentive and helpful to us. The food was quite good too.

We all had an early night, I think we were asleep by 8pm.

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Photos

"Butterfly on Prat" hotel room
This is a part of our room, fairly spacious by Hong Kong Standards

Bathroom
The Bathroom is fairly roomy and the shower is so good, just what you need after a long day sightseeing