Lucy loves Australia

There is a great article in this month’s Sunday Times Travel Magazine that suggests it’s entirely possible to take a holiday to Australia (and enjoy it!) in just a week.

The plan is that you fly to Perth, and from there take a few days in the city, then explore the Margaret River region (south of Perth, about 3 hours drive), and/or fly up to Exmouth area to explore the Ningaloo Reef.

If you get your flight times right, it’s not even too bad on the jet-lag as you can arrive in the middle of the night and then sleep straight away (— sounds better on paper that it does in practice, having done that, but it is certainly better that the 7am arrival that happens with most East-coast connections).

The unmistakably distinctive architecture style of Fremantle, WA

So, article aside (although read it — it’s good), what would I do in and around Perth for a week? Well, the first couple of days I would spend in ‘Freo’ — Fremantle — which is the port area of Perth, and about 30 minutes from the centre of town. You can easily catch the train into the city centre ,or a boat up the river (much nicer!). Two things you must do in Freo — drink beer (and eat — the food’s good, too) at Little Creatures, and have a coffee or, if like me you’re not addicted to caffeine, have an amazing slice of cake at Gino’s. There’s lots going on in Freo, and it’s a nice base in Perth, I think. However, if you want a beach, you need to head north of the city to Scarborough or Cottesloe. This is the Indian Ocean all laid out for you to enjoy (with sunsets).

Great views of the Swan River from the tree-top walk in King’s Park, Perth

So that could be your week sorted right there. Some beach, some city shopping and cappuccino drinking, beer supping, explore lovely Kings Park , take a trip over to Rottnest Island for a day (or more), and don’t forget there’s also a wine region very close to Perth at the Swan Valley which is only 25 minutes away.

If you want to travel a bit further though, then a trip down to Margaret River for a couple of days is great. Stop at Busselton Jetty on the way to check out the coral reef at the end.

The Pinnacles, near Cervantes, Western Australia

Heading in the other direction about 3 hours (north) of Perth, you can go see the Pinnacles (you’re bound to recognise the pic!) at Cervantes.

You are not going to run out of things to see and do that is for sure, and in the process you’ll get a good variety of Aussie scenery and culture. If you can take a night flight on a Friday, then you can maximise your week and maybe even try to match it with a bank holiday for the flight home on a Monday and you’ll have the complete 7 days to enjoy.

That said, while one week would be good, two weeks is better… and three even more so!

Obviously, I need to mention this for anyone thinking of or booked to fly Qantas… if you haven’t already read the story then here is an article for you.

The good news is that no-one was injured, and the pilots did a great job of landing the Melbourne-bound plane in Manila, after dropping to 10,000 ft in an emergency descent an hour after leaving Hong Kong.

Qantas maintains the most unblemished record of any airline flying internationally, and has never lost a passenger.

The reason for the hole is looking like a maintenance issue with an outside panel of the aeroplane — reports suggest that one section had completely worn away.

I’ve written about fear of flying before, and while this was of course a very serious incident, when put into context of the 1000s of flights every day around the world, this is just one incident and the statistics always show that flying is a lot safer than driving — which is something most of us do every day and don’t even think about.

Don’t let this incident put you off flying to Australia.

Choose an airline with a modern fleet if you are at all nervous — such as Emirates or Singapore Airlines. Or just remember that even if something unexpected does happen, the pilots are well trained to respond; like in this situation with the Qantas ‘hole’, no-one was injured and the flight was landed safely.

Having just taken a tiny 12-seater plane across the English Channel to Alderney a couple of weeks ago, in the lashing rain (with some of the rain on the inside of the plane!), I found this much more worrying than a long-haul flight to Australia. I couldn’t wait to get off! (— was a lovely holiday though… we stayed here)

Browsing through my Sunday Times travel section yesterday (always the first bit of the paper I read!), I spotted this article about a new luxury ’safari lodge’ in Australia that brings you closer to the crocs, while not making you rough it ‘Mick Dundee’ style

The safari lodge is called Bamurru Plains, and it’s not cheap… it costs around £900 per couple to stay there PER NIGHT. Definitely one for a special occasion! You also have the option of booking a 2-night break for approx £1100 per person (twin share), which includes flights and transfers from Darwin. There’s more info on the rates here…

The infinity pool (32ft long) that just gives you a ‘far-as-the-eye-can-see’ view of the bush is enough to convince me

If money is no object, though, then I have to say that Bamurru Plains does look amazing. The infinity pool (32ft long) that just gives you a ‘far-as-the-eye-can-see’ view of the bush is enough to convince me. Mind you, the airboat rides look pretty cool too!

We’ve been out croc-spotting in Far North Queensland (Daintree), and it was funny to read that the ’same old joke’ of spending most of your time spotting “logodiles” is true, no matter how much you pay for a tour! (Translation - a ‘logodile’ is a piece of floating wood, or ‘log’, that to the untrained/paranoid eye looks like a crocodile every time).

The best time to go to the Northern Territory is June through to September, as that is dry season. But, in fact, if you don’t mind getting a bit wet, the bush in the Top End can look incredible in the Monsoon season, too (which is February to April).

You will need to fly into Darwin to visit Bamurru Plains, which you can do directly from the UK (well, direct via Singapore) with Qantas. Otherwise, you can connect with Darwin from every major city in Australia on an internal flight with Qantas, or Virgin Blue, or another regional airline (routes depending).

If anyone goes to stay at Bamurru, please tell me all about it. I will, of course, be very jealous, but will want to hear all about it nonetheless

The fabulous Hong Kong Island’s skyline at night as seen from Kowloon

OK, so technically we stopped in Hong Kong on our way to (shh) New Zealand a couple of weeks ago, but as Virgin, Cathay and Qantas all allow you to stop in Hong Kong on your way to and from various Australian destinations, I am still going to write about it!
Despite spending some of my mis-spent early 20s backpacking around Asia (Thailand, Vietnam, Malaysia, Singapore and Indonesia), I had never made it to Hong Kong. And since then, we have only done en route Australia stop-overs in Singapore.

So what is Hong Kong like as a stop-over?

Well, I really liked the place. Obviously, I won’t be giving an in depth review of everything to do there, as we only had 2 nights/3 days ourselves, but in terms of a good way to break your journey to or from Australia, it gets the thumbs up.
The airport is modern, bright and easy to navigate. We booked a hotel transfer bus (through my now weary, but trusty, travel agent Rob from Travelmood Bristol), which is a lot cheaper than a private transfer or taxi (was £11 each one way, whereas taxis can be nearer to £40, I understand).  The bus ride was a great way to view the countryside coming on from the airport and the harbour and docks as we drew nearer. We also got an excellent short tour of the more ‘bustling’ part of Kowloon as we dropped fellow passengers off at other hotels.

Hong Kong Island as seen by me and Alex from the roof-top pool of the Harbour Plaza hotel

We picked a hotel not on ‘the island’ (where the ‘skyline’ is of the main banks and offices), but across the harbour in Kowloon. Now I will be the first to admit that I did book the hotel we stayed in solely because of the swimming pool! A roof-top infinity swimming pool with a view of the Hong Kong skyline across the water, and I couldn’t say no

Here’s where we stayed — the Harbour Plaza hotel in Kowloon, Hong Kong
However what also turned out to be good about this hotel is that for not much more a night (approx £100 vs £80) you got a view like this out of your floor-to-ceiling window:

Alex enjoys Hong Kong harbour views from the floor-to-ceiling window in our hotel room

Nice!

Also, the hotel was in a ‘neighbourhood’, which meant we had loads of great restaurants two minutes walk down the road, and a supermarket for Alex-related essentials (bananas etc!).

The hotel staff are lovely, and Alex enjoyed the huge lobby area (and, in particular, the fountain).  I must also make particular mention of the excellent cakes in the coffee shop… (ahem).

Other good news about the hotel location was that it was a short (5-minute) walk to the Star Ferry terminal, which takes you across to the main island and all its attractions (and posh air-conditioned shops!). On our first day, we took the ferry over and made our way up Victoria Peak on the tram, which was a great way to orient ourselves. There are some shops, cafes and restaurants at the top of the peak, and while it’s verging on tacky up there, there is no denying the cracking view.

Any more fares? — The trolley-bus exhibit at the Museum of History in Hong Kong

The next day was (bucketing!) with rain so we took a short taxi-ride to the Museum of History, also in Kowloon, which was really good. The history of Hong Kong starts in pre-historic times, and is traced through to modern day. There is an excellent mock ‘street’ with historical shops and buildings in it — not to mention full-sized trolley bus to explore. Alex’s favourite exhibit was the Chinese Opera - what a cultured toddler she is!

The flight times for us worked out really well in and out of Hong Kong too, as you leave London on an overnight flight, and depart again on an evening one. This is something to always consider for coping with jet lag, and getting as much sleep as possible on your trip!

There’s loads more to do and see in Hong Kong than we did, and we didn’t try and do everything, as I expect we will be back.  Also don’t forget we have a 1-year old in tow, so we take it easy

I received an email the other day, with lots of questions regarding flying with babies (in this case twin five-and-a-half month-old boys!) from Brisbane back to the UK. The questions touched on some subjects I have already written about in past blog postings, but they also raised some new points that I haven’t yet written about, and so I felt I should share these answers in case they help anyone else. When you’ve got a long flight on a plane with a small person to face, sometimes there can never be too much advice!

Tips on coping with the changing timezones when you have a strict routine for sleeping and feeding to follow:

Alex slept quite well on my lap — and so did I!

My answer to this question was that much as this sounds like suicide, it’s actually best to not stress about the routine too much while you are on the flights, but be strict about trying to get back into it over 2—3 days when you get there, and get back. On the flights, it’s every man for himself I said and just do anything that works for you or the babies to get through it, and deal with sleep and routines when you get there. (Can you tell I was the one who chucked Gina Ford in the bin after about 5 minutes!).

Alex has sorted herself out, jetlag-wise, way better than Andy and I have on both Aussie trips we’ve done with her, which always surprised us. For a while now, Alex has sussed out that when she has a bath, etc…, then it was time for ‘big sleep’ soon after, so therefore if she had a bath at bedtime when we arrived, she soon worked it out. You will probably get 2—3 nights of a baby waking up at random times for a bit, but that soon sorts itself out back to ‘normal’.  

In terms of feeding, the main thing I tried to keep the same were the gaps between feeds. Alex was still on 3-4 hourly feeds during day time when we went with her the first time (4-5 months), so I tried to keep that as near to ‘normal’ as possible, and then sorted out ‘night’ when we got there, or if she went to sleep. If you are taking a night flight as the first flight, then that works well as being ‘like’ normal bedtime. The Transit Hotel in Singapore Airport is good for a break and a bath etc. We did that last time, and they can provide cots. When you get there, like I say, that is when you need to try and ease back into ‘normal’ routine. You might find that bedtime is an hour or so earlier/later than usual for a couple of days, but we tried to creep it back to the right time of day. Main thing is — if they fall asleep during the day and it’s been a while, then wake them up for a bit and try and hang on to a reasonable bedtime. But as I said before — on the flight, routine out the window! and just chill and do what they want to do. They will probably sleep more than you think they will… honest!

Tips on how to entertain a baby on the plane during their waking hours:

We took a couple of Alex’s books that she liked to look at (over and over again!), and some little cuddly-type toys we could waggle around and she could look at. We took a few strolls up and down the aisles, and hung out with the cabin crew at the back of the plane, but mostly she was OK just being jiggled about and sitting with us. We didn’t use the baby carrier in the aisles, but they could come in handy if a baby requires lots of trips down the aisles to save arm strain!

Nappy-change facilities

The change-table folds down from the wall in the loos and usually goes over the toilet area. It’s actually quite a handy set-up with lots of flat surfaces for wipes, creams, nappies etc, all within reach, and there is a hook on the back of the door for a bag. And if not screaming (!) then your little ones might enjoy the shiny lights and the big mirror in there

Just how big is a bassinet, what is it made from, and what might you need to bring along?

Alex was quite happy to amuse herself in her bassinet for some of the time, so try to remember to pack some smaller toys in your hand luggage

Singapore Airlines bassinets are the biggest you can get on a plane (see my earlier posting about bassinet sizes). Alex slept happily in one when she was 15 months, and I have seen nearly 2-year-olds sleeping happily in them — they are pretty roomy! You don’t need to take a mattress, as the bassinet is all set up to be comfy and they come round and put in a sheet and a fleecy blanket on the bottom. We took our own cotton blankets for putting over Alex (the ones with the holes in), but she was happy on the fleece bottom blanket.

Doesn’t the general environment of an aeroplane (noises, bright lights, temperature, turbulence, etc) upset a baby regardless?

The good thing about the flights is that the background noise on the plane is the white noise that babies love, and it helps them sleep. I am always amazed at how Alex just sleeps through it! You should take jumpers though, as sometimes it can get cold on the flights when they are sleeping. Also, I sometimes put a muslin over where Alex’s head is in the bassinet (you’ve probably seen that photo!) just to stop the glare of the lights if they are on.

Don’t fly without these… essentials for your hand luggage to ensure surviving a flight with a baby

100 muslins!! Take lots of muslins, and also changes of clothes just in case (I’m sure I don’t have to tell you this!). Disposable bibs are good (I know you can buy those in Australia too) — these are paper ones that you chuck away afterwards, so no soggy milky bibs! Pre-sterilised disposable bottles are great. I’m sure you should be able to get these from a pharmacy? They are one-use-only, and come individually wrapped in a bag all sterilised (not very ‘green’, but very handy, in the UK you can get these in Boots). And cartons of ready-made formula — much easier to deal with.

Warming a bottle/boiling water

I would not use the ‘boiled’ water they have on the flight, and I would bring your own cooled down pre-boiled water already in bottles, or ready made cartons (test these out before you leave though, so you know your baby likes the taste of them!).  If you want a bottle warmed, the Flight Attendants will do it at any time, and I would get them to do a couple once everyone is on board and they are doing the final checks. Or get a couple of bottles filled-up in a cafe with boiling water, just before you board, and then they should have cooled down OK for the hour later when you will take off.

Everything takes twice as long with a baby, so what about arriving twice as early for your plane?

Alex tests out the noise-reduction headphones in business class on the flight home last year

Actually once the ‘leaving the house’ part is done (which takes forever — right?!), then it’s not too bad. Don’t plan to do much at the airport apart from a coffee for you, a milk for baby and a nappy-change, and you won’t be disappointed. Actually, you will probably find the flight goes much much quicker when you are wrangling babies! Weird, I know. We didn’t need to take that much more time, and was cheaper as I didn’t spend half an hour in duty free

Unhappy babies in confined spaces — making it easier for your fellow passengers…

There will always be a couple of people who will be annoyed when your baby starts to cry, but then I get annoyed with seat-kickers (oooh SO annoying!). Main thing is to just stay calm. Of course your babies will cry on the flight — they cry normally, right? So don’t worry. It is very unlikely they will be the only babies on the plane, for a start. And they won’t cry the WHOLE flight, as they will sleep sometimes

On our last trip home, Alex was on top banshee-wailing form while we were waiting to board at the gate, and you could tell from the faces of the other passengers that they were all praying they weren’t going to be sitting within ten rows of us. However, once we were on the plane, Alex slept for half the flight, and played beautifully and cherub-like for the rest, and our neighbouring passengers ‘loved’ her :-)  

When they do kick-off though, it is hard, I know, but we just take in turns taking Alex off somewhere a bit out-of-the-way (near the loos, for example), and jiggling her for a bit, and it’s all done after a while… We had loads of people be nice to us (lots of grannies usually on flights!), so don’t worry. Make sure your little ones are looking great in their cutest outfits (!) and it’ll be fine. You know if you are stressed, they will pick up on it, so just try and chill…

Getting organised for feeding your baby on take-off and landing

Get the bottles (or boob!) ready while the plane is taxi-ing, but don’t start until you are actually off down the runway! Is easy to start too soon and then have no milk left for the climb!!  Mostly they need it for the first 5—10mins of the flight while ascending, so it’s almost “wheels up — bottle/boob in” As for landing, just leave it as long as you dare, or until they start to cry. One of our FAs (when we had the great fortune of upgrading to business class for a leg of our trip last year) insisted that we needn’t worry about Alex crying during take-off and landing, as crying actually helps a baby to pop their ears better. That made us feel a whole lot better and more relaxed about it (although, to be fair, most people in business class will have their complimentary noise-cancelling headphones on, so they probably wouldn’t notice Alex’s screaming anyway!).

I hope there are some more helpful hints in here for taking a baby on a long haul flight with minimum of drama… soon we’ll be able to tell you all about taking a lively and into everything chatty toddler to the other side of the world as we’re off to New Zealand tomorrow with Alex… am trying not to think about 4 lots of 12 hour flights there and back with no bassinet…eeeeeeek! 

Now, unfortunately this isn’t a special deal I am announcing, but instead the current terrible exchange rate (if you’re thinking in £s) with the Australian dollar (boo).

The tourist rates advertised in the Weekend papers (which of course I check every week being the sad travel geek I am!) are now showing that £1 buys just AUS$2. I’ve just checked the Travelex site, and it is offering AUD$2.01 for every £. 1 cent really not making it better for me…

The best rate I’ve ever experienced was AUD$2.9, and that was only a few years ago (Christmas/NYE 2002-3)… then it moved to nearer $2.5 for a while… and then $2.3 for a couple of our trips, and now it’s just $2. Unfortunately, prices of things in Australia haven’t also come down, so as they go up and the exchange rate gets worse it can make a Down Under holiday more expensive that it used to be.

That said, a holiday in Australia need not cost a fortune as there are plenty of ‘low-cost’ carriers for internal flights (like Virgin Blue), affordable car hire, and half price petrol (compared with the UK).  You can also get lots of great fresh food for great prices if you steer away from major tourist centres (don’t eat on Circular Quay in Sydney, for example). 

Another good idea might be to look at the cost of trips and packages booked in the UK with tour operators who would have fixed their prices before the exchange rate changed. See what Austravel and Travelmood have, for example. And don’t forget to keep an eye on the bargains at TravelZoo. 

Also, if you don’t mind leaving your accommodation to the ‘last minute’, you can use www.lastminute.com.au to bag some accommodation and trip bargains. Also www.wotif.com.au has some great cut-price deals on accommodation in Australia for the next month or so ahead.

The upside, of course, of this not-so-great exchange rate is that it’s pretty easy to work out the cost of things just by halving the amount when you are buying them…hmm…

One of my favourite travel ‘deals’ web sites has now branched out and set up an Australian version.

If you’ve never checked out Travel Zoo, then take a look and sign-up now! It’s a site packed with offers and bargains, and every week they send out on email a round-up of their 20 best travel deals — flights, hotels, cruises, holidays, and more. There’s also a lot more deals on their web site too, which is always worth a look if you are after a bargain holiday.

On this week’s email, they announced the new Australia Travel Zoo. Yay! Now you can sign up for 20 excellent deals for travel in, around, and from Australia every week. Of course, I signed up right away, and will keep you in the know for anything good. But if you want to read it first, why not sign-up (you have to say you are ‘in Australia’ as your country to get the Australia deals email, but I made up a postcode of ‘1234′ and that seemed to work!).

Here are some deals from the Australia Travel Zoo site at the moment:

•  $75 to stay in 5-star Meriton Apartments in Sydney (that’s around £35 a night!)
• A deluxe Port Douglas Rydges Hotel at only $99 a night ($100 off!), and including an upgrade
• Melbourne to Perth flights from $119 one way (under £60) with Tiger Airways
• A 5-night Red Centre accommodation package from just $355 (which is 40% off), courtesy of Voyages resorts

I’m a big fan of a bargain, and with deals like these then it’s certainly worth taking a ‘view at the Zoo’ (!) before you book any of your internal travel and hotels in Australia.

Happy bargain hunting!

Alex takes her time to negotiate the boardwalk through the tropical conservatory in Adelaide’s Botanic Gardens. It was dripping hot inside and roasting hot outside that day!

I have P.A.D.

I have self-diagnosed myself with Post Australia Depression.

This is the feeling of being back at home and almost forgetting that a few days ago you were all “no worries” and enjoying yourself in the land Down Under.

I am not sure it’s a recognised condition, but it’s my reason why I haven’t been attending to the blog. It’s all too depressing to think about now we’re back and I don’t know when our next trip to Australia is ;-(

Time for a surprisingly nice spot of lunch overlooking the vineyards of Barossa Valley’s most well-known (in the UK, anyway) wine producer Jacob’s Creek

Anyway, it’s been over a month now (a month and 2 days, not that I am counting) since we landed back on English tarmac, and I can’t leave it any longer. I still have a head full of Aussie knowledge to share — even if it makes me sad to think about not being there!
So here’s some of the stuff we did on our last trip that I loved, and you can enjoy too:

Walked around the botanical gardens in Adelaide — which are lovely. We would have felt the effects of the tropical conservatory had it not already been 40+ degrees outside!

Alex and mummy having fun in the sun in the lovely seaside town of Robe

Had a really nice lunch overlooking the vines at the Jacob’s Creek Winery. Bit of a cliché (and I don’t touch the stuff they send us over here), but we had a very quoffable drop each with our lunch from their reserve list.
Swung on the swings in Robe. We discovered this lovely seaside town and managed to visit just before it got invaded (by hordes of holiday makers over Easter!).

Not for the vertigo sufferers — we loved the tree top walk and the lighthouse climb down on Cape Otway, Victoria (lighthouse not to scale)

We were recommended DeGraves cafe in the Melbourne Lanes for the best coffee in town — Andy wasn’t disappointed…

Checked out the kangaroos in Cape Otway National Park (and a snake too, but best I don’t mention that to any nervous readers!).
Walked in the tree tops…

…and climbed a lighthouse to see the view of the Great Ocean Road from the top.

Rode on the trams in Melbourne…

…and made sure someone got lots of espresso!

Now maybe you can see why it’s been a bit depressing being home?

Book your flight to Australia now! (And book me one too while you are there please!)

Alex happily playing in her ‘1st class’ lie-flat bed/bassinet, allowing us to make use of the excellent on-demand entertainment on the A380

I had no idea we would be flying on the new ‘double-decker’ A380 on our recent trip to Australia, but there I was last week about to get on our flight from Singapore to London, and I saw the sign at the boarding gate to ‘the suites’. Being a bit of an airline geek, I immediately knew this meant we were about to get onto the new Singapore Airlines A380 for the last part of our trip home. What a result!  Mind you, I was rather over-excited and started squeaking repeatedly ‘Is this the big plane?’ to the ground crew…
Admittedly, would have been better if we had been flying IN one of the suites (essentially, your own little ‘room’ with seat AND bed in it!), but budget issues meant we were nearer the back of the plane (in economy).

Mind you — as economy class goes, the back of the plane was pretty impressive.  The cabins are really spacious, and the seats very comfy. Huge TV screens with way more films and TV shows than you could ever work your way through in a number of flights.  Turns out we were on the 8th flight of the A380 into Heathrow. Meant they had a week to practice before it was our turn

If you want to have a look at the ‘inside’ of the economy section of the A380 there is a fancy video on the Singapore Airlines web site here  (you might want to turn the sound off to avoid the cheesy ‘jazz’!)

I was suitably impressed, I have to say, but then I had forgotten just how good Singapore Airlines are (they really are great), and all the flights we had had to and from Australia were brilliant. I have no idea how the flight attendants remain so helpful and so immaculate, but they do.

Our fabulous flight attendants grab a photo-opportunity with Alex

We were treated like first class passengers (well Alex was as she got a bed!), with the flight attendants making her (and us too) a priority all the time. I am now thinking I might not be able to fly another airline to Australia next time because I was so impressed by Singapore again…

Now of course nice FA’s and personal attention aside, it is still a long flight to Australia, and one that every time I forget how long it is, and how much it takes out of you. So I want to re-iterate my favourite saying… it’s a bloody long way to Australia!

A glimpse of the super-large screens on the Singapore airlines A380, and loads of overhead storage space

You will be knackered when you get there, and get back — there is no denying that. But you can get over it if you don’t plan too much on arrivals there and home. For example, our impromptu 4-hour cross-airport trek, bus, and train home instead of 1½ hour cab ride down the M3 wasn’t the welcome home we were after… but even that had its upside (the bus went via Terminal 5 about an hour after it opened for the first time, so we got to see it glistening triumphantly in the early morning light — before it all went horribly wrong about half an hour later!!).

So if you are thinking about booking your flights to Australia, I would very much recommend you have a look at Singapore Airlines… and try and get yourself on the A380 flight if you can (also flies Sydney to Singapore on one of the departures each day).  If you want the best economy experience to Australia (that I have had), then it’s my top tip.

Technically, I am not sure Alex is still a ‘baby’, as she is approaching the ‘toddler’ stage, but as she still counts as an infant for a plane fare, and fits into a bassinet, then baby she is for this purpose!

We are flying Singapore Airlines for this trip (to Adelaide, and returning from Melbourne), and while I have said it before, I will say it again… Singapore Airlines are brilliant with infants and children.

Alex sporting one of her Singapore Airlines freebie bibs (and asleep, which was pretty good too!)

We got on board first, and were greeted with a fantastic smile and a bag of goodies – practical goodies that is – nappies, wipes, a great bib (keeping those!), and we also got given (later) a little toy. We were treated like special guests, and asked if we needed anything all through the flight. The lead flight attendant on one of the flights even made a point of learning Alex’s name as soon as we got on and kept calling her by name throughout the flight (I am sucker for things like that!).  Andy and I were offered the option of having our meals at different times (we bravely said we would have Alex asleep by dinner and we did manage it – for that meal anyway!).

The bassinets on Singapore Airlines were plenty big enough for Alex (who is 14 months now - almost 15 months), and there were other bigger ‘babies’ on the flight who were happily in their bassinets sleeping. The weight maximum shown on the bassinets was 16kgs, which is a lot more than other airlines advertise (so if you are taking a toddler to Australia, Singapore airlines are your best bet).

Alex effortlessly demonstrates the comfort afforded by the Singapore Airlines bassinet (she is under there somwhere!)

To make the bassinet more comfy, Singapore Airlines have very cute fleecy blankets (with a teddy face on them – aw) that they put in. But I remember from when we flew Emirates they just put in a paper type bottom sheet. We make sure we have plenty of muslins, or a sarong, to put in there, and then a small blanket to cover Alex up with.

It can get quite cold in the cabin on the flights, so we had some layers for Alex to wear (including sleeping in a cardigan on one flight!).

Now I have mentioned before, but when the fasten seat-belt sign comes on for turbulence, you are supposed to take babies out of their bassinets and have them on your lap with their special seat-belt on. To do this comfortably, it’s handy to have a small pillow with you, or put a folded-up blanket over the armrest and have them rest on that (saves your arm going dead!). We bought a nifty little scrunch up travel pillow for this (from an ‘outdoor’/camping shop).

Alex did eat some of the food we had on the plane (perfect little baby-sized servings of cheese with every dinner always a hit!), but we were offered jars of baby food as well. We had packed our own pots of food too – and be very up front at security at the airports that you have these. You are OK to carry enough food and drink for the journey, but you must declare it. That said, there was not a bad selection of baby food at the Boots in Terminal 3 at Heathrow (mostly organic), and cartons (Cow and Gate) and bottles (Hipp for toddlers) of formula to buy. We used these prepared formula servings, as it saved us messing about too much. We also took a few pre-sterilised throwaway bottles for the journey too, on top of our own bottles (Boots sell these – but get them before you go).

Do not forget that if you still have some baby food in your bag and formula with you, then you MUST tick the box on your immigration/customs form for Australia on arrival to say you have food items. This isn’t a problem (no fresh fruit and veg though), and you may have to show the items to customs, but they are allowed – provided you declare them. If you don’t declare the items, you are likely to be fined.  Not a good start to your holiday!  Our Organix pots and Plum baby tubs made it through just fine, and the rice cakes were good to come in too.

You can of course buy lots of baby products in Australia and any supermarket or pharmacy will have a good selection of food, nappies etc. One thing we did do this time (and may be worth it if you have a fussy small person) is to bring your own formula. There aren’t many of the same brands available here (although they are all fine am sure and Alex tested a few on our last trip) but if you prefer then bring your own. Alex is a Hipp organic milk baby and we brought her supplies with us! As long as you declare your formula you are fine.

Alex at Singapore’s Terminal 3, keeping an eye out in case our plane leaves without us…

And one last thing that I loved about Singapore Airlines… you get your buggy back for your transit in Singapore! Result! Other airlines tend to check your buggy all the way through to your destination, which means some serious arm-strain as you have to then carry your small person with you around the airport when you make a connection. Some airports do offer complimentary buggies (e.g. there are Emirates buggies in Dubai airport), but these are on a first come first served basis, which of course can mean no buggy. We picked our buggy up from just a few steps after we got off the airplane in Singapore. Literally halfway up the ‘arm’ to the terminal it was there waiting for us. Alex had a lovely push around the new posh Terminal 3 in that (and left mummy with free hands to do shopping with!).

And one last tip… if you can, try and take ‘night flights’ to travel on. Having the cabin lights out for the majority of the journey was ideal for small people sleeping their way to Australia… zzz…

Here is my first ‘live’ blog from Australia. I should have written yesterday (and the day before!) but was a bit tired and confused

Even with all my practice, the jet lag when you arrive in Australia is still hard work… and not making it easier is the record-busting heat wave in Adelaide right now… seriously sweaty! It’s been over 40 degrees here…phew!

I have read a lot about how to deal with jet lag — from setting your watch to the time of your destination and spending time on your journey accordingly, to herbal remedies, and other ideas, but I still haven’t found one that works properly (other than trying to sleep as much as possible, and then trying to stick to the right times of day when you get there).

That said, the urge to nap can hit you at unexpected times, so don’t plan anything strenuous for the first couple of days when you arrive in Australia. Also, depending where you are heading first, you must factor in the weather too. To go from a British winter to the heat of an Australian summer can be a bit of a shock to the system!  Make sure you cover up in the sun, and drink lots of water. And don’t beat yourself up if you need to have a little siesta.

If you do need to take a nap in the afternoon (involuntary for me!), then you MUST get up for the evening and go to bed at a ‘usual’ bedtime, otherwise you just never quite get into the right time zone.

Of course, travelling with a small person makes this all a bit more complicated, but with a few longer naps, and then a slightly later bedtime, we have hopefully got Alex on Aussie time too…and if I type quietly she should stay asleep!

The BBC says that Adelaide will be “scorchio”!

So, I’m doing the most clichéd thing ever this evening — checking the weather before we head off to Australia tomorrow, to see whether it’s going to be sunny or not.

Wow — sunny is not the word!

According to the web sites I’ve just been looking at, it’s sunny in Adelaide alright — pushing 40 degrees… AKA “scorchio” (for anyone who remembers the Fast Show!).

Here’s where I am looking up my weather forecasts:

• The Weather Zone
• On the BBC weather site you can type in major Australian cities in the searchbox and get a 5-day forecast, and they also have a great ‘country weather guide’ so you can see what the weather is likely to be in Australia in different places at different times of the year.
• And I’m also having a quick check of the ‘official’ Aussie weather from the BOM – The Australian Bureau of Meteorology

The web sites are all saying it’s going to be sunny where we are headed. It even looks sunny in Melbourne (although is a good week and a half before we get there, so anything could happen in that time frame!).

I actually knew before looking that everywhere would be sunny as we bought posh rain jackets today, just in case… pretty much guarantees shorts weather for a fortnight, that does

Maybe if I pack an umbrella too then it will be blue skies every day… I’ll let you know!

Well, let’s hope so, as we’re about to find out!

I think it’s entirely possible to take a fortnight’s holiday to Australia and have a fantastic trip. We’re off next week for just 2 weeks, and I have no doubt we will have a great time.

Here are some things I had to think about in making sure a 2-week trip would work.

Don’t try and go too far when you get there…

• I did have us trying to fit in Perth, Adelaide and Melbourne at one point but realised this was going to mean using up a couple of days getting internal flights, or travelling too much. Remember, it’s not just the time on the plane you have to consider with internal flights — but the getting to the airport in enough time, hanging around, getting baggage the other end, etc. This can make an internal flight to Perth from the East coast take up most of a day (or night, but we didn’t fancy that option with a small person).
• Spend enough time in each place. By this I mean 2 or 3 days at least, otherwise you are rushing about and missing the point…
• Factor in some sleep time on your journey. We’re taking an evening flight, and then have a few hours at Singapore airport on the way, and have booked a room in the Transit Hotel to get some kip and have a swim. So hopefully (this is the plan — watch this space!) we won’t arrive totally knackered when we get there.
• Plan your accommodation in advance so you don’t have to think about that when you get there. Always a good idea. Same too for booking transfers and car hire, etc.

So where are we off to next week?

Adelaide, Melbourne, and the Great Ocean Road in between (and a night in the Barossa wine region too for good measure!). Thanks to Rob at Travelmood (robert.blamey@travelmood.com) for being patient with me and my ever-changing flight demands (there, you see, I said I would give you a mention!).

Here’s me on a visit along the Great Ocean Road (12 apostles) back in 1996… was a bit chilly!

I’m really excited about the trip, as I haven’t been to Adelaide in over 10 years (OK, so it’s 12, but who is counting!). Not to mention that I only ever made it along the Great Ocean Road as far as the 12 Apostles (as I then visited the gorgeous Grampians) from the Melbourne ‘end’.  This time we’re doing the entire stretch of coast.

You really can take a 2-week holiday to Australia, but you will need to be very strict with your planning. Don’t factor in too many destinations and think about sleep! 

Here are some ideas of what you could do for a 2-week holiday in Australia:

• The traditional City, Rock, Reef
  Take 5-6 days in Sydney, fly to Uluru and stay 2 days, then spend 5-6 days in Queensland (my vote would be Palm Cove or Mission Beach), and head out to the reef and explore. You’ll have to fly between your destinations, but it’s possible in a fortnight.
• West to East Australia
  You could spend a week in Perth and surrounds (my vote is head south to Margaret River), then fly over to ONE of the East coast cities or regions — so either Melbourne, Sydney or Brisbane — and take another week to explore the city and its surrounds.
• City to City drives
  Melbourne to Sydney, Sydney to Brisbane, or Melbourne to Adelaide, all make great 2-week itineraries, as you can spend 3 or so days in each city, and a week or so to drive between them.
• West coast explorer
  Fly in and out of Perth (the shortest flight from the UK), and spend a few days in the city (get the best espresso in the world in Gino’s Café in Fremantle, and my favourite beer Little Creatures at the microbrewery around the corner).

  Anytime we’re in Perth, a visit to Gino’s (left) and Little Creatures (right) are a must

  Then hire a car and drive all the way up the West Coast via the Pinnacles, Kalbarri, Shark Bay, and Monkey Mia before you get to the Ningaloo Reef at Coral Bay (or Exmouth), and then fly back down to Perth. We did this trip over Easter a few years ago. Perfectly possible in 2 weeks (although we did a few days in Sydney first!).

And don’t forget Tassie!

I am very proud of this photo of Tasmanian countryside in the sun and rain! Is one of my favourite snaps

With a week on Tasmania, you will get a real sense of Australian countryside, wildlife and beautiful beaches which you can easily combine with Sydney or Melbourne (or both) for a short flight between the mainland and the island.

So next time you wonder what to do with your fortnight’s holiday… head to Australia!

I was having a think the other day about what options there are for you if you are scared of flying, but still want to visit Australia.

There are 2 options really — one is to get there overland and/or by sea. The other is conquering your fear of flying (there is probably a third option that involves tranquilisers, but not too sure on the legalities of that one!).

So, firstly — conquering your fear of flying. Now, I do think that if not liking flying is the issue, you might want to get a short ‘practice’ flight in before you get on board for a 24-hour haul. Nevertheless, there are ways to make the flight a bearable option (apparently)…

Fear of flying is called (perhaps unsurprisingly) “Aerophobia”, and is experienced because of a number of anxieties: claustrophobia, fear about not being in control, worrying about turbulence and air pockets, stressing that you’ll get airsick, panicked that you’ll contract Deep Vein Thrombosis or something else… (er, look away now if you’re a hypocondriac!).

A good place to start is the web site Airfraid, which helps to dispel myths about flying by explaining the science behind it. There are also links off to other info, to help conquer fear by knowledge. Plus you can also buy various travel-related items here (pillows, socks, tablets for motion sickness, etc).

Then, if you want conquer the fear by flying, Virgin offer a one-day Flying Without Fear course, which costs £234. This day also goes for the myth-busting approach too, as explained by pilots themselves. Then an insight into safety standards and advice from psychologists, and at the end of the day a short flight, during which the pilots will explain every noise and movement. This is the ulimtate know-and-understand approach, so you get over the fear factor of flying. Aviatours, in conjunction with British Airways, also runs courses for a similar price. (My thanks to Tom Hall for some of these answers and web sites as quoted in last Sunday’s Observer).

If your fear of flying still remains (and it’s a long flight to Australia remember!), then you might want to look at other land- and sea-based options…

Not for the comfort-seeking, but certainly likely to be full of adventure, there is the OzBus.  Picking up where the hippies left off, this is the ultimate London to Sydney journey in, unsurprisingly, a bus! Here’s what they say about the 84-day trip:

“All that we require from you is that you have an adventurous spirit, a strong sense of fun, and a longing to see the world as it really is. If this sounds like you, then come along and take the trip of a lifetime.”

The OzBus is not for me (I’m far too high-maintenance!), but looks like a lot of fun… I followed this trip weekly in the Guardian, when Anita Sethi took the OzBus last September to December. You can read more about her experiences here.

More up my street (but unfortunately not price range!), is to cruise to Australia…

Now this is more like it! Check out this cruise on the new Cunard Queen Victoria, only (!) 49 days to get to Sydney, but a few excellent stops lined up on the way…  This costs from just £5999… (hmm), but if you don’t want to fly home, then you need to book the 107 night round trip from Southampton to Sydney…and back again… from £11,399.

Might be worth booking that fear of flying course if you want to keep your trip to Australia on a manageable budget It’s totally worth the effort, in my opinion, to get to Australia (and if it’s any consolation, I still panic when there is turbulence on a flight!).

Christmas in sunny Australia — this is the ‘Christmas Tree’ in Noosa Heads (a 2-hour drive from Brisbane)

Firstly, I must share this AMAZINGLY good deal that came into my inbox today for cheap flights to Australia at Christmas (and I do mean during the peak time of the 5th—23rd December) — for only £799. That’s almost £200 cheaper than I have ever seen for that time of year (last December, I saw JAL flights at £979), and when you know that other airlines are charging more than £1200 for the same time of year, you can see the HUGE DEAL that this is.

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Conde Nast Traveller readers have rated their spa experiences Down Under in the latest edition.

Here’s the full list that are in Australia (it’s a Top 10 of Australasia and the South Pacific, and the missing 2 on the list are in French Polynesia):

1. Gaia Retreat & Spa, NSW
2. The Sebel Reef House & Spa, QLD  
3. Azure Spa, Lizard Island, QLD 
4. Spa Chakra Hayman, Hayman, QLD 
5. Chaun Spa, The Langham, Melbourne, VIC
6. Lilianfels Blue Mountains Resort & Spa, NSW 
7. The Spa, Four Seasons Hotel, Sydney, NSW 
8. Daintree Eco Lodge & Spa, QLD 

These are a list of the best hotel spas in Australia, and one of these is, in fact, on my list of favourite places to stay (Number 2 — The Sebel Reef House) 

One of the Sebel Reef House hotel’s pools, with the spa building just a few steps away (behind the shutters lies lots of pampering!)

But as you can imagine, some of the places to stay on the list aren’t all that affordable, as an excellent spa is often synonymous with luxury hotel. But I have a plan! Stay nearby and use the hotels as a day spa…

The spas on Lizard Island and Hayman Island aren’t really going to be day spa options (they are island resorts that you need to be staying on to enjoy), and the same is probably true for Daintree Eco Lodge (as it’s in the middle of the rainforest!), but as for the rest of the list, you can easily visit and use the spa facilities while staying somewhere else nearby.

For the Gaia Retreat, you can book yourself a day spa treatment or package, but stay in nearby Byron Bay (we like Julian’s Apartments — funky studios just opposite Clark’s Beach).

For the Sebel Reef House, look no further than the hotel itself. You can stay for around £100 a night, and it’s truly lovely.

In the Blue Mountains, stay in nearby (10 minute’s drive away) Wentworth Falls at the lovely studios and apartments of The Falls Mountain Retreat, and just book a treatment or two at Lilianfels Spa. 

And in Sydney, my vote for a lovely hotel is for Simpson’s of Potts Point. Then you can take a couple of hours out in the Four Season’s Spa, which is just a lovely walk away through the Botanic Gardens.

This is my way of getting 5-star pampering at 3-star prices — you just book your accommodation separately from your spa treatments — easy! Unless you stay at the Sebel Reef House of course, and then you can really have the whole package. It might be Number 2 on the Conde Nast list, but its Number 1 on mine

If you are thinking about flying to Australia this May, then Qantas have fares to most major cities for excellent prices on sale now!

I have spotted the deals with a couple of different travel agents — cheapest prices are with Airline Network:

For travel in May 2008 (all prices are for return flights):

• Sydney and Melbourne — £589
• Perth and Brisbane — £619
• Adelaide — £629

Travelmood also have cheap fares with Qantas, and the fares are within a few pounds of the prices advertised by Airline Network.

Bad news is that for these fares you can’t have any stopovers, and also you need to book them by the 14th February… so you only have 5 days to take advantage!

May will be autumn time in the southern cities (Sydney, Melbourne and Adelaide), and may be heading towards being a bit on the chilly side (in the evenings, for example), but still good for sightseeing.

Perth can quite often still be nice, weather-wise, in May, and is a great time to drive up the Western Coast to visit Ninglaoo Reef (from Coral Bay or Exmouth), as the Whale Sharks will be migrating, and you can take a snorkel trip and get close to them.

May is also an excellent time to visit the Great Barrier Reef, and the weather in Far North Queensland will be near to perfect. Book a return flight to Brisbane, and drive or fly (or even take the train) up the Queensland coast, and visit the Whitsundays, any of the Barrier Reef islands or head up to Cairns and stay in Palm Cove or Port Douglas north of the city for trips out the reef, beautiful beaches, and access to the rainforest. Or head south a couple of hours from Cairns (driving) to one of my favourite spots — Mission Beach.

Another good option for a holiday would be to ‘open jaw’ between Perth and Brisbane, and combine the West Coast of WA, with the Northern Territory — Broome for example — then head to Darwin, and explore Kakadu National Park; afterwards carry on over the east coast to Far North Queensland (explore the Cairns area), then either straight down to Brisbane, or make some stops along the coast on the way, before flying home.

You’ll need to decide quickly if you want to take advantage of these great Qantas fares — they could be a great way to book a more affordable Australian holiday.

Considering that I am not usually one for any kind of loyalty card (I don’t want people knowing every little thing I buy!) — I am one for collecting frequent flyer points.

Now you may think that it’s not worth joining up a ‘rewards’ programme if you are just making the one trip to Australia, but there are perks to be had!

The main reason it is a very good idea to sign up to a frequent flyer programme is that you can then usually call up the membership centre, or reservations, and book your seat request in advance.

For example, with Emirates, if you join their Skywards frequent flyer programme, you can then put in your seat requests as soon as you book your flight.  This is particulaly handy if you are flying with infants or children, as you can try and ensure you get the bulk-head seats (the ones with the walls in front of them that take the skycots, and have a bit more room).

Of course, you can also collect your points and cash them in for rewards that include anything from hotels to day-trips, and of course, the much-coveted upgrade to Business Class. And they do work.

Like anything, you have to be flexible with what you want, but we have just cashed in our Krisflyer points (Singapore Airlines) for return tickets to New York flying Virgin, and all we had to pay was the taxes (£68 each). Not bad as a side effect of a couple of return flights to Australia, I don’t think.

We have also successfully used our Emirates Skywards rewards to get an upgrade to Business class for the Dubai—London leg of our last trip to Australia, just by buying the few miles we were short of (which cost about £40 each). Definitely worth it!!

So have a look into the frequent flyer programme of the airline you are flying with to Australia and sign up — at the very least you should be able to reserve your choice of seats in advance.

Feeling confused?
Don’t know where to start with your itinerary?
What about flights — which airline to fly with? To where? and when?!
Help is at hand!

OK, so the eagle-eyed of you may have already spotted that I am now a published author (admittedly it’s only a PDF!), and have written an Australian Holiday Companion. It’s yours FREE to download and keep — just submit your name and email on the right.

Packed with 74 things we really did wish we had known before we took our holidays to Australia, you can benefit from our experience and tips.

Covering everything from:

• When to go to Australia (including the weather, school holidays, and flight prices)
• Things not to forget (like a visa!)
• Options for your flights
• Travel when you get to Australia
• Advice on booking your flights to Australia
• …and what to see when you get there.

There is a LOT of useful information packed into just 11 pages, so feel free to use it all to your heart’s content.

I hope it helps you organise the most fantastic holiday to Australia.

Children can travel on their own to Australia as Unaccompanied Minors — with help from airline staff

I got asked the other day if it was possible to send children on their own on flights to Australia — in this case it was for a 12 year old to visit her grandad in Sydney (not for a holiday!). So I have done a bit of research, and it seems that children from the age of 5 (!) can, in theory, be dispatched off Down Under on their own…

I looked up a handful of airlines, and while they all have slightly different rules and age ranges, it seems that, in general, children can fly on their own as an ‘unaccompanied minor’ if:

• they pay an adult fare
• you call in advance and book the unaccompanied minor service (it has to be ‘reserved’)
• someone drops them off, and stays at the airport until the plane departs
• there is someone to pick them up directly at the airport the other end
• there is not a long stopover en route (more than a few hours)
• there isn’t a change of airline en route

The airline staff will make sure the children are escorted to and from check in, and on the transfers en route. They will also keep an eye on them on board.

Here are some links to specific airlines and their rules for unaccompanied minors:

• Virgin (flies to Sydney) takes children on their own from ages 5-15, and you can organise a nanny with them if you need one.
• Singapore Airlines (Perth, Adelaide, Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane) will take unaccompanied minors up to the age of 16. 
• Emirates (Perth, Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane) also take from 5 years upwards on their own… and from 12—16 years old is on a request-only basis for the unaccompanied minor service.
• Another option is to send a Nanny with your child if you can’t take the flight with them yourself. I found these Norland-trained Nannies who do just that — Airline Angels. 

Personally, I don’t need an excuse to go on a trip to Australia but if you do have friends and relatives Down Under who want to see the children for a holiday, and you can’t go too, then there are options to send them on their own.