Ridin' along in this big ol' jet plane

G'day Viewers...

Trying to catch up on my blogging now....

Well I made it to Singapore in one piece.  I had a couple of older ladies sitting next to me and I chatted a little bit to them, and showed them how to use the entertainment system.  they asked me what I was doing and told them all about my trip.  When I mentioned the reunion in Ireland one of the ladies said "I can tell you are of Irish descent".  When I asked how she said "the map of Ireland is drawn on your face".  This raises two questions:

1.  Who drew this map of Ireland on my mug in the first instance; and
2.  So nobody decided to tell me about this?

..... ha!

So by the time we made it to Singapore I was feeling extremely tired.  But apparently they don't call you at Singers airport so I HAD to stay awake.  I tried to get the free public internet to work on my Mac.... fail, found a free kiosk but couldn't remember my Facebook password..... fail.  So decided to do laps of the airport until I found what should be the MUST HAVE item in ALL airports...... a foot and leg massager.  Even better it was FREE to use.

OMG it was soooooo good.  It massaged your feet and right up to your knees.  An English woman came to use the other one next to me.  We were wondering how long it worked for.  My theory was I was staying on it until it a) stopped, b) someone else turned up wanting to use it or c) an angry Singaporean official comes up to be screaming that I've been on it too long.  The reason why I eventually dragged myself away from it was due to a).

Made my way to wait outside the gate so I could get bags scanned etc before going to the gate to catch the next plane.  Those Singaporeans are organised!  As you are putting your bags etc down to get x-rayed they give you a number to collect them.  Of course then I somehow went past the x-ray thing I had to walk through, nearly tripping on a rope before realising what I did looking at the airport security dude saying "whoops!" before going back and walking through the machine.  Did I mention I was tired?

So made it onto the A380.  My first A380 experience.  I was in normal cattle and even though I think there was slightly more leg room than a 747, by the end of the flight I was swearing I am never flying cattle again!  Funny, I think I said that last trip in '04?

Settled down ready for takeoff.  I think I was dozing off.  but was woken shortly after by the sound of you guessed it.... the food trolley!  Supper consisted of "Grilled Vegetable sald with a Lemon Dressing" (I only tasted capsicum... 3 colours) but it was very nice.  Mains was a choice of Braised Pork with Sage and White Wine, Steamed Potatoes and Seasonal vegetables; or Chicken Methi Curry with Fragrant rice and Tempered Cabbage.  Jaxster chose the curry and was very impressed.  Dessert was a Pina Colada Mousse with Passionfruit Coulis (that's much better than that fig and honey crap!) and coffee or tea.  Oh I also chose as Vodka and ginger beer as my drink with my meal.  After all of that they came around offering us hot chocolate.

After all of that Jaxster decided it was time to get some sleep.  Not much success there.  while I was laying there a hostie put a pack on me.  It consisted water, a packet of cranberries and blueberries, and a packet of Twistees.

Jax managed to get about 3 hours sleep.  By this time it was midnight London time (5.5 hours to go) and Jax decided sleep was not going to happen again.  I think I may have squeezed in the odd half hour here and there.  But my guess is I probably had 4.5-5 hours sleep since leaving Brisbane.  The movies I wanted to watch on the inflight entertainment (We Need to Talk About Kevin; and J. Edgar) were a bit to deep for my sleep deprived state so I got out the mac and just watched fluff on my computer.  Had a minor mini-crisis during this time.  I decided to eat my Twistees but the packet isn't like a normal pack.  For a while I thought I'd get abused by someone for making a lot of noise.

So spent the rest of the flight watching the Tail Cam (yes you can watch your plane flying)

and listening to more shows from Jarvis Cocker's Sunday Service.  One of the shows today was remembering Elvis' birthday and Jarvis played Elvis music covered by other artists or music inspired by Elvis.  I have never heard this song before but I am a little bit in love with it now.

The remainder of the flight went smoothly albeit most of us on the plane were sleep deprived!

adios
Jax

The journey begins

G’day Viewers!

So as you can gather I made it to the airport in one piece.  A tearful farewell was made to Psycho Pussy and off I headed via taxi (yes the suitcase changed my mind… $102 later) to the Airport.  I must admit I was a tad concerned about the weight of my suitcase.  I was only at the airport that I was already noticing how heavy my bag was and how it was killing my arm dragging it along.  I was starting to plot who I could ring to make a mercy dash to the airport to collect some discarded clothing.  But no need to panic.  It came in at 21.1kgs!

Anyway as I type I am currently 26,000 feet above the Northern Territory somewhere (yep nearly 3 hours in the air and I’m still in Australia).  By the looks of the flight path map we will be flying over, or very near to, Darwin.  So far the flight has been very smooth.  At the start of the flight our captain told us we were flying lower than normal to avoid the strong headwinds.  I must say I am enjoying looking out my window flying over the Gulf of Carpentaria to a) to see the wing of the plane still in place and b) looking at the islands in the gulf.

The one thing that does amuse me about flying long haul flights is how airlines decide that the one way they can entertain us is by feeding us.  We have been in the air for 3 hours and we’ve already had lunch which consisted of a carrot and cherry tomato salad with a balsamic dressing, and a choice of Italian Style Braised Lamb with Green Olive and Parsley served with Creamy Polenta (they didn’t mention the soggy broccoli); or steamed fish in five willows sauce, fragrant rice and greens.  Jaxster chose the lamb.  Dessert was a Fig and Honey Rice Pudding which Jax did not touch because Jax does not do a) honey or b) rice pudding.  Not convinced that I’m really keen on figs either.  Epic fail there.

We have also had a Weis Mango Bar (mmmmm) and  just now we were given the choice of hot chocolate or peppermint tea.  Jax chose the hot chocolate and was very happy with it.  According to the menu we are still to receive a refreshment of Grilled vegetable pizza, chocolate and a  choice of Grinders Coffee or Dilmah Tea.  I must say the coffee is better than that dished up on domestic flights.

So far I have entertained myself with the in-flight entertainment with reading my Noel Gallagher Magazine and courtesy of the CDs on Request I have listened to Grinderman 2 (which is in my collection) and listened to the Mark Ronson cd.  Some of it was ok.  Other songs I could easily pass.  I then tried to watch some movies.  Not a very good selection on this leg.  I went to watch The Lady, but decided it was a bit heavy for me at the moment as I am feeling somewhat tired.  So I’ve whipped out the Mac and have watched some videos I stored on iTunes and listening to some (well 1 show so far) Jarvis Cocker Sunday Service radio shows.

According to the flight path we are 4:28 away from Singers.

Hmmm….. it’s been more than 5 minutes since they last fed us.  Surely the trolley should be coming around again?

Until the next instalment

Jax xo

The calm before the storm....

G'Day Viewers!

Well it's the night before the excitement begins.

Currency obtained and this afternoon I thought that it may be time to pack.  My bag feels heavy and it's chockers.  It should be under 25kgs.  But nothing like a healthy dose of paranoia.

Tonight I'm now going to read up on all my documentation and then I think I will curl up in bed with Psycho Pussy and watch "About A Boy" to get into that London vibe.  Hmmmm Hugh Grant.

Tomorrow my Odyssey begins!!!!!!!!!!!!!

London is Calling!

6 sleeps to go!!!!!

G'day Viewers!

Well it is all happening.  Which is a good thing as I leave in just under a week.  Slowly getting everything done in the house.  Today I went down to the Gold Coast (I didn't get shot, that's always a bonus) to spend the day with a good friend.  We had lunch at the Rainbow Bay Surf Club before I headed home.

I collected my suitcase and picked up some more packing cubes.  At least my bag will be nice and tidy inside.  This is what it looks like. Melinda thinks it's "very me"... it's RED!

It also didn't miss someone's attention (and she knows what these bags mean!)

Anyway made it home to hear the BEST NEWS EVER for my trip.  On the 1st August, my friend Sue and I will be off to Margate in Kent to see the first of Blur's warm up gigs for their big Olympics gig with The Specials and New Order (their last one ever.... *again*.... well until Damon decides to have another reunion).  We don't know how we're getting to the gig yet but that's all part of the fun!

Can't wait to see them play this song!!!!

soooooooooooooooooooooo excited.

Or more to the point I should do my bad Blur pun again.... WOOOO HOOOOO!

adíos
Jax xo

So this is my travel blog....

G'day Viewers....

Well here we go my first foray into blogging.

I have decided to write "European Odyssey Number 6" to document my upcoming European holiday.  The title of the blog is actually a misnomer.  This trip will be my 6th time to England and Ireland, my second time to the European continent but I will be going to Austria, Greece, Spain and Portugal for the first time.

It has been nearly 8 years since I last went overseas.  That was in the European summer of 2004 to attend the Hoare Family Reunion in Ballymacart, Dungarvan, Co Waterford, Ireland.

Like 2004, the main purpose of this trip is to attend the Hoare Family reunion in Dungarvan.  But after the couple of horrid years I had post the death of mum, I've decided it is about time to have a decent holiday.

I will be leaving Brisbane on Tuesday the 22nd May, 2012 and my itinerary is:

23/05/12-31/05/12 - London, catching up with family and friends and lots of sightseeing.

01/06/12 - 27/06/12 - Cosmos European Masterpiece tour.  The full itinerary can be found here:

http://www.cosmostours.com.au/2012/our-tours/Europe/Panoramas-Multi-Country-Tours/Panoramas/5271-EUROPEAN-MASTERPIECE-.aspx

28/06/12 - day in London

29/06/12 I'm off to Barcelona

30/06/12 - 12/07/12 I am on the following tour:

http://www.trafalgar.com/spanish-explorer-2012/tour-itinerary

I've added an extra couple of days in Madrid at the end to have some exploration on my own.  With my limited Spanish this will be fun.  But really knowing the basic greetings, sangria, tapas what else do I need? :::snort:::

I then fly back to London for probably a day and a half before I head over to Ireland.

19/07/12 - 26/07/12 I will be in Dungarvan attending the reunion.

27/07/12 - 01/08/12 I will be having some free time in Dublin hopefully seeing a bit of the town and do some genealogy research on mum's family tree.

I fly back to London on the 1st August before leaving London to head home on the 3rd August.

Still so much to do in the next 16 days.  I think I need a clone.

Anyway I hope you will enjoy my blogs once I am away and actually talking about what I'm doing :o)

Adios
Jax