Reef, Rivers and Rainforests – Australia - September/October 2018 - Day 1 - Home to Stockholm

BONZO · 28 Oct 18, 09:56 PM

Reef, Rivers and Rainforests – September/October 2018

I won’t go into the reason for the trip/the routing/costs etc – that is all in the pre-trip report but for those who want a quick explanation – it’s a roundabout route to be able to fly business class for a reasonable price; we do a lot of hopping around and a LOT of flights!

For us the journey is as much a part of the holiday as the destination – please feel free to skip over the first few parts of this report if you find it tedious.

Link to trip report index – including pre trip report:
Here

The cast (as usual) is myself and Alison and also as usual this is a joint trip report, mostly consisting of Alison editing out, or in, rather a lot of detail! We write the trip reports for our own benefit mainly (to aid failing memories in years to come) – if anyone else reads and/or enjoys them it’s a bonus.

Day 1 – Saturday 22nd September 2018 (Home to Stockholm)

For once we had a bit of a lie in rather than getting up at the crack of dawn like on previous trips so after a leisurely breakfast we got an uber to the local station and got the train to London, then tube to Paddington arriving at 10.30, nicely timing for the 10:40 Heathrow Express (HEX) for Heathrow airport.

HEX was quite nice and did the job. I’m glad we tried this route but next time I’ll stick to the car and car parking if we can find a deal for long stay, I found it too much faffing around and a little frustrating in places. On the other hand, we’ll try the Elizabeth line when it’s up and running to our neck of the woods, it should’ve been operational by now but there you go.

Once at Heathrow we checked our bags in (we’re not going hand baggage only for once!) and oh the shame, they didn’t tag Alison’s bag as priority luggage. However, I was a bit haphazard with the security. I put all my stuff into the trays and walked off, not realising that I should have pushed the tray forward leaving it for Alison and the staff to deal with. We all had a bit of a laugh about and then settled down for some coffee and pastries in the lounge.

With a bit of time to spare I caught up on my notes and Alison went out to do some shopping and came back with some make up and newspapers and then phoned her mum before we both grabbed a bite of light lunch.

We checked the boarding times and noticed that boarding was called for gate B44 (at the B part of T5) so it was time to leave via the underground walkways, always a nice quite stroll down there.

Boarding was efficient and the flight was actually quite lightly loaded on a Boeing 767 (not long to go until these are all retired – and they are looking a bit scruffy to be honest).

The weather wasn't too good - time to leave the country!

We landed on time, collected our luggage and walked through the airport to the Clarion Hotel, the first hotel of our trip. It was a nice change to have the hotel right onsite at the airport itself. We checked in and looked around the room, it was very modern and looking out over the control tower and airport!

They had thoughtfully provided some in-room binoculars for the airplane geeks amongst us.

We knew that the hotel had a rooftop pool and had assumed that it’d be at the very top of the hotel but no, it was situated on a mezzanine floor, no big deal though. We found it on the lower level and ventured outside from the fitness suite and strangely enough there was no one about. We were initially a bit disappointed as it had a roof covering over it but with a quick heave-ho we managed to open it enough to get in.

We swam for a while, and went back to the changing rooms for a sauna and shower before heading back to the room.

So, next job was to get some food and as we didn’t want to travel into town and search around so we just went back into the airport as they had a selection of places to eat. The airport was spookily quiet, like a ghost town with only a few people around and most of those were cleaners.

Most of the tourist shops were shut and only a couple of restaurants were open, even one we looked at was just about to close for the night so we were left with a choice of McDonald’s or Alfredos, an Italian.

So, Italian it was then!

We ate 1 x Pizza, 1 x Meatballs and 2 beers – total cost £55!

Not cheap but we knew it was quite pricey here and with it being in the airport it’s even more expensive.

We wandered back to the room happy that’s the first leg of the trip done but much more to come, we fell asleep quite quickly.

Transport count (this will be a running total each day!):

Flights: 1
Trains: 2
Tubes: 1
Ubers/Taxis: 1

Step Count: 8148 for the day

Total step count for the trip: 8148

Melbatb · 29 Oct 18, 07:33 AM

A relaxed first day! Great view from the room!

**Andi** · 30 Oct 18, 12:04 AM

Great start.

disneyme · 30 Oct 18, 12:07 AM

Great start--looking forward to the next installment

28 Oct 18, 09:56 PM	#1
	28 Oct 18, 09:56 PM BONZO Imagineer
BONZO Imagineer Join Date: Mar 02	Reef, Rivers and Rainforests – Australia - September/October 2018 - Day 1 - Home to Stockholm Reef, Rivers and Rainforests – September/October 2018 I won’t go into the reason for the trip/the routing/costs etc – that is all in the pre-trip report but for those who want a quick explanation – it’s a roundabout route to be able to fly business class for a reasonable price; we do a lot of hopping around and a LOT of flights! For us the journey is as much a part of the holiday as the destination – please feel free to skip over the first few parts of this report if you find it tedious. Link to trip report index – including pre trip report: Here The cast (as usual) is myself and Alison and also as usual this is a joint trip report, mostly consisting of Alison editing out, or in, rather a lot of detail! We write the trip reports for our own benefit mainly (to aid failing memories in years to come) – if anyone else reads and/or enjoys them it’s a bonus. Day 1 – Saturday 22nd September 2018 (Home to Stockholm) For once we had a bit of a lie in rather than getting up at the crack of dawn like on previous trips so after a leisurely breakfast we got an uber to the local station and got the train to London, then tube to Paddington arriving at 10.30, nicely timing for the 10:40 Heathrow Express (HEX) for Heathrow airport. HEX was quite nice and did the job. I’m glad we tried this route but next time I’ll stick to the car and car parking if we can find a deal for long stay, I found it too much faffing around and a little frustrating in places. On the other hand, we’ll try the Elizabeth line when it’s up and running to our neck of the woods, it should’ve been operational by now but there you go. Once at Heathrow we checked our bags in (we’re not going hand baggage only for once!) and oh the shame, they didn’t tag Alison’s bag as priority luggage. However, I was a bit haphazard with the security. I put all my stuff into the trays and walked off, not realising that I should have pushed the tray forward leaving it for Alison and the staff to deal with. We all had a bit of a laugh about and then settled down for some coffee and pastries in the lounge. With a bit of time to spare I caught up on my notes and Alison went out to do some shopping and came back with some make up and newspapers and then phoned her mum before we both grabbed a bite of light lunch. We checked the boarding times and noticed that boarding was called for gate B44 (at the B part of T5) so it was time to leave via the underground walkways, always a nice quite stroll down there. Boarding was efficient and the flight was actually quite lightly loaded on a Boeing 767 (not long to go until these are all retired – and they are looking a bit scruffy to be honest). The weather wasn't too good - time to leave the country! We landed on time, collected our luggage and walked through the airport to the Clarion Hotel, the first hotel of our trip. It was a nice change to have the hotel right onsite at the airport itself. We checked in and looked around the room, it was very modern and looking out over the control tower and airport! They had thoughtfully provided some in-room binoculars for the airplane geeks amongst us. We knew that the hotel had a rooftop pool and had assumed that it’d be at the very top of the hotel but no, it was situated on a mezzanine floor, no big deal though. We found it on the lower level and ventured outside from the fitness suite and strangely enough there was no one about. We were initially a bit disappointed as it had a roof covering over it but with a quick heave-ho we managed to open it enough to get in. We swam for a while, and went back to the changing rooms for a sauna and shower before heading back to the room. So, next job was to get some food and as we didn’t want to travel into town and search around so we just went back into the airport as they had a selection of places to eat. The airport was spookily quiet, like a ghost town with only a few people around and most of those were cleaners. Most of the tourist shops were shut and only a couple of restaurants were open, even one we looked at was just about to close for the night so we were left with a choice of McDonald’s or Alfredos, an Italian. So, Italian it was then! We ate 1 x Pizza, 1 x Meatballs and 2 beers – total cost £55! Not cheap but we knew it was quite pricey here and with it being in the airport it’s even more expensive. We wandered back to the room happy that’s the first leg of the trip done but much more to come, we fell asleep quite quickly. Transport count (this will be a running total each day!): Flights: 1 Trains: 2 Tubes: 1 Ubers/Taxis: 1 Step Count: 8148 for the day Total step count for the trip: 8148 __________________ http://www.thedibb.co.uk/forums/sign...igpic534_1.gif 1988 ~ Contemporary ~ Honeymoon 1989 ~ Off site 1994 ~ EuroDisney ~ Santa Fe 1999 ~ Off site 2001 ~ CBR (Aruba) ~ Poly (Tahiti) 2003 ~ WL & HRH 2004 ~ Pop Century, RPH, CSR, PBH, Contemporary 2006 ~ DLP ~ Newport Bay 2007 ~ POR ~ HRH ~ GF 2008 ~ All star sports, BCV, RPH, Vero Beach, VWL 2010 ~ OKW ~ BCV ~ HRH ~POP Century ~ Vero Beach ~ VWL 2013 ~ AKL ~ HRH ~ BCV ~ Vero Beach ~ VWL Edited at 10:40 PM.