Author archive
1 May 2009
Leaving Auckland A trip to Sipadan has been long on the cards but prompted by expiring frequent flyer miles on Malaysia Airlines’ programme “Enrich”. In these days of fuel surcharges, the programme turned out very disappointingly compared to, say, Emirates’ very generous programme called “Skywards”. We needed 60,000 points from Auckland to Kuching, open-jaw to […]
12 April 2009
We got our boarding passes for the 1130 flight back to Auckland on standby with no hassles. When one is travelling standby, just getting a seat is good. Doesn’t matter front/back, aisle/window. Just a seat! The flight time is considerably shorter flying towards the east at only 4h15, and we landed at 1815.
12 April 2009
We picked up a rental car today to tour the sights outside of Adelaide. First stop was Mt Lofty Summit to get a birds eye view of the city and surrounds. Next was nearby Hahndorf, pretty German town. The highlight of the day for Kim was the National Motor Museum at Birdwood which […]
12 April 2009
We ferried back to the mainland in the morning. Adelaide is like a ghost town during the public holidays. There weren’t many places open for lunch apart from Chinatown. The streets were deserted and most malls were closed. So for us, Adelaide didn’t feel very festive at all despite being promoted as the Festival City! […]
12 April 2009
We didn’t really see Penneshaw yesterday as it as dark when we got in from our tripping around. We also go to see our hostel in the morning light! After a quick wander, we reported at the ferry terminal for our 0830 departure back to Cape Jervis and then the bus ride to Adelaide.
11 April 2009
We stayed the night at the local youth hostel opposite the Penguin Centre in Penneshaw, where our ferry landed this morning. Incidentally, it isn’t the largest town. That honour goes to Kingscote not far away. After dinner, guides at the Penguin Centre, helped us look for penguins coming ashore.
11 April 2009
Getting to Kangaroo Island The time difference (Auckland vs Adelaide) worked in our favour when it came to waking up early for our 0620 pickup. We were collected by bus for the drive to Cape Jervis, a journey of nearly 2h, where we would connect to the ferry to Kangaroo Island, the self-proclaimed Galapagos of […]
10 April 2009
Upon arrival, we hopped on to the public bus to the city but didn’t have small notes. The kind driver wanted to conserve his change so gave the both of us free rides. This is the way New Zealand used to be!!! I love it!!! We stayed at the Mercure Grosvernor in the city centre, […]
10 April 2009
We were flying standby from Auckland to Adelaide early in the morning on standby. It is a longish flight for the A320 and apart from the passenger load (which can be high being Easter weekend), there are sometimes weight restrictions which could see us not get on despite seats being available. Fortunately, we got our […]
28 February 2009
Above: This copy of the Cardona hotel in Auckland didn’t conceal a garden behind. Today is officially the last day of summer. Tomorrow it will be autumn, and Marie will hop on the plane home after a two month visit. Who knows where and when we will meet again! We commiserated the twin-event at the […]